There’s something powerful about working with our younger church
members. The youth group, our kids ranging from junior high to high school, present a very interesting opportunity in leadership, because they are getting to the point where they start asking questions. How we handle those questions says a lot about who we are as a church.
I often end up in situations where I have the opportunity to speak to people
from other churches and traditions, and in many of them, questions were not encouraged, in fact, sometimes they were outright suppressed. Questions came from doubt, they were told, and since it was more important to believe, they were given shame for their questioning and told to “just have a stronger faith.” As if that was a switch one can merely flip!
Questioning is important in the life of faith. And when we welcome those
questions, especially from our children, we find that our faith, and in so doing, our entire body of faith, becomes more powerful for it. Because when questioning is suppressed, EVENTUALLY the facade breaks down, and people just feel lied to. But when questioning is encouraged, even if we get stuff wrong along the way, people feel like we are growing.
So work with kids. Do your best with the questions. And when it turns out you got something wrong, trust that your honesty in that process will show that rather than lying to them, you were simply joining them in growing.
Pastor Dan
