Assume Nothing

My church experience was limited, but when my parents went to church it was a Lutheran church. When I entered junior high school, I was sent to confirmation classes. I will admit it was not a priority for me, and I got out of almost a year of classes by taking guitar lessons at the same time. Still, I was there for many classes. We went through the Apostles' Creed and Luther's small catechism. Not only did I not emerge from the class as a Christian, I was surprised to learn years later that Jesus was God.

How could that happen? That pastor was a good, Spirit-filled man. He would later speak the first prophetic word into my life. He cared for us, but yet I emerged from his class without a basic knowledge of Christ. How could that be?

I think the reason it happened was because the knowledge I needed was so basic. When we see youth grow up in a church, it's easy to assume that they have the basics covered. We can sometimes become embarrassed covering the basics again because we are afraid the youth will think we are talking down to them. The result is that we assume knowledge that is not there.

Biblical illiteracy is almost as big a problem inside the church as it is outside. A faith with major holes in its knowledge will not survive. Most of the Christian students I work with, even those from AG backgrounds know little about their faith. They are trying to survive on emotions and fellowship. Stress and peer pressure destroy that kind of faith. They need truth for a strong foundation.

It is best that we assume nothing. That guarantees that crucial knowledge will not be missed. It also take seriously the fact that we need to hear the truth many times before it's implications sink in. Everyone matures at a different rate. One person may be ready to understand a significant truth at thirteen while another is not ready for until sixteen. As long as we don't share the truth in a condescending way, youth will not feel talked down to when we repeat the basics.

The more basic the information, the more likely we are to assume people know more than they do and gloss over it. In the end, a little, occasional boredom is better than missing the truth altogether.