[et_pb_section][et_pb_row make_fullwidth="off" use_custom_width="off" width_unit="on" use_custom_gutter="off" padding_mobile="off" allow_player_pause="off" parallax="off" parallax_method="off" make_equal="off" padding_top_1="40" padding_bottom_1="20"][et_pb_column type="4_4"][et_pb_text admin_label="Title" background_layout="light" text_orientation="center" text_font_size="52" use_border_color="off" border_color="#ffffff" border_style="solid" custom_padding="10||10|" text_text_color="#666666"]<strong>Faith Loss</strong>[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type="4_4"][et_pb_text admin_label="Content" background_layout="light" text_orientation="left" use_border_color="off" border_color="#ffffff" border_style="solid" custom_padding="20||20|"]<p>Our research concluded that there were three main factors that adversely impacted the faith of youth raised in the church.</p>

<p>1. A parent/adolescent relationship in which parents miss the transition from raising a child to developing an adult at the onset of the adolescent mind set change.  A break down in the parent adolescent relationship frequently leads <a href="" title="">post modern</a> youth to distance from or dismiss altogether the beliefs and values of their parents because those beliefs from their perspective did not work.</p>

<p>2. The dual life culture that a majority of youth lead today.  This dual life experience discredits the truth. While they have heard the truth their entire lives their experience with the truth indicates that it does not work and thus is it true.  Gradually the dual life eats away at their faith leading them to reject the truth.</p>

<p>3. The lack of true preparation for life on their own that leaves youth unprepared, stressed out and open to culture shock when they leave home. Culture shock literally opens them to bond with a foreign culture in a short period of time.  To do so they must cast off their previous culture and often beliefs.</p>

<p>Of the students we talked to of liberal campuses, perhaps 1 in 10 reported that their faith had been negatively impacted by attacks on faith on the university campus.  In fact, we found many students who never encountered overt attacks on their faith in the classroom and few who felt challenged by the content of world religion courses.  By comparison we found that a majority of students encountered moral failure in the first days on campus as they tried to escape the loneliness and stress.  This moral failure often caused to avoid engaging in a church or campus ministry.</p>

<p>Are Teens Who Leave the Church Believers?<br/>We often hear that a key factor behind the loss of youth in the church is that many of the students in our youth groups are not genuine believers. As we interacted with teens in youth groups, we were surprised by the large percentage of teens who feel guilty and unsuccessful in their faith. This indicated to us that these young people are believers who have lost heart, rather than unbelievers who have not come to genuine faith.</p>

<p>Clearly, unbelievers do exist in our youth groups but according to our research, this is not the major reason why teens leave the church.  As we looked into the eyes of the young people we interviewed, we often saw frustration and disillusionment. We also saw the Lord behind those disillusioned eyes.
Statistics tell us that the majority of Christians become believers by the age of 19, which is why we place such a high priority on reaching children and teens.  Many of the students we interviewed had professed faith as children.  Rather than assuming that those who leave the church are not believers, we are better served by seeking out the reasons that their hearts have grown distant from the Lord while under our care.</p>[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]