Session 2 Shallow
Session 2
Shallow
Before your group session, take the following self-diagnostic to prepare for conversation.
View “Session 2: Shallow” on the DVD
Discuss the Following with Your Group
In the video, David uses the image of a car to explain the way many young adults experience Christianity. Driving off the lot with all the confidence in the world, they soon find it doesn’t hold up as promised—the bumpers fall off and the windshield turns out to be cellophane instead of glass. Like that car, Christianity doesn’t seem equal to the challenges of the road. Is your experience of faith similar or different? In what way?
Christopher, the seminary student, likens church to a Band-Aid, a cover for the wounds of churchgoers, rather than a place where wounds can be uncovered and truly healed. Why do you think so many churches struggle to be communities where people can be completely honest without fear of being judged?
David suggests that the shallowness of young people’s experience of church has to do partly with a lack of depth in the church and partly with a willingness on the part of young adults to remain shallow. Do you agree or disagree with his assessment? Why?
Which of these—shallow church or willfully shallow young Christians—do you think is most at work in your faith community? Why?
David points out in the video and in You Lost Me that many churches separate the different generations for activities and sometimes worship so that these experiences can be tailored to fit the preferences of the audience. Based on your answers to the Five-Minute Prep, how important are intergenerational relationships in the life of your church?
David contends that apprenticing young people, one-on-one, into following Christ is more effective than big events. Do you agree or disagree? Why?
What effect could a mentor/apprentice relationship have on Christopher’s experience of church? How might his perceptions about church change?
What effect could a mentor in the life of faith have on your pursuit of Christ?
What effect could apprenticing someone in the life of faith have on your pursuit of Christ?
David tells the story of a woman in her seventies who is upset by what she perceives as a lack of respect from the younger generation—they don’t know her name. She doesn’t seem to think it’s a problem that she doesn’t know their names, however. How do you think this mindset contributes to making the church, in Christopher’s words, “a source of injury”?
Christopher expresses discomfort with the influence of media and entertainment on churches, which turns churchgoers into passive consumers. Instead of sitting back and receiving, he says, we should be giving something of ourselves to each other. What might this look like for you?
What would you have to sacrifice in order to apprentice a younger sister or brother in the faith? What would you have to sacrifice in order to be mentored by an older sister or brother in the faith?
Spend some time in group prayer as you bring this session to a close. Pray specifically for the Spirit to guide the ongoing conversation about apprenticeship and intergenerational relationships in your faith community.
The following questions will help you and your group keep the conversation going. If you can, make time in the coming week to connect with one or two of your group members to continue the discussion.
In what ways do the older adults in our church (or ministry or other group) apprentice children, teens, and young adults to be Christ-followers? In what ways do younger Christians mentor older adults? How can we support these relationships and expand connections between generations?
In what ways are young people an integral part of our church’s or ministry’s life? What are some additional ways they can contribute to our overall health? How can we ensure that they are becoming servants of the church, not just consumers of the church’s services?
How are we communicating our expectations for the important role young people have in the life of our church or ministry? How can we provide meaningful rituals and rites of passage that demonstrate both our committed care and our high expectations?