The State of the Church and Teaching

The Church is dying and few seem to be taking notice.  I've read many an article about how the American Church is losing people of my generation.  These authors discuss how the Church is attempting to draw in and keep young people engaged, but that this is not working.  Many young people are beginning to see through the smokescreen and rebel, or they are turning their backs on the Church.  Why is this?

I've heard it said that my generation is beginning to see the modern American church for what it is:  a cheap imitation of coffee shop, rock concert, have-it-your-way Christianity.  They're tired of the Church trying to appeal to the culture by mimicking the culture.  I think this may be part of the problem, but I don't think that it's the main issue here.

The real problem with American Christianity is that the Church has stopped teaching.  It's succumb to the practice of coming to service on Sunday morning and that will be enough.  Get confirmed in sixth or eighth grade and that will be enough.  The Church is on the periphery and being constantly in the Word and Sacrament is not the center of our lives.

The Lutheran Church has always been a big proponent of teaching and education.  I learned today in Bible Class that the Reformation is what brought about widespread education in Germany, regardless of class, because the reformers wanted to get the Word of God directly into the hands of the people.  A similar thing happened in England.  The time period of the Reformation brought a revival in teaching the people what Scripture actually said.  I would argue that the Church of today needs a similar revival.  We need to teach what we believe and why we believe it because if we don't put the knowledge into the hands of our young people now, there is no way they will pass it on to future generations.

So many people shrug off the traditions of the Church because they're outdated rituals from a previous age.  How many of these same people would brush off these traditions if they really knew what they stood for and why we still practice them?  Education stops at confirmation and it shows in our churches.  Many stop attending once they are confirmed.  If they do still attend, they become disengaged and part of a youth group that is concerned with having fun and not further exploring Scripture and what it means for us today.

Think about other groups, like the Mormons, that continue to educate their youth rigorously throughout high school.  So many of their young people go out into the world ready to defend what they believe and they're passionate about it.  How much more would the Church's youth be able to engage the world if we actually continued to teach them things of substance?

I would propose that we stop watering down Scripture and continue to teach our youth past confirmation age.  Youth group is not enough; we must challenge them to grow by confronting them with the meat of what we believe and why we believe it.