In fourth grade, my Sunday school class started a new activity where you had to write your thoughts and prayers to a question the teachers put on the screen on a “prayer” card. Some of the questions were like “write a verse you have learned recently or really like? or write an example where someone showed kindness?” You would think that these questions would be pretty easy to answer, but not the type of environment I was in. They expected me as a fourth grader to remember verses and if not, you were allowed to look in the Bible. But at that age I didn’t know how to read the Bible, how to use the numbers at the end of one of the names to find the section we needed to look at, and what all the big confusing words meant, hoping I didn’t write a verse that was not correct. You’d think I know a verse or a kindness someone showed. I thought I did too, but I was wrong. All these kids around me were coming up with elaborate verses and “godly” actions people did. I was just thinking about when someone lent a pencil to another student in class because back in the day, pencils were sacred.      

That’s exactly the problem--kids being forced to do something. According to a 2017 Lifeway Research survey, 66% of Christian youth (ages 23-30) leave the church after High School. One of the top reasons was that: 29%– didn’t feel connected to the people at the church. Other reasons given were a disconnection from the church in general and lack of student ministry opportunities. Then there was 13% that left because the worship style did not appeal to them. While 1 in 10 left because the sermons were not relevant to their lives.” There were also two studies conducted. One by the Barna Group and another by USA Today.  They both found that “nearly 75 percent of Christian young, fall away from the faith and leave the church after High School,” just like the survey conducted by Lifeway Research did, but this time they had a different reason. One of their key reasons was because of intellectual skepticism (not sure if God is real). We can’t be so strict on our kids and force them to do something they don’t understand or like. We need to let them question and have doubts or we risk more youth leaving. 

It is true that falling out of faith can lead to disbelief in God and people never coming back to the faith once they start having doubts, but it can also make your faith stronger. In an article written in the Providence Journal by McKenna Park named “Four Reasons you Shouldn’t Feel Guilty about Doubting your Faith”, beautifully explains the reasons why doubting and falling out of faith is a good thing. She starts off with saying “Of course, doubt can lead to disbelief, but it can also lead to stronger faith.” It depends on how you react when you have thoughts of doubt. Doubt puts your faith through a test and forces you into action. You question whether something is true or not. Your journey finding the answers is a faith-building one, and you’ll come out stronger for it. 

In life, like Mckenna Park said  “As most of us know from experience, doubt isn't a one time occurrence. It'll happen repeatedly throughout life.” Repeatedly occurring doubts are actually good because it helps to freshen not just our faith, but all aspects in life. 

We should not weaken faith. Really. How many people were actually taught the Bible? If young people were not taught the Word of God and had no biblical foundation established, it would definitely be easier for them to fall away than to keep the faith. Questions are a part of growing in faith. Our homes and churches should be safe places to talk about doubts. Instead churches need to take a look at their youth programs. Instead of entertaining youth with bands, food, and games which can produce weak faith. We need to teach them Scripture with logic, truth, and a Christian worldview but still make it interesting with Bible stories told through films or animated films, role play, and/or storyboards. We must help the youth know who God really is, and what His Word really says. Christians would benefit from learning apologetics. This will help people not only defend the faith when asked questions but answer their own questions. Studying apologetics adds a deeper understanding of scripture and would most likely lead to less youth leaving the church due to doubts. As Frank Turek, a Christian author and lecturer on apologetics said, addressing the problem of youth falling away from the faith this way: “What we win them with we win them to. If we win them with entertainment and low commitment, we win them to entertainment and low commitment.” We need to stop making little kids write prayer cards when they barely even know how to read or understand the meaning of the Bible. We need to stop the Holier Than Thou People and entertainment based church services from being a priority.

This year, let’s fight for the right to have doubts and fall out of faith.