How do we keep our youth in the Church?
We are living in an age that has witnessed changes on a massive scale as never before. The way we communicate has changed with the coming of the internet, with information available that would have required a library and advanced degrees to access in the past. Ideas and information are available that leave our youth with choices that were never available a generation ago.
Moral norms have changed, with values and lifestyles that would have never been seen as acceptable in the past becoming part of mainstream. Gay marriage, the high divorce rate, children being raise by unwed parents, and profane music that sounds like it came from the underworld (which inspired it, I’m sure). Child sexual abuse is reaching shocking numbers, with clergy, boy scout leaders, coaches and police officers under arrest. With the environmental crisis increasing and political unrest spreading, hope is fading. Our world is polarized in ways that are mind boggling, and the economy has lowered the hopes and expectations of a whole generation.
With all that has changed in our world, is it any wonder young people are abandoning the Christian faith in droves? With the youthful questioning of authority, it is not enough to simply expect them to accept the authority of bishops, priests, and the traditions and teachings of the Church. There needs to be a change in the way we of the older generations communicate with our youth.
In this age of information we must demonstrate to our youth the difference between information and wisdom. Wisdom is that which is passed down from the past and which imparts substance and enlightenment. Wisdom is not about information, and does not compete with worldly knowledge. Wisdom need not be in conflict with science, nor be linked to narrow mindedness. Wisdom is that which not only connects us to the best of human knowledge and experience, but links us to that which is eternal. Wisdom gives us the ability to relate to our Creator, to our culture and to others. The urgency of imparting this message is great, for we have a whole generation that is in danger of losing faith in God.
It is not enough to expect our young people to attend services if we do not listen to them, respect them, and try to understand the world that is confronting them. They are growing up in a different world than people of my generation experienced, and this important difference must be acknowledged and respected. We can’t simply teach the truth to our youth, we must live it in a way that makes it real for them. We must be patient with them, be open to their struggles and non-confrontational when they disagree with us, or we will lose them forever to Christ.
Today’s young people have the same hopes and dreams that previous generations held, but this fast changing world is depriving them of hope. Nihilism has become the religion of countless numbers of our youth, with the result that life has become meaningless . The information age has driven God out of societal, cultural and governmental prominence, resulting in mass disbelief.
We who are of the older generations must witness to the wealth of truth that is in the ancient knowledge and wisdom of the Church by demonstrating it’s worth in how we live. If young people do not see a genuine living out of the Faith in us, they will keep looking for truth in directions that will take them far from it. Young people are worthy of our love and respect, and worthy of sharing with us the life in Christ that is their heritage as well. The Church will not be a draw to our youth unless her members demonstrate holiness of life and reach out with love, patience and understanding, offering something that is seen as real by today’s young people.
Finally, today’s young people need to see joy in the hearts of those of us who have taken on Christ. If we do not have joy in our hearts the youth will see nothing that is attractive to them, and will continue in the wasteland of consumerism, materialism, nihilism, and all hope for the future of our planet will have died.
Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Photos: It is my joy to be in Kanas City, as one of the speakers for the Saint Herman Youth Conference, Midwest. Father Moses Berry, “my brother from another mother”, is also one of the speakers. We’ve made a commitment to do joint speaking engagements in the future, if God blesses it.
Thursday December 28, 2017 / December 15, 2017
30th Week after Pentecost. Tone four.
Nativity (St. Philip’s Fast). Fish Allowed
Hieromartyr Eleutherius, bishop of Illyria, and his mother, Martyr Anthia and Martyr Corivus the Eparch (126).
Venerable Paul of Mt. Latros (956).
St. Stephen the Confessor, archbishop of Surozh in the Crimea (790).
Synaxis of All Saints of Crimea.
New Hieromartyr Hilarion (Troitsky), bishop of Verey (1929).
New Hieromartyrs Alexander, Basil, Victorinus priests (1937).
New Hieromartyrs Joseph, metropolitan of Petrograd (1938).
Venerable Tryphon, of Pechenga or Kola (1583), and his martyred disciple Venerable Jonah.
Synaxis of All Saints of Kolsk.
Martyr Eleutherius at Constantinople (4th c.).
Venerable Pardus, hermit of Palestine (6th c.).
Monk-martyr Bacchus of Mar Saba (8th c.).
Martyr Susanna the Deaconess of Palestine (4th c.).
Venerable Nektarius of Bitel’sk (1500).
St. Aubertus, bishop (668) (Neth.).
The Scripture Readings
Hebrews 10:35-11:7
35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:
37 “For yet a little while,
And He who is coming will come and will not tarry.
38 Now the just shall live by faith;
But if anyone draws back,
My soul has no pleasure in him.”
39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.
By Faith We Understand
11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.
3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
Faith at the Dawn of History
4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.
5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
Mark 9:10-16
10 So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.
11 And they asked Him, saying, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
12 Then He answered and told them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things. And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 But I say to you that Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him.”
A Boy Is Healed
14 And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them. 15 Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him. 16 And He asked the scribes, “What are you discussing with them?”
When I was young, I admired authenticity. Cold hearted, judgemental, sour-faced Christians struck me as shallow and hypocritical. The Jesus of the gospels that admonished hypocrites seemed real to me.
I admired nuns and priests because they had the discipline and commitment I lacked. (Catholic school.) I had a mom who prayed. And a father who lived by a strict moral code.
And the knowledge that Christians were suffering behind the Iron Curtain, in a Europe my grandparents fled.
Though I strayed from the faith, all these things “kicked in” when I was older. I could see the concrete effects of a strong Christian faith on the lives of so many. I had real-world examples.
It is so welcome to see wisdom, Christian wisdom, set up us distinct from information. And it warms my heart to see cooperation amongst our clergy such as between you and Fr. Moses. God bless you both in your work.
Thank you for your words above Father. Is it mostly the example, or lack there-of of parents and elders or is it the lack of perceived need for anything spiritual? We are all so “fat and happy” the Ascetic life and awareness of the spiritual world seem far from reality. On the other hand, why are evangelical mega churches growing and thriving in many locations? Is there a better example given there or is it that the “entertainment value” and short services are not present in the Orthodox Church? I am concerned about the general lack of liturgical participation and more specifically lack of youth involvement in our parish but I sometimes think it is a broader issue than just example. I look forward to your thoughts.
I suspect that there are several factors at work:
(1) The omnipresent lure of American popular culture (and Christians’ complicity in perpetuating it rather than opposing it with an otherworldly “culture of the Church”).
(2) The strong shift toward moral relativism in the educational establishment, with increasingly open anti-Christian indoctrination particularly in higher education.
(3) Most crucially, the perceived distance, inaccessibility, or absence of God. Parental and pastoral examples of personal faith can only go so far in aiding a child’s journey God-ward. If young people (or any people) do not encounter the living, intervening, miraculous, all-transcending God, but merely concepts, stories, and rites, why should they waste their time and energy? After all, as the apostle Paul wrote, if our Gospel is false (not real) we are the most pitiable of all fools.