Over the course of the summer, our organization has the privilege of serving thousands of students through NTS Camp. As we travel from camp to camp, the students we encounter vary greatly in one way or another. The high school student in Southern California, is going to have a different perspective than a student the same age from Long Island. That’s not rocket science, but there are a lot of people who would simply lump high school and middle students into a generic stereotype that doesn’t do justice to them as individuals.
With that said, we took the opportunity this summer to survey all of the students we came in contact with. That’s approximately 2100 students, 2100 opinions, 2100 circumstances, you get the picture. As we began to unpack the data, we saw trends and outliers; there were some who took it seriously and of course those answered “C” across the board just so they could distract everyone else.
One of the categories we asked these students about was Jesus. Let’s look at a few of the key questions we asked students pertaining to their beliefs about Jesus.
Keep in mind, these are middle and high school students at a Christian summer camp and we gave them the survey on the fourth day of camp. That means they have heard at least someone say something about Jesus in those first few days.
How do you think they responded? If you are a youth pastor, youth leader, senior pastor, etc., how do you think the students at your church would respond?
Belief #1 – Do you believe that Jesus was fully God?
This question gets at a core understanding of who Jesus was. You might expect that students at a Christian camp would nail this one. After all, what are we telling students if we aren’t telling them that He was and is God?
Here are the options and the percentage of students that chose each one:
A) Yes 69%
B) No 9%
C) Not Sure 22%
* We also asked about Jesus being fully human and the results were very similar.
Belief #2 – Did Jesus live a perfect life on earth without sin?
It’s hard at times for most of us to think of a life without sin, we wake up each day and our vices stare us in the face almost immediately. I’ll bet a lot of us answered this question in our heads the second we read it, but when was the last time we stopped to actually think about a sinless life? Perhaps the students we serve are also struggling with this question, let’s see what they answered:
A) Yes 72%
B) No 14%
C) Not Sure 14%
Belief #3 – Do you believe that Jesus is the only way to God?
Again, some of you probably answered this right off and maybe even added a little emphasis by quoting Jesus Himself in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. “ But the question remains for students, is there only one way to God? Could it be Jesus? That’s what my church tells me, but what do I actually believe? Here’s how the students we surveyed responded:
A) Yes 67%
B) No 15%
C) Not Sure 18%
What does it all mean?
The three questions we asked students are some of the core beliefs about who Jesus is and what He came to earth to do. The answers our students gave can look pretty good at first glance, but scroll back up and take a deeper look. 69% of students said they believe Jesus was fully God, that’s a little over two thirds. That leaves about a third of the students saying “No” or “Not Sure.” And that’s the trend for all 3 questions, approximately two thirds or 1400 students agreed that Jesus was fully God, sinless, and the only way to God.
Let’s look at the rest of the students. First off, one-third of 2100 is 700 students. That basically equals one full camp for us. That’s approximately 9 students per youth group that attended NTS Camp this year. Again, those 700 students had been to three night rallies, 5-6 small group sessions, 3 morning rallies, 2 chat rooms, and let’s not forget 3 team comps! I just want to give us some perspective that these students had definitely heard someone at camp talk about Jesus by the time they took the survey.
Now, what you do with this information is totally up to you. For some of the youth pastors or youth leaders out there, the evidence is clear. Thank you for faithfully guiding your students to a correct understanding of Jesus. You know the condition of your youth group better than we do, that’s for sure. Others may sense there needs to be more intentional teachings in your weekly plans on the topic of Jesus.
We just want to challenge you with these questions: Are we teaching students the truth about Jesus or leaving a lot of room for assuming they already know this? And, how are we going after those who don’t believe or are still unsure?
Kyle Wood
Director of Operations & Communications
Never The Same
© 2014, Never The Same