[Reporter Hong Jiawei/Comprehensive Report] Chuck Lawless, Dean of the Doctoral Program at Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, and Associate Vice President of the Center for Spiritual Formation and Ministry, recently shared his findings after communicating with young people. “8 Reasons Why Young People Leave the Faith”. Pastor Chen Weijun of Kaohsiung Glory Harvest Church also responded and made suggestions.
Dr. Lawless pointed out in an article on the Church Answers website that as a pastor and professor, he was shocked and puzzled to see young people who grew up in seemingly strong Christian families turn away from the church. After talking to the children, he summarized 8 reasons, which are described as follows:
1. The faith never really belonged to them in the first place: Some young people just do what others expect them to do. They follow their parents and grandparents to accept the faith, but they never really make the faith their own.
2. They see too much hypocrisy in the words and deeds of believers: Sometimes young people see the hypocrisy of believers in their own homes, such as their parents’ words and deeds at home and in church are inconsistent, which makes them quite disapproving. In some special cases, these young people also saw many moral flaws in church leaders.
3. They have never been truly discipled: Although they grew up in Christian families, no one has walked with them in their faith, experienced God, helped them take root in their faith, fight against the enemy and win the battle. They had to rely more on themselves to figure things out, which also made them spiritually vulnerable.
4. They live in a changing culture that allows them to live in ways that are different from what Christian doctrine requires: In the past, older Christians might have silently and lonely accepted the discomfort of faith not being integrated into life; however, today’s culture encourages and welcomes young people to deconstruct their faith, raise questions and criticize.
5. No one has ever really listened to their hearts, let alone answered them: Too many older believers simply criticize the children’s doubts and tell them to “just believe”. Indeed, we must believe that our faith is good and perfect, but a faith that cannot accept challenges and cannot be defended is flawed; and the Christian faith is not like that, it can be boldly believed and can stand the test of time.
6. They are not truly rooted in biblical truth: This is related to the above-mentioned “never been truly discipled”. Although some pastors have told young people that “the Bible is the word of God”, no one has helped them understand “why should we believe the word of God?” Therefore, young Christians now often look at the Bible with skepticism.
7. They are dealing with sin in their lives: Dr. Lawless said that he had heard a reason for leaving the faith that impressed him – “moral decay often precedes unbelief”. Sometimes, the reason why young people go in another direction in their faith is because they have already taken this path in their actions.
8. They find stronger community outside the church than inside: They find friends, fun, and fellowship outside the church that, for whatever reason, they are not getting at church. We know their connections with others may be fleeting, but they are focused on the immediate rather than the long-term and prefer what they can get now.
What can be done about it?
Pastor Chen Weijun of Kaohsiung Glory Harvest Church, who has been pastoring young people for many years, also shared his suggestions for young people, whether they are seekers or young believers from Christian families, based on the 8 reasons put forward by Dr. Chuck Lawless:
1. Evangelism: Jesus is the answer to all problems, but most people think that other external things are the answer to all problems, which is equivalent to life not being truly possessed by Jesus.
Pastor Chen Weijun said that many young seekers come to church through interaction and invitations from friends. They enjoy the service and atmosphere of the church, but they have not yet accepted the Lord, so when they encounter problems or the church can no longer provide corresponding resources, these people will leave.
“Therefore, it is more important to let them believe in the Lord first.” Pastor Chen pointed out that the church should be more courageous in sharing Jesus and making Jesus the core, otherwise it will not be able to find a direction to move forward and the answer to the problem when encountering problems.
2. Contextualization (life): To dispel the idea among young people that biblical truth cannot be applied practically in life. Pastor Chen said that when people encounter problems, the church always only knows how to pray for them, but this is actually not enough at all. The church should let young people understand how to use the Bible to solve life problems, and not let “I will pray for you” be misunderstood by young people as just a kind of perfunctory, irrelevant.
“Our pastors and leaders often give the same answer to different problems, that is, to ask them to pray, fast, and read the Bible. We lack the ability to transform biblical principles into reality, so that young people decide to solve problems in their own way,” he said.
3. Argumentation (theology): To dispel the ideology that there is no answer, only asking the other party to obey. Pastor Chen encourages pastors to incorporate more arguments and life experience sharing in their sermons, because believers may not understand when they read the Bible.
“Some pastors don’t like believers to ask questions about faith, thinking that asking questions is questioning God. This is actually an inappropriate idea.” Because the true spectrum that Christianity should have is to have both evangelical arguments and charismatic spiritual baptism. If these life issues are studied seriously, it will be found that the answers to the questions will slowly lead to Jesus.
