Engaging the Soul of Youth Culture - 2

I love how Walt starts this book out quoting a Tom Petty song and encouraging us to make the words of the song our prayer for this generation of students.

"Lost Children"

To conclude his first chapter Walt takes a hard look at the movie Thirteen. It was written by a 13 year old girl! It's the story of a cute, straight A student morphing into a rebellious teenager. He uses the following phrases to describe the crying and dying culture that Thirteen depicts exists within our culture and then expands on each of them.

"We're changing, confused, and vulnerable."

"Our support systems aren't working and they are stressing us out."

"We need a place to belong."


"We're hurting, and hurting deeply."

"Will you be here for us."

I like Walt's challenge and rebuke towards the church at the end, "Sadly, some in the church disapprove of films like Thirteen and the world it reflects, retreating back from its messy reality into the safety of a cloistered existence. After all, if we don't look at the ugliness, it won't be able to do anything to us and we won't have to do anything about it."

Then end of this chapter has challenged me to ask myself a few questions, "Will I look at the ugliness? Will I let the ugliness affect me? Will I listen about the ugliness before I speak into the ugliness?"

It's interesting to note that herein lies a tension as it relates to working in the church with families who want cute, straight A students. How do you families embrace the reality of the world their teenagers live in and see it as their mission to equip their teens, who possess knowledge of the TRUTH, to make a difference for eternity in the lives of their peers?

Or maybe we need to ask another question first, "How many of our church teenagers feel the exact same way as the girl in Thirteen and have no one to listen to them?"