I remember being asked by a mother what more she could do to encourage her 14-year-old son to stay close to Christ. Her family was already an active part of their church. She was already doing a great job opening the Bible when she could and taking him to Christ in conversations.
My first step was to encourage her. Her son was safe in God’s hands. She could rely on her Heavenly Father to show her son all love, patience and mercy. Her regular prayers for her son’s heart to always belong to the Lord were being heard. Her desire to surround him with great teaching, great role models and a great church family was bearing fruit in his life. I wanted her to know that his salvation was not a burden that she had to carry.
Christian peers
Reluctantly, I said there was one further step she could consider. Not an essential step. But one worth considering. Wherever possible she could look for opportunities to surround him with Christians of his own age.
I think my teenage years were the hardest years of my Christian life. The peer pressure seemed intense. I felt alone as a Christian, even though I knew I wasn’t. I remember lying about what I believed just to escape the endless questioning. I remember avoiding the weekly school Christian gathering just to avoid drawing attention to my faith. I did not have enough understanding in my head or passion in my heart to relish the difficult situations. I lacked the conviction that Christ was truly enough for me.
Fuel for the year
But, once a year, I went to a Christian summer venture. For one week I was in a place where Christ was worshipped, where time was set aside for a quiet time and where small group Bible studies assumed we were all interested to find out more. I made friends who lived far away, but who are still friends today. The leaders were normal, yet deeply wonderful. I aspired to be like them. That one week seemed to give me extra fuel to power me through the rest of the year.
I rejoice that, since then, the opportunities for our young people to surround themselves with a Christian peer group have increased. More churches are co-operating together locally in their youth and children’s work. More regional gospel partnerships are putting on events to gather their teenagers together. More summer ventures are being planted to cater for the growing need (e.g. Contagious, Titus Trust, CPAS). More Bible conferences are providing worldclass children’s and youth work (e.g. Keswick, Word Alive, Bible by the Beach). These things all help, as children and teenagers find safety in numbers. Their hearts are warmed by a crowd, by a loud noise, by being lost in a sea of faces. Where we are in a position to offer them these opportunities we should do so, thanking God for the privilege.
Jesus is enough
But what about those without access to these events? For some, even ‘local’ gatherings are too far away. For others the financial cost can be prohibitive (although some camps offer subsidies – it’s always worth asking!). Are these youngsters missing out on something essential to their spiritual growth? No! Neither a peer group, nor large numbers, nor great leaders can save. There is only one Messiah.
Christ is enough for our children and young people. Even in a small church. Even if there is no one else of their age. The normal experience of Christian teenagers in the UK is that there are no other young people who feel like them in their church. Many Christian adults feel the same! We don’t keep searching for a church until we find one full of people just like us. We need to keep telling our youngsters that if they have Jesus, they have all they need to keep going in faith. And we need to keep praying that God would use their circumstances – either the blessing of a Christian peer group or the absence of one – to grow their trust in Him.
