Already Gone

I’ve been reading Already Gone: Why your kids will quit church and what you can do to stop it by Ken Ham over the last few weeks and while I’m not finished with it I’m just about done reading it. I may yet finish it, we’ll see, but I am ready to talk about what I have read.

The gist of it is, Ham (the man behind Answers in Genesis) and company surveyed one thousand people who were raised in conservative churches and who are no longer attending. The interesting and in his (and my) mind is that the kids are leaving while they’re in the Middle School/High School age range. Only eleven percent of those that left did so while in college. Another interesting tidbit is that the more regularly these kids attended Sunday School the more likely they were to leave the church, believe that the Bible is less true, defend the legality of abortion and same-sex marriage, and defend premarital sex.

Due to the survey he believes that this is largely happening for two reasons; the church is no longer “relevant” to them and they are tired of perceived hypocrisy. I’m on board with that. I know that many people I’ve talked to who no longer attend church but still believe and some that no longer believe point to these very reasons. He goes on to say that the solutions need to look like a) teaching sound apologetics and b) live a more Christ centered life.

I got to the point where he seemed ready to discuss remedies to these problems when he seemed to go off on a tangent. He began talking about Genesis. According to Ham, up until the 1800′s the church pretty much all believed in a young earth creation model. Thanks to Darwin and wishy washy church leaders who caved, that all began to change (but just in Europe). With the authority of the Bible undermined, the churches in Europe began to empty. Now in America we’re beginning to see the same phenomenon. So really he’s putting much of the blame for what’s happening on that.

All of these premises raise a couple of questions/problems in my mind.

If the only tool you have is a hammer, everything begins to look like a nail. – Ham strikes me as a bit of a one trick pony. It seems that he decided that the whole Genesis thing is the ultimate Biblical issue. While he does say that if you don’t believe in a literal interpretation of Genesis 1-2 you can still be saved (mighty generous of him) he makes it pretty clear that if we do and we pass that on to our children then we’re perpetuating a heresy. Also, based on my research there were Christians prior to the eighteenth century that believed in a less than literal interpretation, so his hanging all of this on Darwin seems disingenuous to say the least.

If it’s broke then fix it. – He studied why people were leaving his sort of church. If they’re losing folks for the reasons that their survey indicates then look at those things. Here’s a hint, looking at those things and then deciding that the real problem is elsewhere means that you’ve wasted a lot of time and money on surveys. Like I said, the notion that we need to teach the Bible in a more relevant way (you can’t make the Bible more relevant than it is, which is very) or that we need to be less hypocritical are important realizations. Stick with that and don’t get sidetracked.

See how the other half does it. – He did indicate that if the exodus in the conservative church was bad then it must be worse in the more liberal churches. It’s worth noting that he did not study these churches, so there was a big assumption there. I’m not sure where my church would fall in his study since we are certainly conservative in a number of ways (no female pastors, homosexuality is a sin) we’re “liberal” in others (many pastors don’t believe in a literal young earth interpretation), but I’m guessing the latter and we’re doing okay so far as I know. So yeah, I think if he believes that the whole literal interpretation thing is the stumbling block then it might be worth looking to see if the liberals are having the same problem since we’re not teaching it. We should be absolutely bleeding people if it is. If we’re not then maybe we’re doing something right?

Spare the (man made) rules. – In striving not to be a hypocrite, a sound goal, you need to set up fewer man made rules. See I don’t have a problem with you trying to live a godly life. You’ll fail, but so long as you recognize that and share that recognition with others you’ll prevent yourself from looking like a Pharisee. More important than that though, you need to stop making up your own rules. See when you tell people not to dance, or play amplified music, or drink, or read anything other than the KJV you’re going to end up on the wrong side of it. When kids realize that doing these things don’t make you a bad person and when they see that there are folks out there who not only do these things, but don’t believe in this sort of literalism for its own sake then they are going to leave. Maybe they’ll become a liberal, maybe they’ll leave the church entire.

Actually, I’m not sure that this last point isn’t the main problem. It’s got nothing to do with the slippery slope of Darwinism/Humanism. It’s got a whole lot to do with the sort of moralism that you’ve set up in your church. I can’t blame kids for waking up and wanting none of that. It corrupts what the Gospel proclaims. I will grant you that it’s easier to teach than what the Bible actually says, but it’s not the truth.

Finally, I will agree with one of the conclusions he draws. Sunday School, at least the way most churches I’ve been to do it, is broken. It’s not really a “biblical” practice, really only having existed for around two hundred years, so I say it might be worth either dumping it entirely or severely overhauling how we do it. Either way it appears we wouldn’t be losing much.

  • sidfaiwu

    Ham is one of atheists' favorite targets because of his fixation with Genesis (it also makes him a fairly easy target). He really believes that 'belief' in evolution is the cause behind most, if not all, of modern societal ills. When his survey indicated that evolution isn't the cause of the 'problem' he's exploring, I'm mildly surprised he published those results at all. I guess he was hoping to either discover that it's the root cause of crappy Sunday school classes and religious hypocrisy or hoping that no one would notices his bait and switch.

  • spiritualtramp

    Yeah, I'm going to try and finish the book just to see if he gets back on target. Regardless though it seems like if you want to spoil church for you kids you need to send them to a conservative church Sunday School.

