How can youth students wisely navigate discussions about religion, morality, and ethics when confronted by their peers or even older figures such as teachers? What are some habits that could help them to maintain their faith even when they are faced with doubts?
These are among the questions that the recent Truth Matters Conference, which took place from April 1-2 at Church Everyday, aimed to answer.
According to Michael Sherrard, the author of Relational Apologetics and director of Ratio Christi College Prep who was one of the main speakers for the conference, a significant aspect to defending the Christian faith and also sharing the faith through relationships is through respectful interactions. Christians can respect others well by "living well," "being prepared," "using appropriate tactics," and "being humble," Sherrard said, addressing an audience of some 270 youth students.
Clarifying what he means by "appropriate' tactics, Sherrard said that Christians must listen well, ask questions, and avoid manipulation.
"As an apologist and pastor, I listen and ask more questions than I make statements," Sherrard said. Asking questions such as, "How did you come to that conclusion?" or "How would you resolve that evil?" helps to allow the other person to examine whether his or her own conclusions have good logic or evidence, he explained.
Christians must also be careful of manipulating people into agreeing with their own perspective, he added. A major way Christians may manipulate others is by conveying acceptance only on the condition of agreement.
"It's saying, "I will only accept you if you agree with me,'" Sherrard explained. "This is one of the biggest reasons people leave the church. People are not allowed to ask questions, and are made to feel like bad Christians."
When faced with a question that has a difficult or unknown answer, Sherrard advised against saying something like, "You shouldn't have to know the answer to that; just have faith," and instead encouraged Christians to be able to admit that they don't know the answer.
"You will never know all of the answers, and you don't have to know everything to effectively share what is true," Sherrard said. "People don't need experts; they need people who will respect and love them."
To that, an attendee submitted the question, "What if someone were to attribute a Christian's inability to answer a question to the invalidity of the Christian faith?" during the Q&A portion.
"It's just not possible to know all knowledge because we are finite beings," Sherrard responded. "I would ask that person, "Is what you're saying that someone needs to know everything about something in order to be justified in believing it?'"
Sherrard also gave some of his own ideas on how to maintain the faith in college and onwards, including following God's teachings; finding a Christian community; learning the reasons Christianity is true; and living on mission.
Following God's teachings is "good for you," Sherrard said. "They are for your peace and joy." Many times, he explained, people start to doubt the existence of God when they don't "feel' him anymore.
"But if you are not following him and his teachings, you are instead walking in rebellion to him. In that state, should you expect to "feel' close to him?" Sherrard asked. "If you are not following him, you are walking in darkness; sin is blinding you and distorting you."
Being connected to a Christian community, whether it's a church or a para-church ministry, ensures that when discouraging circumstances or doubts come into life, there are faithful brothers and sisters who can be an encouragement.
When doubts about faith do creep in, Sherrard encouraged the youth to seek out the answers to make their faith even stronger. He said faith is not just a blind belief; it's a trust based on evidence about a certain situation or person. For example, he shared, he trusts that his wife will not betray him, and he has reasons to believe that. Having faith in God is a similar idea, he explained. But he cautioned them against getting discouraged when not being able to find all the satisfactory answers.
"Just because you haven't learned everything, doesn't mean you didn't learn anything," he said.
"I have great hopes for this generation," Sherrard said. "The Lord is going to use you to do great things "¦ You must tell and live an alternate story. Let that story begin today."
This third Truth Matters Conference was different from the previous two in that it wasn't outright focused on apologetics themes, but was focused more on equipping youth students on living out their lives as Christians. Pastor Kevin Yi, who has been serving as the youth pastor at Church Everyday for 13 years, said one of the reasons the staff decided to shift the focus this year was that there was a shift in the kinds of questions they received from their youth students.
"Whereas before, youth students asked a lot of questions about apologetics, recently, their questions have been more about morality and ethics," Yi shared. "For example, they would ask questions like, "My friend is gay "” how do I engage with him as a Christian friend?"
Looking at the conference long term as well, Yi said he hopes each conference will touch on different topics that are relevant at that time, and that it will be a space for youth to be trained and equipped to grow as a Christian.
"I felt like the youth students sometimes get too dependent on the emotional highs they get from summer or winter retreats," said Yi. "Thinking in the long term, I wanted them to be equipped and trained so that they can apply their faith into their daily lives as they go into college and become working adults. And my hope is that their faith would also be more consistent, rather than volatile."
The conference also featured sessions focusing on topics such as engaging with the issue of homosexuality, how a Christian worldview presents the best explanation of reality, how to be an influence to culture, and how to contend for the Christian faith. Caleb Kaltenbach, author of Messy Grace and lead pastor of Discovery Church, and Greg Koukl, adjunct professor of Christian apologetics at Biola University, also spoke at the event.
