The Devil's Playground

Just watched a documentary called "The Devil's Playground". Its about how the Amish tell there kids at the age of 16 that they are now passed the age of accountabililty and must decide for themselves if they want to join the church. They are released into what is called "Rumspringa" where they spend a couple of months or a couple of years trying out whatever vice suits their flesh. Some become pregnant other become drug dealers almost all become party animals. The Amish church claims that 90% of them eventually decide to join the church, embrace the Amish lifestyle and turn their back forever on the world - "The Devil's Playground."

It struck me how we have no rite of passage for our young people. We live under the delusion that if they asked Jesus into their heart with they were 4 years old they are now a Christian and have fully embraced the lifestyle to follow Christ. When I was in youth ministry I would say this was the single most destructive thing for church kids to believe. Salvation was an event that occured when I was 4 and now I'm bound by that 4-year old's decision.

As a youth pastor I always had to spend the first 6 months with the teenagers convincing them they weren't saved so they could actually consider the Gospel.

With our kids we're doing everything we can to show them the power and truth of the Gospel but I will not lead my kids in the "sinners" prayer. When they become teenagers I want to have a real discussion with them about the Gospel and tell them to "count the cost" as Jesus tells us to do in Luke 14 (how in the world does a 4 year old count the cost?).

The Amish don't have it all figured out but they're a heck of a lot closer than we are on this one.