  • http://twitter.com/Moonlyte Moonlyte

    In our church, the Sunday school problem is that its not important to the parents. Why should they enforce attendence, when they themselves would rather sleep in. If the program's aren't strong enough to bring the adults in, then they won't bother bringing the kids, so Sunday school dies out. You're right when you say it needs to be relevant, but it has to be across the board for everyone. Kids only follow the example set by the parents.

  • http://jesusgeek.ino/ John

    I don't think Sunday School is broken. I think the parents who leave the spiritual development and nourishment of their children to the church and shirk their responsibilities are the ones who are broken.

  • http://www.redshiftpodcast.com/ Kij

    Hey, Scott. Saw this linked from @JenAvila. Just wanted to give my reply.

    For the past couple of years, I have been straying from the “conservative” church, but more in the sense of suits and ties, and choirs, and altar calls. My church has a podcast, simulcasted services with different musical styles, and NO Sunday school. They just don't have it. The church is very heavily centered around LifeGroups (a new craze sweeping the nation, I think) and community outreach.

    So, in the sense of uber-conservative churches, and kids leaving those, yeah, that makes sense. Princess Leia once said, “The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.” The same seems to be true to humans. The more we are told to NOT do something, the more we want to. I think Paul talks about that, when discusses how the law was given to show us that we are sinful, but because there is law, we sin.

    I think that in raising a child, it's important to let them make decisions, instead of just telling them what your answer is. Their salvation is their decision, not anyone else's.

    I think the major difference between an uber-traditional church and a modern mega-church is the main message, I guess. Just from what I think of off the top of my head, I picture a stereotypical old southern Baptist pastor vs Joel Osteen. The Baptist pastor is pretty much guaranteed to preach more about damnation, saving souls from hell, and the Devil, while Joel Osteen has said that he's called to preach about how God is going to take care of you, and how He has the best in store for you, and not so much on the “negative” side of things. I would think human nature would lean towards that which is comfortable, and away from that which is uncomfortable. When it comes to that, I think there should be a good middle ground: the damnation message needs hope, but the happiness message needs consequences. Don't know how that middle ground would sound like, though. Still figuring that out.

    So, even though the tweet “Want to ruin church for you kids? Send them to a conservative church for Sunday School.” freaked me out at first, I think we pretty much agree when we get down to it.

    Just my $.02

    -Kij

  • spiritualtramp

    Hey Kij!

    Like I said, I haven't finished the book, but I don't think the worship style was what Ham had in mind. However, I agree with you. How many Christians worship does need to change a bit. It doesn't matter whether we use modern musical arrangements (though I prefer them) or what we wear when we do it (though I as you prefer not to dress up). What does matter is how much life is in it. I think a more conservative worship style can have life. In fact I know it can and I think that life can appeal to kids. So I just want you to know I'm not anti-Conservative anything really, not even politics. ;-)

    Now as to the rest of what you said, I give a hearty Amen! There is a middle ground between John Hagee (for instance) and Joel Osteen and that's where we need to strike theologically.

    I think we've found that in our church and I'm certain there are churches throughout the country that have as well. So it can be done. We must remember that we're all sinners saved by grace and that we've all been on the wrong side of God. So when we look at those who have yet to come to a saving knowledge we have to do so with a kindness and love that many on the conservative side don't. We must also show that same kindness and love to those “in the family” that we don't agree with. That's actually harder for me than the former some days.

    Sorry the tweet freaked you out, but glad it got your attention and glad you dropped by to comment. Don't be a stranger!

  • Dzlaty

    Times are changing but I do not think that a moving away from the conservative point of view is the answer. What could be a solution is a hybrid. The days of the 'building' are gone I believe. We are going to have to learn to relate to people on a more personal level as Christ told us to do in the first place. You are correct about the man made machine. That has to go. It is this machine that has crippled the message that Christ has left for us to deliver.

    Young people are distrusting of anyone in a position of authority to begin with. It goes with the territory. Demonstrating the Christian attitude and placing relevance in God's word is not that difficult to do AND you can do that while referring to the Bible. Using the Word as the foundation for the lesson that you are trying to teach, yes we actually have to teach in Sunday School not just recite scripture.

    For example….

    I am currently looking at the story of when Jesus was asked to have dinner at the house of the Pharisees and during that dinner they were interrupted by a woman that fell to her knees at Jesus' feet and weeping. You know the story. I want to use this story to show my Sunday school class that Jesus did not once ask her what her sins were. He did not rebuke her, nor did he make her suffer hours of effort of self conflagration. He knew that she was truly repentant of all she had done and He simply forgave her of everything just like He forgave all of us of everything that we have ever done. This is very important to know. No sin is so great that Jesus' sacrifice will not cover. God loves us THAT much… Anyway you get the idea. It is this sort of thing that I believe we should be building our Sunday school lessons on.

    We can take current events and relate them to trials and tribulations from the Word. We have been given the ultimate took to help us relate to God's will. We do not have to hurl damnation onto people's heads nor does everything come up smelling roses. Young people are smarter than that. They know that life is tough. If we tell them that being a Christian is all roses, we are lying. Be honest in our approach and they will respond to that.

    Peace.

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