4. Mission (inheritance): Pastor Chen suggested that in order to solve the idea of “what does it matter to me to continue this faith?”, we should use calling and mission to view life choices. Sometimes young people find it difficult to have room to play in the church, such as the service has not been further developed, or there are more opportunities to help the church. Young people think that there is no way to go, and they want to leave the church.
The ideal state is to let the older pastors in the church become “coaches”, so that the church can continuously provide opportunities for service, rather than only certain people having opportunities for service. Therefore, in leading activities, you might as well let go and let young people try, and also discuss the issue of “mission and inheritance” with young people, so that they can see hope.
Pastor Chen also gave an example. The reason why young believers leave the church or even the Christian faith is very similar to the situation of young people leaving their jobs in the workplace, mainly because “there are no opportunities for development in the future” or “social responsibility cannot be practiced”. Young people may not have understood the relationship between the church and themselves at the beginning, or they feel that going to church is to be served and enjoy being served, rather than loving each other and caring for each other.
5. Disciple (master-apprentice): Live with young people and lead them to experience faith, rather than just course training. Pastor Chen Weijun said: “The cost of time is always the biggest challenge.” In addition to building a closer relationship, it is also very important to give young believers real love.
If there is a problem of sin in the life of a young Christian, the pastor should not only criticize the part of the sin, but should also tell him: “I know you have sinned, and I love you as a person, not your sin. Also because I love you, I am willing to accompany you to overcome the problem of sin.”
For example, various life problems common to young people such as addiction, cohabitation, lying, etc., the church should indeed express its disapproval of these sins, but more importantly, let young people feel that “I am willing to accept your imperfections, because we are all imperfect, and I am not qualified to say that you are wrong or bad”. (Translation from Google Gemini)
