As my son is nearing the end of his junior year of high school, the thoughts of the post-high school years are on my mind. Over the past few years, my wife and I have developed a college-and-career ministry at our church designed to minister to our young people during their first 5 years after high school. The following few articles will deal with "What happens to our graduates after high school?"
Have you ever seriously considered this question when it comes to their life direction, their relationship to the pastor and church, and their spiritual support? We live in a culture that has verifiably extended the “teen years” well into the twenties—and churches have yet to respond! In fact, some pastors and parents literally have a mental “disconnect” when our kids turn 18—it’s as if we say, “Well, you’re 18 now, so you’re on your own.” Yet, if our young adults will stay faithful and seriously embrace God’s purpose for their futures, they will have to deliberately swim upstream against the multiple pressures of the culture around them—and they need our help to do so!
This is not an easy battle, and it requires a lot of encouragement and support, but it can be won! How can we come alongside of our graduates and help them navigate their late teens and early twenties? First, let’s take a look at what usually happens.
Understand the Progression
The progression away from God for high school graduates often takes on these eight steps:
1. Culture teaches them not to grow up.
2. Some church youth ministries have indirectly taught that God isn’t fun.
3. Many churches offer little or no focused, age-specific, spiritual support for someone after high school.
4. Graduates who don’t go to a Bible college get jobs and start going to local colleges, often working on Sundays. (Note: There are very few Bible colleges that I could even begin to recommend for anyone other than a young man called to preach. That is why we have a Bible Institute.)
5. At their jobs and colleges our graduates face every kind of temptation and wrong friend.
6. These new and appealing connections and relationships draw them away from the “boring spiritual things” and a church where they have little connection. (This can sometimes be due to the "just church services, no activities" mentality.)
7. The allure of the world, a paycheck, and a new level of “adulthood” promises freedom, pleasure and fun.
8. The process ultimately leads to disappointment and spiritual devastation.
The progression away from God for high school graduates often takes on these eight steps:
1. Culture teaches them not to grow up.
2. Some church youth ministries have indirectly taught that God isn’t fun.
3. Many churches offer little or no focused, age-specific, spiritual support for someone after high school.
4. Graduates who don’t go to a Bible college get jobs and start going to local colleges, often working on Sundays. (Note: There are very few Bible colleges that I could even begin to recommend for anyone other than a young man called to preach. That is why we have a Bible Institute.)
5. At their jobs and colleges our graduates face every kind of temptation and wrong friend.
6. These new and appealing connections and relationships draw them away from the “boring spiritual things” and a church where they have little connection. (This can sometimes be due to the "just church services, no activities" mentality.)
7. The allure of the world, a paycheck, and a new level of “adulthood” promises freedom, pleasure and fun.
8. The process ultimately leads to disappointment and spiritual devastation.
We must lose the “you’re 18 so now you’re on your own” mentality. This progression is killing our kids, and in part two, I'm going to discuss a few things we can do to help our graduates avoid it!
