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Church is Boring, Part 2
by Norman and Ann Bales
All About Families

We promised to offer some practical suggestions for parents whose kids think church is boring. Well here goes.

• Before you talk, take a careful look at your own life. Teenagers come equipped with their own internal mechanism that picks up on hypocrisy faster than Doppler radar detects a thunderstorm. Peter's advice, originally given to Christians facing a hostile society, serves parents quite well, " . . . rid yourselves of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, evil and slander of every kind" (1 Peter 2:1). If you want to communicate your faith to your offspring, your faith has to show up in something besides church attendance.

• Encourage questioning. You may have to swallow hard before you can actually do that and mean it. But honest doubt can sometimes lead to faith. It worked for Nathaniel and Thomas. Try to avoid hitting the panic button and giving way to the gag reflex when you hear an outrageous and outlandish question. Answer the question as truthfully and accurately as you can.

• Don't be afraid to offer some challenges. This isn't going to work if you neglect our first two suggestions. But if you've established a certain level of credibility, you can ask, "Are you willing to spend ten minutes a day with the scriptures and then talk with us about what you read?" Or you might ask, "Is it possible that boredom isn't as much with the way we 'do church' as it is with your attitude toward it?" Try to avoid making an accusation. Put it in the form of a question.