My Post-Christian Son
I’ve noticed a big difference between the assumptions my 6-year-old son makes and the ones I made at the same age. I used to assume that everyone went to some kind of church. Johnny is surprised to learn that someone goes to church. He realizes that he lives in a post-Christian world.
I hadn’t realized this until my wife was radio “channel surfing” this morning. She came across a Christian radio station and they mentioned “the Lord Jesus Christ.”
“Is that a CD mom?” he asked.
“No. It’s on the radio.”
“Yeah, but is it the iPod playing over the radio?”
“No, it’s really on the radio. It’s a Christian radio station.”
“It’s about time!” Johnny replied.
My kids have an innate awareness that this isn’t a Christian world in a way that I never did. It will be interesting to see how that affects the way he sees being a follower of Jesus along the way. He’ll probably help me learn to be a pastor in a post-Christian world too.
Willem Kooijman:
March 19th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Though I live in Holland and not in America I have read quite a few of pastor Steve’s writings and comments on his writings. In Holland I was a teacher of English and religion at a high school for 36 years. What struck me in the last two or three decades is that on the one hand it is simply true that in a country like Holland there are practically no young people who go to Church on Sundays or are active members of religious organizations. On the other hand I noticed an amazing amount of interest in religious topics and topics that are discussed in the Bible during my lessons in religion.
I have no explanation for the fact that, at least in Europe, many young people are highly interested in religious themes, but never go to church and would never be willing to join any form of religious organization.