I recently, very recently, took over youth (middle and high school) at our church. There are about 40 kids in youth group. Most were reared in church. What I discovered is they know nothing.
That's quite typical. The American church, generally speaking, has failed the last few generations of children/teens. Much of "youth ministry" has become fun and games with empty emotionalism thrown in for good measure. While fun and games are important, they do not feed the mind, soul, or spirit. When I came to faith in 1979, I did so because I literally heard the gospel for the first time in an understandable way. I had been trying to figure out the message of the gospel for several years, but the Sunday School leaders at my Baptist church were more interested in manipulating me down the aisle at the end of the service so I could get baptized instead of actually explaining why one would want to respond to Jesus or be baptized (other than the fear of hellfire). Why would God want to torture me eternally, and why would shaking the pastor's hand and publicly getting wet prevent that? No one seemed to be interested in telling me why except to tell me how horrible of a person I was for asking such questions.
I certainly hope the situation in your church is not that bad, but don't assume they know much of anything. There will be at least a few there who have extremely basic questions.
Recently started a Romans study. Have not been able to start chapter 1 for two weeks because can't get out of intro. Out of 40 kids not one had a clue what the Protestant Reformation was, what a Gentile was, or what a Pharisee was. Did not know what The Catholic Church was. Out of 40 kids, could not get a single example of a protestant denomination. One kid finally said Jehovah's Witnesses. I guess they are technically protestant, but more correctly a cult.
I suggest dealing with definitions and church history only as needed. Deal with the biblical background and define terms like Jew and Gentile as they come up. Let the scriptures speak without bringing in the historical controversies immediately.
Is this typical for youth today, or do I just have a very challenging group?
It's typical. I was stunned when I was teaching youth about 18 years ago when I realized that many of the teens didn't know what resurrection was... They envisioned a "zombie" Jesus. And they REALLY didn't know (like many adults) that there will be a resurrection at the end of the age where we will all be in our transformed physical bodies again.
Instead of reacting strongly to their ignorance, I asked a lot of questions and discovered that the chorus of the worship song, "Lord I Life Your Name on High," was where they got their basic gospel knowledge:
He came from Heaven to earth to show the way
You came from heaven to earth to show the way
From the earth to the cross, my debt to pay
From the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky
Lord I lift Your name on high
Some theologically-inept worship leader told them at camp or somewhere that the chorus was the essential gospel message. Of course, the chorus leaves out the resurrection of Jesus!
So I had to shut down the rest of the lesson and spend a good 45-minutes teaching about resurrection -- the resurrection of Jesus and our future resurrection.
I was not teaching Christian History by any means. It was introduction to Romans including terms important to the study of Romans and a mention that the Protestant church was formed because Martin Luther and others studying Romans.
That led to 1 million questions.
You should be massively encouraged by the questions. Questions mean that they are engaged. It's going to take a lot of time, so don't get too concerned about how quickly you can get through Romans.
Sunday School education is typically set up to minimize any disruption caused by kids asking hard questions.
Classes typically stay away from difficult topics and if they do, they only teach one side of the story.
Exactly. I got in trouble a lot in Sunday School for asking obvious questions the teacher was trying to avoid. I finally learned to keep my mouth shut and assumed that the Bible was essentially irrelevant since the teachers of the Bible couldn't even answer basic questions.
I'd guess the reasoning for keeping things simple is:
- Thinking is work and kids don't like work.
- Keep things light and easy so you won't scare them away.
Yes, and that approach has the opposite effect. It tells students that the church has no knowledge or insight into the realities they face everyday.
We protect them so much that some kids loose their faith in Bible College because they begin to be confronted by real-world situations.
Bible College is a hot house for faith compared to the real world (the work force, the military, vocational school, or a regular college campus).
What did they do if they rejected Christ… run them out on a rail?
Actually, pretty much that. It is usually not very public, but those who do not accept the way Christ has been presented (if presented at all) are pushed out so they won't "infect" others. As a teenager, my brother was forced out of my home church even though he had previously walked the aisle and been baptized. He had a lot of questions as to how science and the teachings of the church connected, and he was bombarded with criticism from adults who also turned other teens against him. He received letters, some of them anonymous, threatening him with eternal torment. After a couple of months of that, he resigned from the church and could not believe in a god who treated people that way.
