A while ago during my prayer time I was praying for the children of our church and the children of our community. As I was praying, I began to think about my experiences with youth groups and Sunday School classes in the past—both groups that I’d led as well as groups in which I’d participated. I had a startling realization. In many of these groups, when kids who had previously been active and regular attendees of these groups stopped coming, it wasn’t long before those same kids started getting into trouble.
For example, I’ve seen many kids who have stopped participating who I discovered a short time later were involved in alcohol, drugs, and risky premarital sexual activities. Some of these kids have found themselves in jail, others with unintended pregnancies or sexually transmitted diseases, and still others addicted to substances that now control their lives. I don’t know which came first, these dangerous and destructive behaviors or the decision to stop participating in the ministries of the church, but I do know that in my experience the two have often been closely related.
I don’t mean to be alarmist or to point fingers. I do, however, want to make parents aware of a trend that I have seen many times in the past. When we see kids who begin to pull away from the church we need to be asking some serious questions about what really lies behind that decision. We need to talk to them about the activities they are involved in, paying close attention to where they spend their time, with whom, and what they are doing. I continue to pray for the children in our community that they would be spared these kinds of temptations. I hope that you’ll do the same.
