Teenagers ask a lot of questions.  Younger teens are a little more vocal about their concerns (Jr. High), while older teens tend to process their thoughts internally (High School).  Regardless of their expressions, they are thinking about what matters to them, growing in what they value, and seeking what is true.  The home and the church should be the best, safest places to field their questions, spur their curiosity, and display the Christian life's humble and gentle demeanor.  (1 Peter 3:18)   

Many of the questions concerning the truth of Christianity have to do with traditional apologetics (Is Christianity intellectually true?), and a growing field in the defense of the Christian faith is what is called cultural apologetics (Is Christianity desirable?).  Traditional apologetics include questions about the existence of God, the reliability of the Bible, the resurrection of Christ, etc.  Cultural apologetics asks if Christianity is truly good and beautiful.  While teenagers need to know the logic of Christianity, they also need to understand why Christianity is the best way to live.

For our Sunday morning Rooted Group, we have been teaching from a book that faithfully uses both apologetic approaches to teach a younger audience.  In 10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask (and Answer) about Christianity, Rebecca McLaughlin writes to a younger audience about the important, relevant topics that Christians should have answers to.  McLaughlin is smart, a scholar with very well-educated friends (per referenced in the book).  She is also a wife and a mother who desires to disciple her children and seeks to provide resources for families who want the same.  Her book has been an excellent conversation piece for Sunday mornings, and I believe it can provide the same fruit in your home.  Again, the strength of Rebecca’s work is her ability to use traditional and cultural apologetics to communicate that Christianity is inviting, reasonable, and the best story. 

Christianity is Inviting

If Christianity is true, then it will be able to withstand difficult questions.  It should be welcoming to all curious visitors who want answers about mental health, racism, morality, the Bible, gender, etc.  If I invite you to my home to have dinner with my family, I am showing genuine care and interest in beginning/furthering a friendship with you.  I am also expressing confidence in what my home environment can offer: warm hospitality and great food!  I wouldn’t invite you into my home if I didn’t believe in my ability to host you.  McLaughlin does well to provide space for conversation about life’s biggest questions. 

The Christian faith needs to be a hospitable home to doubt and opposition, not because it is passive, but because it has answers that defend a real, loving God, helping to embolden and secure one’s faith.  Teenagers need to witness this kind of Christianity. 

Christianity is Reasonable

In their general education, teens will be exposed to the humanities, the arts, and the laws of nature, and they will wrestle with how these subjects either support or contradict Christianity.  For example, skeptics have asked, “Hasn’t Science Disproven Christianity?”  How would a teen respond?  What if they replicate this question?  An invitation into the home of Christianity requires comfortable furniture with reasonable legs to stand on. 

Even in the postmodern era, science is perceived as a thorn in Christianity’s side.  In chapter 6, McLaughlin addresses this misunderstanding by claiming that science not only proves that Christianity is reasonable, but that the study of science originated with Christian presuppositions.  Modern science and the scientific method were not invented to disprove God, but to understand His creation! (pg. 99)  I appreciated this chapter because of Rebecca’s clear explanations of how science supports Christianity and provides the names of well-known Christian scientists (Francis Collins, Daniel Hastings, and Jing Kong, to name a few).  By doing so, she tears down the myth that Christians cannot be in the world of science.  They’re actually leaders in it. 

Christianity is the Best Story

Throughout the book, Rebecca connects with her audience by using movies and books to illustrate her points.  Disney films, Harry Potter, and The Lord of the Rings are great stories that motivate our imaginations, believing that adventure, good friendships, and triumph over evil are possible.  In the movie Frozen, Anna throws herself into the way of fatal danger to save her sister, Elsa, highlighting the film’s theme of defining true love: sacrifice.  Though the film is fictional, the theme of sacrificial love is real. It points to a better explanation in a better story: “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (1 John 4:9-11)  By God’s grace, we are a part of God’s grand story, one that is adventurous, full of love, beauty, and good conquering evil.  Christianity doesn’t just have the best answers to life’s questions.   It’s the most beautiful way to live.  

If you are interested in Rebecca McLaughlin’s book, you can find it here or wherever books are sold.