Last night, I had a chance to to talk to a football player down here in West Texas. If you know anything about Texas, Football is a different deal. In other words, they grow em big down here in Texas.
In any event, this 6ft 3, 230 lb high school student came up to me after I finished a talk on understanding what Christians believe and why. He looked me in the eye and started, "Andy, I have a lot of doubts about God. I'm not sure if He's really out there. i mean, I've grown up in a Christian home, gone to church all my life, but I just don't feel God is around."
He talked about his struggle with Armenians.
He argued the Cosmos and Evolution thought.
He even wanted to talk about different denominations.
But when he said, "I went to my church retreat, and the speaker gets everyone all riled up and crying, I feel strange. Everyone starts confessing their sins, committing their lives to God, but after a week; it fades, and they go right back to where they were before the retreat.
It's almost like they just want to see a bunch of kids cry to validate God's movement in the meeting. I ask them about my doubts, and they just tell me to read the Bible more.
I ask them about how to feel God, and they tell me just to pray more.
I ask them how I can know God, and they say, Go to church.
Well, I've done all that, and it's not working."
I looked him square in the eye and said, "I stand before you in the name of God and apologize. I apologize for the FRAUD you've experienced in youth ministry. We've tried to quantify the response of our meetings, and sometimes it turns out to be really manipulative. That's why I committed 10 years ago, to stop drumming up emotional responses. If emotions come, great. But as a theater guy, I've been trained to get people to emote. I can manipulate an environment to make you feel a certain way, and I promise you I WILL NEVER DO THAT IN THE NAME OF GOD."
It was another reminder of the responsibility we have to be honest with teenagers. Their doubts are real, and they're looking for something they can count on.
We've got to stop trying to make God a formula, and let kids know the truth.
We've got to stop trying to create more programs where people can just get into emotional mosh pits, and start helping people understand what it means to live a lifestyle consistant with the values and principles God set up for us.
The Modern Day Christian Fraud of manipulation is doing more damage than it is doing any good, and all for what? So we can pat our backs and congratulate ourselves on how many people make temporary deals with God? SILLY!
If God is the creator of the Universe, we can be confident in His power to help bring people to Himself. We can rest in the fact He is "before all things, and in Him all things hold together."
I'm excited to continue my conversation with my new football friend.
I'm confident he's going to find truth, and he's going to be a powerhouse where it really counts...in the lives of others!
