Teenage Faith—Is It Really Christian

Is it possible that an alien faith has taken over the youth in many congregations without us even knowing it? That’s what Christian Smith and Melinda Denton found when they did the National Study of Youth and Religion.

In this study, they found that teenagers often held a religious outlook characterized by the following beliefs:

• A god exists who created and orders the world and watches over it.
• God wants people to be good, nice and fair to each other as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.
• The central goal in life is to be happy and feel good about yourself.
• God is not involved in my life except when I need God to solve a problem.
• Good people go to heaven when they die.

Smith and Denton have given a name to this set of beliefs. Together they are called Moralistic Therapeutic Deism or MTD for short. They contend that many youth who are active in our congregations have actually replaced the classic Christian faith with the watered-down vision of faith characterized as MTD.

In a recent article in Christian Century (August 10, 2010), Kenda Creasy Dean reflects on how this bland, banal version of Christianity has taken over our youth and what churches can do about it.

According to the Exemplary Youth Ministry study (funded by the Lilly foundation), churches that foster highly devoted youth are more likely to have a full-time youth minister, a variety of programs for teenagers and opportunities for youth to participate in religious practice and leadership.

These congregations are also more likely to:

• portray God as living, present an active
• place a high value on scripture
• explain their church mission, practicers and relationships as inspired by the life and mission of Jesus Christ
• emphasize spiritual growth, discipleship and vocation
• promote outreach and mission
• help teens develop “a positive, hopeful spirit,” “live out a life of service” and “live a Christian moral life.”

What this means, says Dean is that these churches don’t view youth as moralistic do-gooders, but as Christ’s representatives in the world. That’s not a bad goal for us all, youth or adults!