Christianity, as a global religion, is at a crossroads. On the one hand, it remains the largest religion in the world: 31% of the world’s population is Christian, and sociologists predict this percentage to increase to 32% by 2060. [1] On the other hand, the religion is experiencing notable decline in the West. In 2010, 75% of Europeans and 77% of North Americans identified as Christian, practicing or non-practicing. The percentages in both continents are expected to decrease to 65% by 2050. [2]
If Christianity is projected to increase globally, but decrease in the West, in what parts of the world is the religion on the rise? In short, practically everywhere in the majority world! Africa, Asia, South America–in each of these continents, Christianity is experiencing record-breaking growth. So much so that sociologists predict that sub-Saharan Africa will be the new global home of Christianity. By 2060, 40% of all Christians will live in this region of the world, making it the locale of the majority of Christians globally.[3]
Despite this bright future for Christianity in the global south, western Christians must wrestle with the fact that the faith may continue to decline in their own cities and neighborhoods. Parents must think prudently about how they will raise their children with confident faith in an age of religious uncertainty. More than anything, the present situation should lead parents to pray for their children…and remember that saving faith is ultimately in the hands of God alone.
Alongside prayer, however, there are some practical steps parents can take to help cultivate confident faith in their children in this socio-cultural moment. These steps begin in the home and will expand into school, church, and society. In this blog, I will offer some thoughts for how schools can support the efforts of parents by organizing their curricular approaches in a way that will nurture confident faith.
Arguments Can Wait
Apologetics is the academic field focused on defending the reasonableness and truth of the Christian faith. For many years now, I have enjoyed reading apologetics literature and have come to appreciate the numerous persuasive arguments for skeptical challenges pertaining to, for example, the existence of God, the reliability of scripture, the historicity of Christ’s resurrection, and the goodness of God.
However, over time, I have come to realize that apologetics is limited in its ability to sufficiently nurture confident faith…and that’s okay. Apologetics seeks to influence the rational part of a person, in particular, her belief-forming faculties. This is a worthy aim, but there are two problems with leaning too heavily on apologetics, especially in the early years.
The first problem is rather obvious. The rational capacity of a child is not yet fully developed. Consequently, a grammar school child isn’t typically asking the intellectual questions that apologetics is seeking to address. If the teacher isn’t careful, the mind of a child can be overwhelmed by the tedium. It’s not yet the right time to implement a curriculum focused on abstract ideas and argumentation.
But second, and more crucially, human beings, regardless of age, are simply not reducible to their rationality. As much as modernism, and the Enlightenment project that grew out of it, emphasizes the rational capabilities of humans, we are not simply brains on a popsicle stick, as James K.A. Smith likes to put it. Smith writes:
What if, instead of starting from the assumption that human beings are thinking things, we started from the conviction that human beings are first and foremost lovers? What if you are defined not by what you know but by what you desire? What if the center and seat of the human person is found not in the heady regions of the intellect but in the gut-level regions of the heart? How would that change our approach to discipleship and Christian formation?
You Are What You Love (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2016) by James K.A. Smith
Smith is right. We are driven, more than anything else, by the engine of our affections. This is not to say we are irrational, impulse-driven beasts. Humans have minds, and within these minds, moral compasses. But modernism has led us to overestimate how much our minds guide our decision-making, and as a corollary, belief formation. The reality is we often make decisions and form beliefs based on intuition, rather than evidence, and affection, rather than argument.
So while apologetics may be useful for targeting the rational part of a person, it cannot effectively influence the hopes, dreams, inclinations, and deep-seated affections of a person. To reach this subterranean level, we need the power of story.
The Power of Story
Our hearts are captured, more than anything, by story. Stories enrapture us. They draw us into a different world: a world of intrigue, imagination, and curiosity. The experience Lucy felt as she stepped through a dusty English wardrobe into a cold, snow-covered wood is a metaphor for our own experience each time we cautiously wade into the counterfactual world of a good story.
What’s more, stories (at least the good ones) tend to leave us wanting more. There is a certain hunger or longing one feels upon the conclusion of a good book. It’s often the feeling of “I’m so glad it ended that way, but I wish it could have continued.” There is a reason why the Pevensy children, of which Lucy was the youngest, kept returning (well, except for Susan). The more they experienced the land of Narnia and all the joy it brought the