I was invited down to Glasgow to speak at the regional Scripture Union Scotland ‘Equip!’ event for teenagers, held at The Tron church in the city centre. It was one of the most enjoyable and memorable events I have done since I arrived in Scotland – it was certainly amongst the most encouraging.
The secular media like to spin the line that the church in Scotland is dying and has no future. Try telling that to the 120 teenagers who came to Glasgow to worship and discuss their faith! With a load of parents and youth leaders there too – it was a packed event, with a real buzz to the proceedings! The worship was great to hear too – and the young people, were singing their hearts out, with serious passion for The Lord. It set the tone for the evening brilliantly!
I had been asked to go down and address the difficult subject, “Why does God allow suffering?” it’s a tough question, but one worth investigating with that age-group as it is a question that is not going away. Many young people come to an evening like this having experienced any number of different types of suffering themselves. If any of them haven’t suffered much themselves, they certainly will know people who have, be it friends at school or elderly grandparents. Suffering is embedded in the human condition and is a subject which cannot be avoided.
I think raising this subject with young people is important too – they are forming their thinking and ideas and will develop ways of seeing the world which will last them a lifetime. It is essential that along with the secular ideas which they are bombarded with, that we add some biblical ideas into the mix of the things they are considering.
Sometime at Equip events they have struggled to keep some of the younger guys focussed and engaged in the topic. One leader told me that sometimes it ‘can be a bit chaotic at the back of the room’. But this topic really drew them in, both grabbing and holding their attention. The level of engagement and focus in the room was really, really good.
After my talk there was 30-35 mins of Q&A – which was good but the questions were very hard! There were three main areas on which they questions focussed, the intellectual side of problem of suffering, the experiential side of facing it, as well as questions about how we can talk to our non-Christian friends about these difficult issues. I was encouraged by the maturity of the questions, as well as the obvious desire of many of the young people to share faith in Christ
I love the partnership we have with Scripture Union Scotland, and I could help but smile when I thought about the privilege it was to speak at an event like this!
Is Christianity dying out? Forget that. I have just met huge numbers of teens, who are vibrant in their faith, thinking profoundly about it, and sharing it with others too,.
