Is the church ready to answer the questions of Theology 101?

Children and young people want to talk theology, argues Ollie Ward. It’s the church that doesn’t

Two years ago, I was asked to host some seminars at Limitless Festival called Theology 101. The aim was to help young people construct some basic theology and explore their questions.

To my horror, the seminars were scheduled at nine every morning. That’s 9am! What self-respecting teenager at a festival wants to get up for 9am to come and discuss theology?

I imagined I’d maybe get 30 young people – and I’d get the ones who had certain theological bugbears or pressing issues to argue. But teaching theology is my job, so I said of course I would do it. “I love engaging the next generation in theology,” I said.

The first morning in a cowshed at Stafford Showground at 9am, a few HUNDRED young people streamed in (I still think it’s because the venue had phone chargers!) to engage with theology and think about God.

What was even more impressive than the numbers were the questions. “I’ve shown my friend John 14 and explained Jesus is the only way to the Father, but he’s a Muslim; how do I explain that Jesus is also God?” “Are there three distinct beings in the Trinity or is it better to speak about the three persons of God?” “My friend is questioning their sexuality; how can I help them understand that they’re made in the image of God?” These young people were certainly wrestling with theology.

This year I was helping with the eight to elevens programme at Spring Harvest in Skegness as part of the Virtual Sunday School (check it out, it’s free on YouTube). Over 550 eight to eleven-year-olds, were strongly encouraged by their parents to spend a week attending some hyped-up church services. Again, more impressive than the numbers, was the theological engagement.

“Why did Jesus have to be a man? Why is Jesus the son (not daughter) of God?” “Moses gets the Ten Commandments (which say do not kill) then comes down the mountain and then God tells him to kill loads of people for worshipping another god – how come?” “I prayed for my grandma, but she still died. Why didn’t God save her?” Tough theological wrestling again.

Children and young people want to talk about theology, and they’ve got some big questions. And not just at national festivals and gatherings. I’ve spoken to young people in my own church and from groups around the country who have some cutting and emotive questions and theological thoughts. And it’s not just my experience, it seems teenagers all over the world want to talk about God. Barna’s recent research entitled ‘The Open Generation’ suggested that eight per cent of global teenagers were ‘Bible engaged’, believing the Bible to be ‘the Word of God’ and reading it weekly. Excitingly, an additional 62 per cent of global 13 to 17-year-olds were open to engaging with the Bible and read from it more than three or four times a year; even though only 22 per cent would refer to themselves as a follower of Jesus. Children and young people all over the world are wrestling with theology. And it gets better.

Teenagers like Jesus. Almost half of global teens described Jesus as loving, caring, and offering hope. This is great news, right. All we need to do is put out a post on socials that we’re going to read the Bible together and think about Jesus and we can expect to see at least 50 per cent of the adolescent population of our towns and cities engaging… Yeah, if only. So, what’s going on?

Children and young people are wrestling with theology and spirituality, but I don’t think they expect to find these in a church. To be fair, most of them aren’t aware of church and the ones that are don’t expect a transformative spiritual experience or for us to address the big questions of life. A recent Youthscape survey (UK-focused) found that 71 per cent of Christian teens talked to their friends about faith but only 35 per cent invited them to something at church. Whereas 81 per cent of youth leaders encouraged young people to invite their friends to something, with only 49 per cent encouraging them to talk to their friends about faith. Maybe we’re embarrassed or unsure of our rich and detailed, yet tension-ridden reflections on God, because the theology we teach children and young people is small.

Back to the Barna study, which found that of those who professed to be Christian, only half believed Jesus rose from the dead, only 44 per cent that he was God in human form and only 32 per cent that he is active in the world today. These are the same teenagers that claim a Christian worldview and describe Jesus as forgiving and merciful. They have a therapeutic view of Jesus – he’s a really nice guy who died to forgive them of their sin, but that’s where the story ends. That’s all they know, and that’s all that church has taught them.

Now this research doesn’t reflect Elim churches specifically who are surely stronger in their theology and the Spirit’s activity today. And yet, every year I have students who are studying a degree in theology, who are a little shaken when they encounter the idea that sin is not ‘being naughty’. When I tell them that Jesus didn’t die so they could say sorry and go to Heaven, but that Jesus’ salvific work demands more than a personal response of repentance, there are always a few unsure whether they should begin throwing stones at me for heresy.

Their theology is small and therefore their role in the ongoing story of God is small. Jesus died to forgive them of their sins so they should say sorry and try to be good – that’s discipleship isn’t it? This poor theology (termed Moral Therapeutic Deism by Christian Smith) isn’t new, it’s been knocking about for years and is proving hard to shake. Good theology is so important because our view of God shapes how we allow God to shape us. If the gospel is that Jesus is loving and forgiving and died for me, my response can easily be limited to ‘I need to be loving and forgive people and stop my naughty behaviour’. Effectively being a Christian means being a nice, middle-class person – because that’s who Jesus was. How we see God (theology), shapes our experience of God (spirituality) which dictates what our response to God should be (discipleship). Without a good theology we shape God in our own image and shrink the gospel.

There are children and young people seeking a bigger theology, open to an encounter with a Jesus who loves them and forgives them, yes, but also inspires fear and invites them into a Kingdom that will transform them way beyond just being a nice person. We shouldn’t be afraid to offer children and young people a much more expansive, tension-ridden and yet liberative and transformative theology. One that sees the triune God active in the world today and invites us to partake in this friendship to bring about Heaven on Earth.

Children and young people need the full gospel. That’s way better than being a nice middle-class person. As a wise man once said: “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old, they will not turn from it,” (Proverbs 22:6).

Ollie Ward has a BA (Hons) in Theology and Performing Arts from Regents. He also has an MA in Contemporary Theatre Practices (University of Worcester) and has led youth theatres and community outreach projects for the University and various churches and charities. He’s currently the volunteer youth leader at St Paul’s Church in Worcester, and works with Tim Alford at Limitless Academy, which is part of Regents. He is also a trustee for 4Front Theatre.

This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.

Enjoy this article? Don't forget to share