What are we teaching our students?

With a title like this, it could take several posts to cover the whole idea well. For today I merely want to think about the message our students get from us about who God is and what the point of faith is. (That could still take several posts, I know.)

I was reading an interview of Steve Chalke on the website for The Wittenburg Door magazine in which he says, "I reached a stage where I felt that so much of the theology I grew up with just didn't relate to my life at all. It just condemned me all the time, I felt guilty and useless, which I think in my teens or my twenties I kind of accepted. But I reached the point where I thought, 'No, this is no good because if it's a condemning message that makes people feel bad about themselves then it robs them of hope.' " (www.wittenburgdoor.com/archives/chalke.html) It seems that I have run into a lot of writing lately about negative theology. (Rob Bell as an example.)

Are we perpetuating this problem in our lessons, messages and worship with teens? Could it be that we are creating more people who will choose to walk away from God and Church rather than be subjected to what they see as scare tactics to keep them coming? I would guess that this is probably not the case in most places, but I know it happens; sometimes to the best of us in our worst moments. We need to know that Jesus is the bringer of hope and love, not despair and fear. And we need to know that for ourselves as youth workers so that we can speak it and live it authentically for those we lead. Where do you stand, my friend? We must all examine our lives and beliefs regularly for the unhealthy influences of the world. Take some time this week (why not today?) and look at what messages, verbal and nonverbal, you are conveying to your students, your family and yourself.