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Already Gone: Why your kids will quit church and what you can do to stop it by Dr. Ken Ham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars Ken Ham has teamed up with a Britt Beemer, a survey research specialist. Working together they have surveyed a cross-section of conservative evangelical young adults. After analyzing the results they present the case that our young adults are leaving the church at an epidemic level. However t he most surprising discovery is that the vast majority left the church prior to high school graduation. The youth had questions and challenges for the Christian worldview that were not answered satisfactorily and they left mentally before finally leaving physically. Ken presents the material in a pretty easy read structure. Their statistics are presented well. I believe the material is a bit week in considering a solution. Ken is very balanced in his presentation. He does a good job of indicating that the focus on music preferences and other worship concerns are not good or bad but they are clearly missing the point. Ken’s point is to re-establish the foundation of God’s Word and especially Genesis and then to make sure we are really living it in a non-compromising manner. Ken shows that the youth leaving fit into two categories: those who specifically reject faith in God’s Word and those who believe God’s Word but see church as irrelevant. In his argument to return to God’s Word he hopes to win young people to faith through an “evidential apologetic” by knowing and giving well explained reasons to believe. In his argument to “really live” according to God’s Word he hopes to remove the hypocrisy and lack of love that makes the church seem irrelevant. I believe he neglects the fact that in the Post-Christian western worldview we are raising a generation who believe all truth is relative. A person may say they don’t believe and then have well argued evidence presented and yet still choose not to believe. What’s true for you may not be true for them. Evidence in and of itself is not enough to convince them. Another person may say they believe in those truths and yet hold belief in contrary views at the same time. Truth is a very fluid thing for them. I believe it is very possible that both groups of Ken’s survey may have the same underlying problem – a post modern view of reality. Ken’s book is a great eye opener to the issues facing our churches in today’s generation. I believe it falls short in the answers. We still need a good holistic curriculum that helps build a transformational worldview for our young people. This worldview is solidly based on God’s transcendent character and man’s need for truth authored by a transcendent God. Then returning to Genesis will have a transformation effect in their lives. I recommend the book but feel it is still lacking some crucial elements. View all my reviews >>
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