Disconnected kids

I had the chance to sit and talk with three disconnected kids yesterday for about an hour and a half. I believe that two of the three probably had a relationship with Christ and the third had never really considered it. They were drawn into the conversation because I just asked a bunch of questions that eventually got them telling me all about their lives and beliefs. I am convinced that students want to be challenged and forced to think. So here are the things I walked away with:

1. Anti Routine – These kids were anti routine. They wanted things to change and move and be a bit unpredictable. Their main reason for this was because they wanted to be anti tradition. The felt like tradition let people to empty action.

2. Know God to tell others – They held the belief that the only reason to know God was to tell other people. They did not see it as a by product of knowing Christ but rather the only motivation for a relationship. The struggle with this is that when the only reason they want to know God is for other people, it causes them to have a shallow experience of any at all.

 3. No future – They had not concept or picture of what their lives would be like in 5-10 years. They are very in the moment and could not articulate thoughts beyond that. This is interesting because we communicate Christ in terms of a future, but this does not resonate with kids.

4. No questions – they had no questions about life and purpose, they were very now focused so why ask about deeper things. This also translates into the way they hear Christ. If they are not looking for life or purpose, then that message of Christ is not heard.

It was a great conversation and I will continue to process the thoughts, but it is amazing what you can learn about a disconnected audience when you take time to ask them what they think.