When Kids Commit
A new book from respected youth and religion researcher Christian Smith called Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults adds weight to a statistic that Christian leaders have been tossing around for years. As Kara Powelll reports on the Fuller Youth Institute blog: of 18 to 23 year olds who have ever made a “commitment to God,” 85 percent did so before the age of 14.
The implications are as they have always been: It is essential for churches—and parents—to maximize their influence on kids with the hope of leading them into a personal and meaningful relationship with Christ. From our perspective, that includes keeping open a running and honest conversation about what we believe, why we believe it, and how we act on those beliefs.
Of course, many kids come to Christ after the age of 14, as well—just not as many. But our current cultural climate is open to talking about religion and belief. A 2006 Gallup survey (as reported in this story) shows that 50 percent of students reported attending a religious service in the previous week and 75 percent said they pray. It’s never too late to get intentional about exercising our influence with our kids in regards to modeling and encouraging Jesus-following, and encouraging them to do the same with their peers.
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