Most ministries that defend the Christian faith aim their books, talks and conferences at adults. Children and teenagers get, at best, a simplified version. J. Warner Wallace thinks that order is backward.
Wallace is a cold-case homicide detective, a best-selling author and a senior fellow at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. In this 2016 article from his website, Cold-Case Christianity, he argues that anyone who makes the case for the Christian faith should see young people as their most important audience.
He gives three reasons. Young people live closer to the culture than anyone else: they pick up new trends and new technology long before their parents do. Their beliefs are also challenged the most, especially when they go on to college or university, while many adults settle into circles of people who mostly think like them. And they are the most likely to walk away from the faith, often because they had serious doubts that no Christian around them could answer.
That’s why Wallace doesn’t want to wait. From their years as youth leaders and pastors, he and his wife, Susie, saw kids begin to question their faith in their early teens, and so they wrote Cold-Case Christianity for Kids. He challenges churches and ministries to plan for young people first and adapt for adults, instead of the other way around.
It’s a short, pointed read for parents, youth leaders and anyone who teaches children at church. If you’ve thought of apologetics as something for adults, it’s a good reason to think again.
More from Pulse
- Stop Teaching Young Christians About Their Faith
- 14 Ideas for Teaching Apologetics to Young Kids
- Is Your Child Borrowing Your Faith?
- Growing Young: 6 Factors That Help Young People Love Their Church
This article by J. Warner Wallace first appeared on his website, Cold-Case Christianity. Pulse published a German version in October 2023 (in German).
