The problem is simply the same reason ANYONE stops following God: the reasons against outnumber the reasons for. Being recently out of this hole I can say that a number of things have challenged and will continue to challenge my faith.
1. lack of support: We go through real and painful life events in our young lives. In today's world to be young is to be poor, and the message from the pulpit is often "God will make it better." A continued problem is the lack of backing up that statement. It is all too easy to make a half hearted promise, it is something else entirely to let God work through you in a young person's life.
2. the stuff does not work the way we were told: Young people are told constantly about the practices of faith. Some of us attempt to put them into practice in a simple equation of the ends justifying the means. Through Christ we are promised the very desires of our hearts, in exchange all we are told we have to do is submit our will to him. Yet it is not so simple. Arriving at where we had hoped Christ would lead us may by months if not years down the track, if it arrives at all. which leads directly to point 3.
3. We are still under attack. Young Christians are under attack not just for the witness we live in our present lives but for the witness and path that God has set out for us in the future. Bad if not awful things continue to attack us. Sometimes it's as little as barely having enough to survive, other times it's as sophisticated as feeling our dreams may never be reached. All of this puts a horrible strain on our relationship with the one who loves us most. We are forced to ask uncomfortable questions about the nature of this love, questions that go unanswered. We are left alone with a pit, a God who provides more trials and tests than deliverance and ourselves asking the question "why am I here?"
If you can find answers to those issues you certainly have God with you because I have not. I have found no one who has come up with any better answer than "it gets better". Does it? Does it really? And tell me how does it getting better help me when you cannot substantiate that claim with a timeframe, or back up that promise with data and work. You cannot sell a car without giving the new owner safety data and gas mileage, yet you think you can sell a way of life without providing something more than just claims. Challenging question, and here is a challenging answer in return.
1. lack of support: We go through real and painful life events in our young lives. In today's world to be young is to be poor, and the message from the pulpit is often "God will make it better." A continued problem is the lack of backing up that statement. It is all too easy to make a half hearted promise, it is something else entirely to let God work through you in a young person's life.
2. the stuff does not work the way we were told: Young people are told constantly about the practices of faith. Some of us attempt to put them into practice in a simple equation of the ends justifying the means. Through Christ we are promised the very desires of our hearts, in exchange all we are told we have to do is submit our will to him. Yet it is not so simple. Arriving at where we had hoped Christ would lead us may by months if not years down the track, if it arrives at all. which leads directly to point 3.
3. We are still under attack. Young Christians are under attack not just for the witness we live in our present lives but for the witness and path that God has set out for us in the future. Bad if not awful things continue to attack us. Sometimes it's as little as barely having enough to survive, other times it's as sophisticated as feeling our dreams may never be reached. All of this puts a horrible strain on our relationship with the one who loves us most. We are forced to ask uncomfortable questions about the nature of this love, questions that go unanswered. We are left alone with a pit, a God who provides more trials and tests than deliverance and ourselves asking the question "why am I here?"
If you can find answers to those issues you certainly have God with you because I have not. I have found no one who has come up with any better answer than "it gets better". Does it? Does it really? And tell me how does it getting better help me when you cannot substantiate that claim with a timeframe, or back up that promise with data and work. You cannot sell a car without giving the new owner safety data and gas mileage, yet you think you can sell a way of life without providing something more than just claims. Challenging question, and here is a challenging answer in return.
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