Tag: Graduation

Dropouts and Essential Church

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I was reading through the Rainer/Geiger book called Essential Church. He writes about a study of 18 to 30 year-old adults in America where these young adults attended a Protestant church regularly for at least a year while they were in high school. Here is the incredible but sad finding of this study:

Dropouts

Why Did They Leave?

While he explores this topic in the first section of this book, he briefly let’s us hear from the dropouts. Look at the 10 most common reasons the dechurched said they left the church between the ages of 18 and 22.

Top 10 Reasons Church Dropouts Stopped Attending Church

  1. Simply wanted a break from church.
  2. Church members seemed judgmental or hypocritical.
  3. Moved to college and stopped attending church.
  4. Work responsibilities prevented me from attending.
  5. Moved too far away from the church to continue attending.
  6. Became too busy though still wanted to attend.
  7. Didn’t feel connected to the people in my church.
  8. Disagreed with the church’s stance on political or social issues.
  9. Chose to spend more time with friends outside the church.
  10. Was only going to church to please others.

This list helps us see a common theme among most of the dropouts: to put it simply, they just did not see that church was essential to their lives. For example, the first reason, cited by 27 percent of the church dropouts, clearly depicts the nonessential attitude of the dropouts toward church: “I simply wanted a break from church.”

But even reason number eight, a disagreement with the church on political or social issues, indicates a noncommittal posture. In this case the dropouts easily could have found another church that was a better fit with their social or political views. Instead, they decided to drop out from church totally.

Essentially This:

Churchgoing students drop out of the church because it is not essential to their lives.

Rainer, T., Geiger, E., & Rainer, S. S., III. (2010). Essential church. Nashville: B&H.

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Making Responsible Choices

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I was a part of the student group last night; Craig Goodmurphy led a presentation about teenagers making responsible choices during these developmental years. While a lot of the information probably went in one ear and out the other, he presented scientific details about the development of neural pathways. Drugs and alcohol have a significant effect on the brain (and therefore decision-making), because nerves need to wire and fire properly. When we ask the kids “what were you thinking?” they have an imagination that honestly tells them that what they are doing is safe, responsible and logical. They are convinced they can handle it, and they are doing a good job… while observation from the outside shows they are wasted and reckless.

During this season of proms and ring dances, there will be teens all over this city making poor choices that will effect the rest of their lives. What is a parent to do? Check out this verse:

Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it. (Proverbs 22:6)

Every year I approach May and June with mixed emotions. I know how exciting it is to be finished with teachers, classes, and homework and to look forward to a summer of fun. And for high school graduates, the future seems exciting, filled with potential. But I also know of the shipwrecked lives, kids who never even make it to summer because of careless celebrations at proms and other parties. It seems like every year we read of carloads of kids who are killed through drinking and driving, and other tragedies.

As I watch seniors walk across the stage to receive their diplomas, I know that they will be headed for the whole range of ups and downs as they make the difficult transition into adulthood. Our future as a nation truly does rest with this generation, and I wonder what that future will hold.

I also wonder about the kind of world we are giving them. My generation has made a few contributions, but we have also formed a society based on self-centeredness, materialism, and greed. It’s a violent world, filled with guns, gangs, crime, abortion, and abuse. Despite the progress and the optimism of the ’60s and ’70s, racism is on the rise again. Personal freedom and choice have come to mean that a person should have the right to do almost anything he or she wants, with no restraints. Families are falling apart. Alternate lifestyles are being taught as normal, and this generation has been trying its best to purge public life of every trace of biblical faith.

It’s not a pretty sight, but it’s not hopeless. There is time to change the direction, but it must begin with our children.

This is a good time to think about our kids, of all ages. We need to reach them now; we dare not wait until graduation.

  1. What are we doing to teach them the right values?
  2. What are we doing to motivate them to serve others?
  3. What are we doing to heal their pain and meet their needs?
  4. What are we doing to lead them to Christ?

The Bible verse above is not a guarantee of raising successful kids, but if we don’t raise them right, we can nearly guarantee they won’t turn out right. Think of what you can do to reach this generation. There is no better investment of your life.

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