To ask youth workers and parents:
1. What’s wrong with Moralistic Therapeutic Deism? What’s the big deal? (For further reflections on this question, see http://kendadean.com/371/moralistic-therapeutic-deism/ )
2. Where do you see your congregation doing a good job communicating the historic teachings of the church to teenagers? Does your church tend to communicate these doctrines, or church teachings, explicitly (by talking about them in front of teenagers) or implicitly (by enacting them without necessarily talking about them)? What are the risks of sharing the church’s teachings with teenagers explicitly versus implicitly? (page 28)
3. Do we, like Shannon and Lali, allow the lines to blur between our Christian faith and the different faith or non-faith of another? Does this ever get in the way of honest and mutual understanding? What have young people seen you do in this situation? (page 31) [For another approach to this question, scroll down to #3 in “To Ask Teenagers,” below.]
4. On page 36, there is a list of external forces that might disrupt a teenager’s commitment to Christian community. Have any of these been an issue in your family or congregation? What effect has it had on the faith of a young person you know?
5. “Even if teenagers participate fully in youth ministry programs, are involved in churches, and manage to dodge disruptive life events and overwhelming counter-influences, youth are unlikely to take hold of a ‘god’ who is too limp to take hold of them.” How does your congregation talk about God? React to Dean’s statement in light of the National Study of Youth and Religion’s finding that most teenagers think of God as either “a divine therapist” or “a cosmic butler.” How do you think about God? Is God powerful or just friendly? (page 36)
6. In the Scriptures, the love God shows us in Jesus Christ, and the love God asks in return, is sacrificial love. How do you feel about that word “sacrificial”? Are you comfortable with faith that involves making sacrifices? Or did Jesus’ death on a cross make sacrifice on our part unnecessary? Do teenagers understand sacrifice? Is that a problem for Christian faith? (page 37)
7. Is being a Christian dangerous in our culture? Have we led teenagers to believe that God’s love is nice and will keep them safe? If so, is that so bad? (page 40)
To ask teenagers:
1. Read the letter from Alicia to her youth minister (pp. 25-26). What do you think? Do you agree that you would have more to say more about your faith if you had more chances to talk about it?
2. What’s wrong with Moralistic Therapeutic Deism? What’s the big deal? (For further reflections on this question, see http://kendadean.com/371/moralistic-therapeutic-deism/ )
3. If you are talking to a friend who is part of another religion (or isn’t religious at all) are you more likely to:
- Try to find out what is similar about your and your friend’s (religious) beliefs and practices;
- Tell your friend about why you’re a Christian, and ask about her/his religion (or non-religion) and what s/he likes about it;
- Tell your friend that you’re a Christian and explain how s/he can become a Christian too;
- Something totally different!
Have you ever been in this situation before? How did it go?
4. What words would you use to describe God? Why those words? Pick one and share why you tend to think about God this way. (You could close your discussion with a prayer offered to God, using these names.)
5. Have you ever met someone you consider holy? Describe what, in your opinion, makes that person holy. Is niceness part of being holy? In your opinion, is there a difference between holiness and niceness? If you had to choose, do you think God wants you to be holy or nice?
6. Is it “safe” to be a Christian at your school? Why or why not? Do you think adults who want you to be a Christian “get” what being a Christian means these days?