I have spent over three years of my life as a camp speaker something like 165 weeks over the past three decades. Even though I'm older than dirt I am hopeful I get to continue speaking at youth camps until the Lord calls me home or He returns.
As wonderful as camps are, they are not real life. I tell students camp is like "R & R" when I was in Vietnamone minute being shot at, the next being on a helicopter to pick up a flight to Australia for a week of partying, all the while knowing that in a matter of days, hours, you'd be back in the combat zone. That's what camp is likean environment unlike "real life," a venue where Christians who love the Lord and them surround the teens. Though it is a great place to begin and deepen a walk with Christ, it also has the potential to be a place where a well meaning speaker or counselor can push students into making commitments without relaying the realities of the difficulties of serving Jesus 24/7.
But the "pluses" of camp far outweigh the "minuses," and it is a continuing joy to be able to minister in that arena.
But the joy is tempered with the reality of seeing a continuing decline in the students. No, not the decline in morals, or family ties, or all the other things you might first think of, but rather the amazing, almost stunning decline in basic Bible knowledge.
Many of these students are, of course, un-churched. But most are churched, and most attend what would be classified as evangelical churches. Yet the vast majority has virtually no awareness of basic Bible stories, much less basic Bible doctrine.
If I had a buck for every time a student said, "I never knew that was in the Bible" I'd never have to send out a support letter again. And, trust me, I am not a "deep" speaker; I am an exhorter who sticks to the basics. Yeah, my style is "in your face," "blunt," and perhaps often called "rude," but the content is basic stuff.
How come the basics are "startling" and "new" to the majority of students?
Tthe root cause can only be the family and the local church, to include the youth group. In all our "relating" and meeting "felt needs" it would appear we have become so therapeutic that we've lost the "basics" of the faith. I get invited to speak at a lot of youth groups, and am consistently amazed at the lack of Bibles brought to a Christian youth group, even when it is called a "Bible study."
Thankfully there are others who have not only detected these things, but are actively trying to combat Biblical illiteracy within the Body of Christ, particularly as applies to teens. Some are catching a bit of flack, because teens (and parents) complain, "Youth group isn't fun anymore."
Guess what? Though "growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" should be enjoyableit does involvegasptwo, terrible four-letter wordstime and work.
For a long time parents have rightly been challenged to know what their children are being taught in school. May I suggest it is equally vitalperhaps more so in the long-termfor parents to be aware what is being taught in their children's youth groups?
Yes, camps and retreats are great, but they are not "real life." In order to "fight the good fight of the faith" in the normalcy of life, Christians of all ages need to be equipped, fed, and challenged continually; even it the equipping, feeding, and challenging are not "fun" and even if they are not "sensitive" and even if they involve work!
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