【記者洪嘉蔚／綜合報導】美國北卡羅來納州東南浸信會神學院（Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest）博士生院院長，兼靈命塑造與事工中心（Spiritual Formation and Ministry Centers）副主席查克．勞利斯（Chuck Lawless），日前在網路上分享與年輕人交流後，歸納出的「年輕人離開信仰的8大原因」。高雄榮耀豐收教會陳維濬牧師也對此作出回應與建議。
勞利斯博士在《教會回答》（Church Answers）網站為文指出，身為牧師和教授，他看到那些在看似具有強大基督信仰的家庭中長大的年輕人，如今卻轉身離開教會，令他感到震驚與不解。在與孩子們懇談後，他歸納出了8大原因，敘述如下：
一、這個信仰從一開始就不是真正屬於他們的：有些年輕人只是做了別人希望他們做的事情，他們跟隨父母和祖父母接受信仰，然而他們從未真正將信仰變成自己的。
二、他們看到信徒言行中存在太多虛偽：有時年輕人在自己的家中看到信徒虛偽的一面，例如他們的父母在家裡和在教會中的言行表裡不一，讓他們相當不以為然。還有在一些特別的情況下，這些年輕人也看到了教會領袖諸多的道德瑕疵。
三、他們從未真正受過門徒訓練：儘管他們在基督教家庭中長大，但沒有人與他們在信仰上同行、經歷神，幫助他們在信仰上扎跟、對抗仇敵並爭戰得勝。他們不得不更仰賴自己去摸索一切，這也使得他們變得靈性脆弱。
四、他們生活在一個不斷變化的文化中，使得他們能夠以不同於基督教教義要求的方式生活：過去，上一輩的基督徒可能會默默地、孤獨地接受信仰無法融入生活的不適應；不過，現在的文化卻鼓勵並歡迎年輕人解構信仰，提出質疑與批判。
五、從未有人真正傾聽過他們的心聲，更不用說回答：太多年長的信徒只是批評孩子們的懷疑，要他們「只要信」就好。確實，我們要相信我們的信仰是美好完全的，但不能接受質疑挑戰、無法加以辯證的信仰，是有缺陷的；而基督信仰並非如此，是可以大膽相信，並經得起時代辯證的。
六、他們沒有真正扎根在聖經真理上：這與上面提到的「從未真正受過門徒訓練」有關。雖然有些牧者告訴過年輕人，「聖經是神的話語」，但沒有人幫助他們理解「我們為什麼要相信神的話語？」因此現在年輕的基督徒便常以懷疑的態度來看待聖經。
七、他們正在應對生活中的罪：勞利斯博士說他曾聽過一個離開信仰的理由，令他印象深刻──「道德敗壞往往先於不信」。有時，年輕人之所以在信仰上走向另一個方向，是因為他們在行動上已經走上了這條路。
八、他們在教會外找到了比教會內更強大的交友圈：他們在教會外找到了朋友、樂趣和團契，這些東西由於許多原因，是在教會無法得到的。我們知道他們與他人的連結可能是短暫的，但他們的眼光放在短暫即時而非長遠的事物上，比較喜歡現在能得到的東西。
遇到問題了該怎麼辦？
多年來持續牧養年輕人的高雄榮耀豐收教會陳維濬牧師，也針對查克‧勞利斯博士所提出的8大原因，分享他對年輕人，不論是慕道友或是來自於基督徒家庭的年輕信徒的建議：
一、福音化：耶穌是一切問題的答案，但大多數人認為其他外在事物才是一切問題的答案，這等同於生命沒有真正被耶穌得著。
陳維濬牧師說，很多年輕慕道友是透過互動、朋友的邀請來到教會，他們享受教會的服事和氛圍，但是還沒有接受主，所以遇到問題或是教會沒有辦法再提供相應資源的時候，這些人就會離開。
「因此，先讓他們相信主更為重要。」陳牧師指出，教會要更勇敢地分享耶穌，讓耶穌成為核心，否則會在遇到問題時，卻找不到可以前進的方向和問題的答案。
二、處境（生活）化：要破除年輕人認為聖經真理無法在生活中實際應用的問題。陳牧師說，教會在人們遇到問題的時候，總是只知道為他們作禱告，但是這其實是完全不夠的，教會要讓年輕人明白如何用聖經解決生命的問題，不要讓「我為你禱告」被年輕人誤以為只是一種搪塞，無關痛癢。
「我們的牧者領袖常常是不同的問題給出相同的答案，就是要他們禱告、禁食、讀經，我們缺少了將聖經原則變現的能力，以致於年輕人決定用他們自己的方式來解決問題」，他說。
三、論證（神學）化：要破除沒有答案，只要求對方順服的意識形態。陳牧師鼓勵牧者們在講道中，加入更多的論證和生命經驗分享，因為信徒們在讀經的時候可能會讀不明白。
「有些牧者不喜歡信徒反問信仰問題，覺得問問題就是質疑神，這其實是不適當的想法。」因為基督信仰應有的真正光譜，是既要有福音派的論證，也要有靈恩派的靈性洗禮。若把這些生命問題認真研究完後就會發現，問題的解答會慢慢導向耶穌。
四、使命（傳承）化：陳牧師建議，解決「繼續這個信仰與我何干？」的想法，要用呼召與使命來看待人生的選擇。有時年輕人在教會裡很難有發揮的空間，像是服事沒有進一步發展，或是更多幫助教會的機會，年輕人認為無路可走了，就會想要離開教會。
最理想的狀態，是讓教會的年長牧者成為「教練」的角色，讓教會不斷提供服事的機會，而不是只有特定的人才有服事的機會。因此在帶領活動上，不妨多放開手讓年輕人去嘗試，也多和年輕人探討「使命與傳承」的議題，讓他們看見盼望。
陳牧師並舉例，年輕信徒離開教會甚至基督信仰的理由，與職場上的年輕人離職的情況很相似，主要是「未來沒有發展機會」，抑或「無法實踐社會責任」有關。年輕人可能一開始就沒有了解到教會與自己的關係，或是覺得到教會就是要被服事、享受被服事的，而非互相道愛、彼此關懷。
五、門徒（師徒）化：和年輕人一起生活、帶領他們經歷信仰，而非只有課程的訓練。陳維濬牧師說：「時間的花費，永遠是最大的挑戰。」除了建立更緊密的關係外，給年輕信徒真實的愛，也非常重要。
年輕基督徒若生命中有罪的問題，牧者不要一味地只針對罪的部分加以批評，而是要多多告訴他：「我知道你有罪，而我愛的是你這個人，而不是你的罪。也因為我愛你，所以我願意陪伴你一起勝過罪的問題。」
像是成癮、同居、說謊等各式各樣年輕人常見的生命問題，教會確實要表達不認同這些罪，但更重要的是，讓年輕人感覺到，「我願意接納你的不完美，因為我們都不完美，我也沒資格說你就是不對、不好」。
