Changing the Face of Teenage Christianity

MORALISTIC THERAPEUTIC DEISM. Boy, is that’s a mouthful. And if you’re like me, you’re likely wondering what it is. According to John Blake at CNN.com, this is the “mutant form of Christianity” that most “Christian” teenagers are following today.

So what is Moralistic Therapeutic Deism? Let’s break it down word by word. Moralistic: this one is pretty easy, it means “characterized by having morals.” Therapeutic is synonymous with “curing” and “healing,” but I want to define it as self-medicating (you’ll see why in a minute). Deism is a word that you hear a lot; it means that you believe in God, but you don’t believe He has time to “interfere” in daily human life. Now that we have all the definitions, let’s put it all together. Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is belief in a god who doesn’t have anything to do with your life (deism), but somehow makes you morally self-conscious (moralistic), and makes you feel better about yourself (therapeutic).

THE PROBLEMS…

First, I’m going to say that I only partially agree with Blake when he says that most teenagers are following this “mutant form of Christianity.” The article’s opening paragraph says that teenagers use God as a “divine therapist” – but how can this be true if they’re deists? The god of Deism has been called “The Supreme Architect” who set things in motion but doesn’t intervene in our daily lives.

Next, the article states that most teenagers (three out of four) claim to be Christians. Out of those, over half of them cannot coherently speak about their faith, which is why the Dean calls them MTDs (moralistic therapeutic deists). In contrast, she says, Mormons and Evangelicals MUST be committed since they’re passionate enough about what they believe to tell others. From the inside looking out, I tend to think it’s something different.



HERE’S MY THEORY…

Those teenagers in the article who associate themselves with Christianity but are not articulate about their faith are confused or ignorant. Blake states that there are four attributes that committed Christian teens share. The first attribute is a personal story. Christians, no matter their age, have a simple way articulate their faith. This comes from their personal encounter with Christ. (For my personal testimony, click here !)

The next attribute Blake mentions is a deep sense of connection to a community of faith. While a place for fellowship is Biblical, a relationship with Christ is more crucial. A youth group flourishes when its members have real relationships with Jesus Christ and are willing to share about it (which goes back to having a personal story about Christ). Many teenagers may not feel that connection to a youth group because of the amount of emotional insecurity accompanied with being a teenager. True fellowship happens when members of a youth group begin to mature in the faith and have a stable relationship with Christ, and with each other.

Finally, a big reason teenagers are inarticulate about their faith is a lack of passion. This can come from what the author calls the “gospel of niceness.” A lot of churches today want to sugar-coat the Gospel and leave out the crucifixion and resurrection. Some youth pastors may be more concerned with getting people to come to church rather than giving useful Biblical lessons that are applicable to the teenager. There is a way to be nice while still telling the truth. Jesus was a “nice” person, but He also told the truth. As a matter of fact, if teenagers knew the real Jesus - the real, manly, fully God yet fully man Jesus who had emotions and faced temptations, they would not be able to hold back their passion!

So grown-ups (and teens), if you’re listening, here are four things that can help raise up a new generation of passionate Christians, and at the same time, change the world’s opinion of teenage Christianity:
1)Churches, we need to be more Christ-centered rather than attendance-centered or baptism-centered. Tradition is good – but Jesus is better.
2)Parents, we enjoy being challenged. We want you to be active participants in our faith – after all, you are the example we live with every day.
3)Pastors, give us the good stuff! We’re not babies, we don’t need to be spoon-fed the Gospel. We want something that will convict us and knowledge that will set our faith on fire.
4)Teenagers, it’s okay to want to know more about your faith. You will be learning new things about Christ your entire life. Take initiative, it’s more than worth it.