TRANSFORMING CHILDREN INTO SPIRITUAL CHAMPIONS
George Barna
Barna, George. Transforming children into spiritual champions. Gospel Light: Ventura, California. 2003.
INTRODUCTION:
The book is a summary of a research projects completed by George Barna in which he studies children, concentrating on children from ages 9 to 13. Because the life-view or world-view of individuals is formed by the early teen years, and because that life-view or world-view seldom changes after that, the author concludes that the focus of any church should be upon a ministry which has children as the focus.
It is probably true that the adult population of this nation is bent on ensuring that the next generation has a better life then previous generations. And, the concept of “a better life” is generally defined “the good life,” or the presence of comfort, the nice things of life and the absence of hardship and disappointment. Those believing in Biblical truth would define the good life as one that is characterized by obedience and service to God and other peoples. The latter view of life would demand that we do a better job of rearing children by developing the moral and spiritual foundations that support a holy and servant-like lifestyle. Such would be in agreement with the words of Solomon as found in Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no vision (foundational knowledge) the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy (spiritually prosperous) is he.”
THE SPIRITUAL HEALTH OF OUR CHILDREN:
Statistics describing the spiritual life of youth in the United States should alarm family and church leaders. The belief system held by the typical thirteen year old is a strong predictor of the spiritual profile that person will show as an adult. Note these findings:
1. Seventy-five per cent of young people: believe that Satan does not exist, believe that entry into heaven is gained by doing good works, believe that a child is born morally neutral, believe that the sacred books from the world’s religions are merely different expression of the same truth, and believe that sacred truth can be discovered through logic and human reasoning.
2. Sixty-five percent of young people believe that praying to deceased saints can have a positive effect one one’s life and believe that the Bible discourages sin but says nothing about sin as an innate condition at birth.
3. Fifty per cent of young people believe that life has no meaning apart from hard work that will produce a comfortable life, believe there are no absolute standards of right and wrong, believe that when Christ lived on earth He committed sins, and believe that the Bible does not condemn homosexuality.
The author cites two additional conditions existing among youth: (1) they are closed minded to learning new biblical insights or correction concerning their perspectives on life; and (2) there is an astounding consistency between the religious beliefs of adults and children.
One would be encouraged by the fact that most churches have a full-blown program dedicated to youth. Yet the research indicates that are church leaders are uninformed about the spiritual content of youth programs, the programs lack focus, and there is almost no measuring of significant indicators of effectiveness in the programs.
WHY DO KIDS MATTER?
Youth should matter to family and church leaders because they matter to God. The Bible offers these clear statements: (1) Children are a gift from God (Psalm 127:3); (2) Adults receive special blessing through their children (Dt. 28:4, 11) Children are desirable (Gen. 9:7) Children are so valuable to God the He commands us to protect them (Ezra 8:21); God loves children enough to ensure that they receive discipline (Mark 10:13-15).
The author maintains that the real battlefront for family and church leaders is to be found in the minds, hearts and souls of young people. Simply stated, the issue is this: if families and churches win the minds, hearts and souls of young people, it will ensure victory concerning the social and cultural issues that get much attention today.
WHAT KIDS NEED:
The issue of life-view or world-view must be moved to the forefront of the battle for the youth. The author states that human development is a complex mixture of growth in five core areas: the moral, spiritual, physical, emotional and intellectual dimensions of life. Yet there is something more important: one’s spiritual foundation is the major determinant of how a young person deals with each of the five critical areas.
From many years of research, the author’s major conclusion is this: there are three tiers of influence in American culture, particularly for youth. The highest level of influence would include music, movies, television, the Internet, publications, laws, public policies and parents. The second level of influence would include peers, schools, radio, mentors, colleges and siblings. The lowest level of influence would include churches and faith communities, adult education, counseling and therapy experiences, and the extended family. The author states that these levels of influence reflect what impacts most youth, ages 5 to 18.
Other conclusions drawn from this research are: the level of influence of the three tiers will vary depending largely on the characteristics of the family from which the child comes, the foundational principles supporting a life-view or world-view develop early in life, youth continually challenge and evaluate their life-view with each new experience, external elements do impact one’s life-view, and the more intentional and focused the effort to impact life-view the greater the impact will be.
The reader can easily draw these conclusions: parents can still have a major impact upon their children, the role of the parent in serving as a gatekeeper for their children relative to mass media is critical, and churches and church programs have a relatively small impact upon children in determining life-view.
The great need of children is help in developing a life view. Everything must focus on that need. Life-view might be defined in this way: the set of truth claims that serves to aid in interpreting and responding to reality in this world. George Barna cites these areas of need: help in identifying a purpose in life, help in clarifying core life perspectives, help in providing basic conditions and benefits they need to grow in a healthy manner, help in performing specific activities that enable them to lead productive and meaningful lives.
Impacting in a positive way the children of our churches and families demands this: an intervention of God, the Holy Spirit, to do a transforming work in the lives of children. Most parents feel under-prepared and overwhelmed by the task. The same is true for most church leaders. The task demands that family and church leaders sit together, pray together, and agree upon a focus and process that will provide a vehicle for Holy Spirit to transform children and enable them to build a life-view, a set of truth claims, for interpreting life in this century. Those truth claims have not changed and they must be applied in ways appropriate to this age.
