Questions we must answer

A couple of weeks ago I discussed a seminar I had attended based upon the book Growing Young: Six Essential Strategies to Help Young People Discover and Love Your Church. In that seminar Kara Powell, one of the authors of the book, talked about the three questions that young people ask.

1. Who am I? (Identity)
2. Where do I fit? (Belonging)
3. What difference do I make? (Purpose)

These are critical questions that churches need to help young people answer if we are serious about wanting to impact their lives with the gospel. Actually, these are the same questions that all of us ask, often at various times in our lives. In fact, I would say that every time we go through a life transition we ask these same questions.

One of the things I found interesting is how many young people answer the identity question. For many, they find their identity

• By the number of likes they have on social media.
• In their selfies.
• By the number of followers they have on social media.
• In their daily contacts on Snapchat.
• By the types of phones they have.

Before you think these responses to the question about identity are shallow I encourage you to think back to your teen and young adult stages. Where did you seek your identity? For many of us it was

• In the cars we drove.
• By our hairstyles.
• In the groups we associated with in school.
• By the colleges or universities we attended.
• By the people we dated.
• By the music we listened to.

It's easy to judge and stereotype today's young people, but doing so will not help us point them to the answers they find in a relationship with Jesus Christ. They don't need people judging them, any more than we did when we were going through those life stages. They need people to walk with them in their journey who will help them find the answers they are seeking.

The authors of the book suggest that their answers to the identity question is found in God's grace. Their belonging question is answered through the love of community, and the purpose question is answered as they become involved in God's mission in the world.

I wonder...how long has it been since your church addressed these three life challenges?