Someone forwarded me an article last week asking why so many church kids go spiritually a.w.o.l. when they go off to college.* The writer, a Christian leader who resides in a college town, quoted statistics suggesting 70% of students who grow up in church drop out during their college years and only half of those who defect ever return.

The article caught my attention because, as a former pastor of a megachurch, this issue has been a real concern of mine for the past thirty years. Our student ministers were often disappointed that so many who had been involved in our youth program were living a hedonistic life-style within three months of stepping onto the college campus. Why is that? Why do some of the best Christian teens turn off so quickly to the past 18 years of training? We often discussed this problem but came up with very few practical solutions. So I was interested in the writer’s proposals.

I was disappointed, however, that in spite of his disclaimer that “…this isn’t a negative ‘beat up on the church’ post,” the article was primarily a beat up the megachurch post. The writer blamed the large churches’ superficiality, overemphasis on relevance (middle aged pastors trying to appear hip with skinny jeans and spiked hair) and lack of fundamental training in basic theology.

IN DEFENSE OF THE MEGACHURCH

While I agree with many of the author’s criticisms of some megachurches, it seems to me he makes the common mistake of painting all large churches with the same brush. Admittedly, some are superficial, but much of the strongest, boldest, most Biblical preaching takes place in American megachurches. And some of the most meaningful youth programs are conducted in large churches. The first church in Jerusalem began with 3000 believers. Could it be that the Holy Spirit still uses the preaching of the undiluted gospel to convert sinners and build large churches today? I think so.

Or look at it another way: there are 30% of the kids from mega-churches who do remain faithful and 50% of those who drop out do return. That means over half of the kids who attend college are in the church years later. Over half of a thousand is five hundred. Half of 100 is 50. Advantage goes to the megachurch.

While the church has a lot of improving to do, I’m weary of people bashing the megachurch. Someone once complained to evangelist Dwight Moody that they didn’t like the way he conducted his invitation. He asked, “How would you do it?” The critic’s response was, “I’m not sure, but I don’t like it as it is.” Moody tersely replied, ‘I like the way I’m doing it better than the way you’re not doing it.”

WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF THE PROBLEM AND WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?

In reality, I doubt the size of the church is much of a factor in this issue. I suspect we lose 70% of all church kids who attend secular universities. Students who grew up in little country churches or small inner city churches are not better equipped and more faithful than those who attended megachurches. The truth is it’s very difficult for the church to counter, in two hours a week, the anti-Biblical propaganda the kids receive all week long from entertainment, education, the media and sometimes their parent’s example.

Jesus warned that some seed will fall on shallow soil and spring up quickly but would wilt under pressure. Maybe when people defect spiritually, it’s not the church’s fault but the result of individual choices. According to Jesus some are going to get choked out by the cares, the riches and the pleasures of this world.

While we need to do a better job of teaching kids the basics…that’s not the ultimate solution. I don’t think youth leave the faith primarily because they aren’t grounded in the Word of God. They know right from wrong. Their slippage doesn’t begin in the classroom; it begins in the dorm room where they encounter incredible peer pressure to “party” like everyone else. They leave the faith because they are thrust into such an immoral environment that they get overwhelmed by the world, the flesh and the devil.

Then when they are no match intellectually for the liberalism taught in the classroom, doubt creates an excuse to abandon the faith altogether and eases their guilt. Rather than take personal responsibility for their sin they blame the church for their wrong choices. Jesus said, “This is the verdict, light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.”

The primary solution is to quit sending them to secular universities when they aren’t mature enough to handle the pressure. If 70% of kids had a serious accident while traveling a dangerous highway we would adamantly forbid our kids to drive that road.

Christian parents would be wise to make it clear to their children from grade school days that they will only fund tuition at Christian Colleges. Churches need to provide scholarships to Christian schools and include generous, monthly gifts to those institutions in their budget.

Since this counsel will be disregarded by most, our churches need to be more supportive of the campus ministries at secular universities. The home church would do well to forward the names of students to the campus minister and preachers in college towns. Churches located in college towns need to be more intentional in reaching out to church kids from other communities. Both need to follow up and find ways to hold the students accountable for their Christian beliefs and behavior.

We’re not going to save them all, but we can do a much better job of preparing our youth to negotiate through hazardous territory. We’d all like to see Christian students serving as faithful missionaries on the secular college campus instead of becoming another difficult mission field.

 

* Statistics taken from “Ten Surprising Reasons Our Kids Leave the Church” by Marc Yoder