Lesson one for teens: doubt your faith

Harrell, D. (1988, November). Lesson one for teens: Doubt your faith. New England Church Life. Reproduced by permission.

OVERVIEW

For teens to make a solid commitment to their faith, churches may need to encourage them to doubt it. That sounds paradoxical. But the only legitimate faith is expressed as a result of individual conviction. Jesus' question to his disciples was, "But what about you, who do you say I am?" (Mark 8:29) Adolescents must answer this question for themselves, in spite of our strong desire to provide Peter's answer for them.

In this autumn's Christian Education journal, Dr. Lester Steele, associate professor of religion at Seattle Pacific University, stresses that conversion in the church is primarily a process. Consequently, those engaged in ministry with adolescents are "co-learners," co- pilgrims," or "travel guides...(showing) young people the variety of choices available, (warning) against poor choices, and (affirming) good choices." Steele asserts that for adolescents to mature into confident Christian adults, they must be allowed to question their faith and values before they can embrace Christianity as their own.

To choose Christianity is to choose an identity for oneself. As James Marcia has written, there are four possible ends to the adolescent's process of identity formation:

1. The "identity diffused" person never experiences an identity crisis and refuses to make a commitment to a particular set of values and beliefs.
2. The "identity foreclosed" person fails to experience an identity crisis but succeeds in making commitments. However, since the individual has never asked "Who am I?" the values to which the commitment is made usually were passed on forcibly, typically by parents.
3. A person in "identity moratorium" is working through the crisis but has yet to make commitments.
4. The desired state, "identity achieved," exists when the adolescent has both resolved the crisis and made the commitment to his or her own chosen identity.

Churches tend to force adolescents into "identity foreclosure," Steele writes, and he considers this a critical concern: "We tell young persons that the faith is absolutely believable and true, but they should not ask questions. We tell them to love God by obeying parents and all laws, but they see abusing parents and unjust laws." As Christian educators, we are responsible to provoke critical examination of Christianity to our youth. However, we also are responsible to provide a safe environment for this questioning. By safe environment, I mean a community of Christians-both in the group and at home-who can appreciate people who don't always behave to the status quo. In a safe environment there is affirmation and verbally-communicated acceptance.

Finally, we as youth workers must model for adolescents a confidence in our own faith. We need to show them that being a Christian is not intellectual or emotional bankruptcy, but that in Christ we have found ourselves as God, the Creator, intended for us to be. We must not be people who fear the inquisitor or the debater. We know that the Gospel can stand in the face of doubt because the Gospel is truth. Let us trust our young people, and more importantly our God, and allow them to find Jesus to be their personal Lord and Savior.

IMPLICATIONS

• This may appear to be a radical idea but if one does not "own" something, then how long does one usually keep it, take interest in it, or care for it? Ownership is the key.
• A parent's or a youth worker's faith must go through this process if one is to help young people through it. One needs to ask oneself, "In which stage am I?" If it is anything but "identity achieved," we need to do some real searching about our own faith before trying to pass it on.
• A safe environment is essential for all experimentation and testing. The ultimate criterion for the Christian environment is unconditional love. To unconditionally love one testing faith is difficult.