Читать книгу Rite of Passage for the Home and Church - D. Kevin Brown - Страница 9

I share this extended account of the journey of Apollo 13 to the moon because it parallels what I would like to share with you in this book. Apollo 13 and its voyage to the moon is analogous to the journey of raising and training young adults. It is a journey filled with many difficulties and uncertainties. Much like the training of astronauts, we are training our children or young people in an attempt to one day catapult them into adulthood. I’m not talking about just raising young adults for the sake of saying they are grown; rather, I’m talking about raising Christ-centered young adults. If that is a goal for you and your family, or for you and your ministry, then we must realize something. Many are sending their children off to college, work and adulthood, just as rockets sent the Odyssey to the moon. The mission of Apollo 13 was to land on to the moon, yet they didn’t make it. Many of our children aren’t reaching their destination. What is that destination? Christ-centered adulthood is their mission, yet many of our young people are not developing into Christ-centered young adults. Therefore, we must sound the alarm and declare, “Houston, we have a problem.”

There are no magic potions or sure-fire methods that can guarantee the mission of producing young adults who will be Christ-centered and rock-solid in their faith. Yet, I am convinced there are Scriptural patterns, if heeded, which can give us greater confidence toward accomplishing our mission. The purpose of this book is to share what I believe are those patterns and how we can implement them in our homes and churches.

After being a business man for many years, I realized God was moving me toward and giving me a desire to become a pastor. Initially, I served in an associate pastor role, yet, I was viewed by most as the “youth pastor.” Later I became the pastor of this same church and it’s where I continue to pastor today. Prior to sensing God’s prompting me to be recognized as an elder/pastor, I had taught the high school Sunday School class for 17 years. I saw firsthand and had become very dismayed by the exodus of our young adults from the church soon after graduation. I saw this abandonment was not just taking place at the church I attended and helped to lead, but was, and is, taking place in many churches throughout the nation across all denominations.

I consider it unfortunate that I have first-hand experience of this exodus. Yet, because of my many years of teaching and subsequently having seen many young adults walk away from the church and ultimately the faith, I began to seek answers to this troubling dilemma. At this point I want you to know that I in no way intend to come across as one having all the answers. I don’t want to give even the slightest impression that I have even most of the answers. The truth is that my family and I are still a “work in progress.” I struggle every day as a parent. Being a parent is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Yet, I believe through the many years of being in the trenches, I have learned some things that may warrant consideration.

In America today, we have a problem in Christendom. Our young people are graduating from our high schools and heading off to work or college and are subsequently walking away from their faith. Simply put, we are not accomplishing the mission of making disciples. Jesus said that we are to go and make disciples of all nations (see Matt. 28:19-20). But, we are making very few. Indeed we should say, “Houston, we have a problem!” Statistics show we are failing miserably in producing godly young adults that continue or remain in their faith (see barna.org for many of these studies and statistical analysis.) To use the failed Apollo 13 mission to describe our families, there has been an “explosion” onboard and now we must figure out a way to get our young people safely home. I’m not talking about the home where they grew up; instead, I’m talking about the home in heaven that awaits the genuine believer in Christ. We must change our mindsets, course of action and ultimately our ecclesiology. If we don’t, we stand to lose an entire generation of young adults; if this hasn’t already happened right under our noses, not to mention subsequent generations.

We must come to grips with the truth that stares us in the face. We must admit that we have a problem. Many have become comfortable with simply dropping their kids off at church and claiming “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6 KJV). Yet, we will come to understand this modern-day pattern is not Scriptural and is an utter failure. The problem of our young people walking away is centered in a problem that is in our homes, not our churches.