For over ten years UCCF has run bethinking.org
It has the aim of equipping students to obey the command of 1 Peter 3.15: ‘Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.’ These resources help students learn how to defend their faith and hold out the truth, relevance and goodness of the gospel. But the challenges are ever-increasing, and so we can’t stand still.
Making it harder
Christian teenagers are growing up in a culture where biblical Christianity is more and more alien. People don’t hold the same basic assumptions about God, the Bible, sin and the gospel anymore.
This means that it is not only harder to stand firm as a Christian, it’s also harder to effectively communicate the gospel. Speaking to some teenagers at a youth conference recently, I asked them what questions their friends ask them about their faith. One replied: ‘They don’t ask questions, they just make statements.’
Non-Christian teens don’t seem to be asking the classic questions anymore; but even if they were, they wouldn’t look to Christianity for their answers.
More and more teenagers are finding that their friends think they are ‘bigots’ for their biblical beliefs, and they don’t know how to answer the accusation.
Over the last year we have invested in the future of student evangelism by producing new resources aimed at 14–18 year olds. Our prayer is that these will help equip young people to speak confidently and winsomely about Jesus. Equipping them at school means they will arrive at university better able to give an answer for their faith.
Asking as well as answering
Our aim is to provide something more substantial than ‘easy answers’. Easy answers won’t work in a culture where Christianity is seen as irrelevant, irrational and undesirable. Instead we want to see Christians capable of asking tough questions as well as answering them. So our series called ‘My Teacher Says…’ invites teens to ask thoughtful, respectful questions that cause their teachers (and others) to think about the assumptions behind their objections. In other articles we explore foundational ideas such as world-views, which are key to understanding and engaging with non-Christians.
Laying this foundation while at school will mean being better equipped for the challenges of our secular universities. We also hope that these resources will help to equip the increasing number of teenagers who are pursuing other paths instead of heading to university.
God questions
One secondary school science teacher recently commented on how frequently ‘God questions’ come up in the lab. ‘This is happening more and more’, they said, ‘so I will definitely be pointing my pupils in the direction of the new Bethinking youth resources.’ As well as teachers, there has been an enthusiastic response for this new initiative from parents, youth workers and church leaders.
Resourcing this generation doesn’t stop when they start university. We’re continuing to see university students equipped to face academic challenges against their faith. One student said: ‘For two years my course and faith conflicted. Now my next essay quotes from Bethinking and I’ve got the Bethinking booklets in my bag ready for conversations after certain lectures. I’m very grateful to have them!’
Schools and universities
In view of the growing challenges, UCCF is committed to equipping both school and university students to effectively and winsomely hold out the gospel. Bethinking has been vital to achieving this, and we trust that as we grow our selection of resources – particularly for teenagers – it will serve the whole church as we seek to prepare the next generation for whatever challenges they will face. These resources are free for all to use. Why not pass them on to your youth worker, or share them with your own teenage children?
