I completely agree with all that Dave. Just like to add though that something that goes hand in hand with idolatry of the cost lifestyle is complete apathy for anything even slightly counter-cultural.

This personally frustrates me no end as its always an uphill battle to get anyone to commit to something they wouldnt ordinarily do, especially when it comes to serving other people. I know you were talking about non christian teens, but as christian teens we need to be willing to get out of our comfort zone to serve God, thats wat living in a fallen world means for those of us God has chosen.

Besides, if we arent willing to go out of our comfort zone, then were not going to be willing to tell our m8s about the grace of God, cause thats not exactly something that comes naturally to most people! top

complete apathy for anything even slightly counter-cultural.

that's a really helpful point...
i know it in myself - apathy will often work itself out in laziness... lazy about the things that matter but busy about the things that don't matter!!

I know you were talking about non christian teens
i do still think that the Christian teens are shaped by this mindset.

what do we do to combat it???
suggestions? top

I would say that those two points raised would most likely be true of teenagers everywhere. It is certainly true of teenagers in our area, and in our context at St Matts Youth.

I think the reason behind this is that teenagers hit a point where they want to have their own identity. They want to be different to their parents, and no longer be associated by default with what their parents are doing. This isn't to say that they won't do things with their family any more, or that they no longer want to be seen with their parents (although this is true of some teenagers), it is more that they want to be thought of in their own individual right. To do this they seek out others with similar interests with whom they can 'fit in'.

I think the real challenge to those of us involved in ministry is to make sure that our churches and particularly our youth groups are places where people (especially newcomers) feel welcomed. We need to ensure that we are not simply catering to the needs of our core kids, but also providing an environment that kids want to invite their friends along to, and that the surfie, skatie, nerd, emo, whoever...will feel welcomed at.

At Summer Madness (our youth camp for years 9-12 to kick off the year) we surveyed all the kids about their lives. The purpose of the session was for them to personally evaluate how they were going in their Christian walks - however we collected their answers at the end so that we could get an overview of where they are at. I haven't fully finished processing all of the results yet, but something interesting that has come up so far is the top five answers to the following two questions (don't worry about how the 'points' system works - just use it for relative comparison):

* Situations in which I struggle to live as a Christian:

1) Around non-Christian mates (76 pts)
2) At school (53 pts)
3) At home (43 pts)
4) At parties (22 pts)
5) Involved in gossiping (15 pts)

* Top temptations to my faith are:

1) Lust / Sexual immorality (77 pts)
2) Wanting to do what my friends do / popularity (69 pts)
3) Wanting to gossip (34 pts)
4) Prioritising other commitments (32 pts)
5) Doubt (30 pts)

The interesting thing to note is that the majority of the kids are really concerned about fitting in with the world. They don't particularly want to 'stand out' as Christians, because it is seen to be 'uncool'. The tough thing is that when you try to make youth group more 'cool' the unintentional result is usually that you lose some of the focus on the gospel.

I think the most important thing is that we need to show teenagers that you can have heaps and fun and live a Godly life at the same time. As leaders we need to be modelling this to the kids that we lead. Allow them to get to know us properly, and see that we are normal people too. top

I suppose this is part of being where the action is, but a lot of my mates just want to have fun. And I think they want to have fun now, and pay later. Living life on credit.

So teens choose to do things without regard for the consequences because the fun is now and they don't have to think about the consequences until later - and if they can get drunk enough, they wont even have to think about it til later either.

One challenge is that, given two competing demands on our time, the teenager naturally leans to the one they perceive as more fun. Erina takes priority over youth group, because it is more fun.

The response to that, I think, could come in 2 ways: we could make youth more fun; or we could make youth appealing on another basis.
I think ccecyouth does a great job of being fun, and I think it promotes itself as fun effectively as well. However, the tricky part is convincing people that it will be more fun than their other options. In fact, I think it needs to be seen as much more fun before someone will take the risk to come for the first time. The hardest part may not even be actually being fun, but convincing people of this.

But I wonder whether there is another aspect we ought to be playing. Youth group offers something more than fun, something more meaningful.
Perhaps a better way of reaching teens is by convincing them that there is more to life than fun. If teens become attracted to something because it is 'different' or 'challenging' or 'deep', then the whole game is moved onto new grounds - onto grounds where the Church has the advantage.
I think coast youth revolutions are great at this - my friends show a lot of interest in hearing someone's answer to "If I were God, I'd end all suffering". They actually desired to hear someone else's point of view, whether or not they agree with it.

My question, then, is: how can we show teens that life is more than just fun?
And supposing that some teens already accept this, how can we appeal to a desire for meaning? top