There’s an op-ed piece and several responses going around this week about how religion isn’t necessary for raising “good kids” that has had me thinking. Is raising good kids what faith is about? I think most youth ministry people I know would say faith is a whole lot more. In a recent blog post for parents on our church website I wrote about how faith is about fierce love,
“In the past, Sunday school and youth group were often focused on morality. But, faith is more than being “good.” Following Jesus is about transformation of our own lives and transformation of the world. When things fall apart, when society is a mess, we have hope that God’s fierce love for us and for the world has the power to make things better. Each of us has personal stories of the power of love to heal relationships, bring about justice, and overcome hatred. Being a moral person is a likely side effect, not the purpose, of practicing faith.”
Much of my thinking on this has been shaped by the writing of Kenda Creasy Dean, who I got to meet last December! (see selfie on the right) Check out her books, Almost Christian and Starting Right: thinking Theologically About Youth Ministry to learn about how church should be about more than being good and nice.
Christine V Hides 
We had this conversation in my church recently. The pastor noted that when he asked the confirmation youth what their faith meant, all their answers had to do with their personal salvation. The adults in a recent meeting answered in a similar way. So, for Lenten worship we are using a series from Marcia McFee called “Roll Down, Justice!’ and offering studies in person and online based on the book “The Very Good Gospel” by Lisa Sharon Harper. Hopefully folks will begin to expand their concept of what it means to be a disciple of Christ.
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