I am currently reading a book which summarizes research done into the spirituality of Australian young people. It’s called Putting Life Together by Philip Hughes. I am learning from this something I have suspected all along. I am strange, because I do not see the world as most people do. secondly i am learning that most Australian young people simply do not care for or have room in their lives for a genuine Christian faith.
This is echoed well in a great post I just read on the Average Youth Ministry blog. Check it out, a very sobering read and I believe a very real reality for those of us in youth ministry. http://www.averageyouthministry.com/2013/04/17/what-do-you-do-now-that-the-gospel-is-no-longer-good-news/
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I have pondered that question as well for a long time. I think one of the main problems is that westerners don’t think they are bad people. ie, that they don’t have enough “badness” (sin) which requires the solution of Christs death on the cross. Without recognising ones own sin or badness, the gospel is irrelevant. That to me is one of the main reasons we struggle to communicate the gospel with aussies…we are talking two very different languages. A new approach is needed and rather than just providing the anti-venom for a problem most perceive doesn’t exist, we need to show more of the “benefits” of following Christ. Keep up the great blogging! T
Yes Trav. I think we also need to discover a broader Gospel than just one of sin management. There is so much more to the life and death and resurrection of Jesus than just dealing with Sin (whole this is huge). But there is more to the gospel and to the good news we have to bring. We need to rediscover this in a fresh way.
I have found emotional healing is the good news in the Gospel, that God has for us in Jesus a way to throw off the things that hinder. Sin comes into this but is just a part. Many people do not understand how to process emotion or forgive or work towards wholeness. I was speaking to a middle age women who was living out her abuse as a child in unhealthy ways but had not entertained that she didn’t have to keep living that way. She was trapped and it was encouraging for her to know that she could with Gods help break free. It felt like the women who touched Jesus cloak moment.