TAKING ON APPROPRIATE RESPONSIBILITY:
The Barna research shows that eighty per cent of parents realize they have the primary responsibility for the moral and spiritual development of children. But, more than sixty-five per cent of them abdicate their responsibility to the church. Most families simply do not have a spiritual life together. The data lead to some conclusions:
1. Most parents model what their parents did with them.
2. Most Christian parents are neither spiritually mature nor spiritually inclined.
Parents come to believe that the church is the only alternative they have. So, they give their children to the church for the task of moral and spiritual training. The research further indicates that parents are generally satisfied with the task being done by the church. And church leaders are willing to accept that responsibility. But, it must be recognized that these conditions promote an unhealthy dependence upon the church to relieve parents of their God-given responsibility to morally and spiritually educate their children. But, Barna also says this: it is the rare church that possesses good insight into a young person’s family situation. Most churches simply enroll kids with a program without any contact with the family and without any encouragement of the parents to assume their responsibility. And, most churches have not defined a process or programs designed to produce a Biblical world-view in children.
The author cites many scriptural passages which provide a clear notion of what the family should be doing in building a Biblical life-view in children.
Spiritual development is not so much about what children know but rather who they are. Helping children develop godly character starts in the home and the contribution of the church must be viewed as support for the home and for the parents in fulfilling their duty to God.
HOW CHURCHES HELP TO RAISE SPIRITUAL CHAMPIONS:
This portion of the book raises this question: What can a parent expect from a church in the way of support and assistance as children are raised? What are the indications of an effective ministry to children?
The extensive research upon which this book is based reveals the following: virtually every church has a youth program, families are a crucial population base for churches, and about every church indicates that the youth ministry is an important part of the total ministry of the church.
Yet, when the research evaluated what a typical church does and how it measures the efficacy of its work, most churches just go through the motions. Activities and programs tend to be ritualistic and of questionable quality. Outcomes are usually not measured, tracked or interpreted. The author states that most youth programs assume a “holding tank” status shortly after their inception.
Sound youth programs must begin with a clear conceptual foundation, a philosophy that permeates every department, program and policy. It must delineate what they stand for and what they exist to produce. It must also include descriptions of what the roles of key players are: for parents, teachers, pastors, staff, mentors, and program directors. These descriptions serve as the parameters designed to encourage and foster a single product – life transformation of those youth within the church. It can be nothing less than that. Foremost, it must acknowledge that the transformation of youth into spiritual champions is first the responsibility of parents.
Mature leaders of youth must be able to define the indications of effectiveness. It cannot be such things as numbers, attendance or even completion of a prescribed curriculum. Rather, the indications must include such things as: the widespread involvement of parents in the spiritual development of their children, successfully equipping parents to become engaged in the spiritual development of their children, and evidence of successful transformation in the lives of the youth within the families of the church. Each of these requires measurement.
The investment made by any church in a program for youth must include: a variety of approaches to prayer for the youth, the senior pastor(s) serving as the chief advocate for the youth program, and eagerness on the part of youth programs workers, including any parents, to learn how to do their best in working with children. The best youth programs place an emphasis on depth of understanding key portions of the Bible rather than breadth. Finally, quality programs are those where the staff writes the materials to fit the program philosophy. If the focus of a youth program is on the development of a Biblical life-view in the participants and in the transformation of youth into champions for Christ, that kind of focus cannot be found in commercially produced programs.
Highly effective youth ministries begin by making sure every potential lay worker understands what is required before they commit to service within the program. Job descriptions are written which spell out the amount of time required, the skills needed, and the key elements of the ministry that must be understood and accepted by those working within the program. Only with these kinds of specifications will a church be able to show its seriousness in ministering to youth and the parents of youth.
BETTER PERFORMANCE THROUGH EVALUATION:
Local church leaders and parents must not fear evaluation. The author states that we often lull ourselves into complacency regarding the spiritual growth of our children. Such is the case when there are no measures of effectiveness established.
George Barna cites the following research findings as evidence of our complacency regarding what is occurring:
1. Eighty-seven per cent of parents are satisfied with what their church is accomplishing in the youth program.
2. Sixty-four per cent of senior pastors claim their church is doing an excellent or good job at helping kids to share their faith.
3. Eighty per cent of senior pastors say their church is doing an excellent or good job of enabling their kids to understand and engage in worship.
4. Seventy-four per cent of pastors claim their church is doing an excellent or good job of getting kids to adopt a Biblical world-view.
There is a major problem with these statistics. The view held by pastors simply does not agree with other research showing the understanding of youth on these four dimensions. The way that parents evaluate their child’s youth program experience is even less demanding. Parents evaluate on the basis of rote learning, behavior and discipline patterns, and what they might expect of their children in the future. Thus, the expectation of parents is very minimal.
Evaluation is critical to effective youth programs. Good programs will not substitute good intentions for outcomes that describe what spiritual growth and transformation of youth really is. Such a step is vital to measurement.
It should be stated that the time has come for family and church leaders to examine carefully the research that has been done, research that accurately describes the spiritual state of youth in our nation. But, that is not enough. Research findings demand that the same leaders set a shared goal of transforming children into champions for the Lord Jesus Christ. Church and family leaders working together, identifying specific goals that can be measured, and agreeing upon a process to be employed for working with youth, and defining the programs and activities as vehicles for accomplishing the shared goals, is minimal. As leaders, we must care enough about children, our children, to accomplish these things that are vital to transforming children into champions for God.
