Posts Tagged ‘Kenda Creasy Dean’

I was in graduate school working on all things education when a professor pulled me aside one afternoon and told me I was a writer. I was 38 years old. I’d grown up in a 12 x 60 in West Georgia. “I’m pretty sure I can’t even spell, much less write,” I replied.

Turns out I was right about that spelling thing, but that writing thing? Well, looks like that gentle soul of a professor had pretty good insights.

I get asked a lot for advice about writing from people who want to be writers or some who just want to be famous. In fact a cowboy stopped me outside the grocery store the other day, tipped his hat back and said, “How’s the writing going? You making any money at this?”

Now anyway you look at it, that’s a rude question. If I am getting rich off this, what business is it of his? And if I’m not, what business is it of his?

I sighed and said, “That was never the point, Cowboy. I do this because I believe I’m called to it.”

He went on to tell me that he’s planning on writing the next great Agatha Christie mystery and that he intends to get rich from writing it. I walked off shaking my head and recalling something my wise professor taught me.  A lesson that has carried me during the times when I’m making money and times when I”m not (Thank you, Mr. Sponsor, for the health insurance and Starbucks). What the proferssor said was – ”Ignore all flattery and all criticisms and just keep writing.”

That was singularly the best writing advice I’ve ever received.

The reason all that comes to mind is because I overreacted to the CNN essay about teens being “Fake Christians.”  And I didn’t do my homework. I should have contacted the author of the book — Miz Dean — and asked her if she said all those things that CNN reported. I could have asked her what she meant by all that.

Turns out Miz Dean has been catching a lot of heat for that article. (You can read about it over at her site .)  Most of it from people who for one reason or another are disappointed in Christians, or the church. Then I come hop-skipping along and say my two cents worth, which is the point of being a commentator and southern woman.

My old professor he taught me one more thing as a writer — he said if you need to explain your point to the reader then you didn’t make it very well to begin with. You only have to take a look at the comment section to realize I did a lot of explaining this week.

Not that I think that’s bad. I think discussion is a good thing and I hope that people visiting this site feel like what they say matters, even if we are at cross-hairs with one another on the issue.

As one fella noted, it seems that Miz Dean and I are not at cross-hairs. We both are hoping for the same thing — teens who are wholly devoted to God. I came at it from an ancedotal, experiential method and she’s coming at it from a reasoned, analytical approach.

I will confess that I often feel out-of-step with the rest of the world, like maybe I’m the fake.  When Anne Rice announced that she can no longer tolerate bickering Christians and thus is leaving the fellowship of the Catholic Church, I respond by recalling how the church stepped into my life when I needed it most — as a teen — and provided me with a safe haven. Some of my dearest friendships were formed during those years over car washes and hot dog suppers. I had the blessed fortune of having a wonderful youth pastor and the life-long friendship of the senior pastor, both of whom I wrote  about in my memoir.

The people of Rose Hill Baptist Church stepped into the gap in my life and I will forever and always love them for that. But it is also true that today, Rose Hill is a dying church, supported primarily by the old timers who’ve been there forever. Rose Hill is located in a primarily black neighborhood and it never served the people next-door. It was always about white people driving in from other parts of the community to worship there. There were big fights about all that back in the day. So I reckon on some level Anne Rice is right — we are a cantankerous lot.

And while I have not read Miz Dean’s book, I take it from the discussion that occurred here and at her site that she’s worried about things like that — about the church losing it’s ability to mark the life of a child — the way Rose Hill folks did for me.

I, on the other hand, am not depressed by what I see in today’s youth. I am inspired by them. I think it takes more courage and more discipline to stand for Christ today than ever before. It thrills me when I see faith in action in a kid’s life. I suppose because it takes me back to such a tender place in my own life.

The one thing I am never about and never want to be about here at this site or even in my own life is being right. What I long for above all else is to live the redeemed life. The kind of life that I witnessed Pastor Smitty living, and The Marine, and The Redhead and the Giver and the Veteran. The kind of life I see in Whitney Ferrin and Jordan Foxworthy and hundreds of other kids.

I sent Miz Dean a note. I’ll tell her all this and ask her forgiveness on the phone when we speak but meanwhile I wanted to tell you. Just because a person’s got a calling on their life doesn’t give them permission to run stampede over somebody else’s life.  Passion is a good thing corralled. Unleashed it can be ugly.

If you’re a parent raising kids up in the Lord or a person working in ministry, you’ll probably get a lot of insights out of reading Miz Dean’s book. And if it’s wrangling with issues you’re seeking. this is probably a pretty good stop along the way.

(Editor’s note: For previous post, please go to http://karenzach.com/2010/your-kid-isnt-a-real-christian/)

Confession: I stole this photo from CNN’s article on Ms. Dean

Your kid isn’t a real Christian. She’s faking it. And so is her brother.

That’s the warning issued by Kenda Creasy Dean, author of the new book (you knew it right?) Almost Christian.

Dean, a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary, came to her conclusions after interviewing 3,300 American teens between the ages 13 and 17 about their faith. Dean reportedly discovered that the teens were inarticulate and indifferent about their faith.

Duh. If she thinks teens are inarticulate she ought to spend a little time trying to read the online comment section of ESPN or CNN.

The author says this inability to articulate their faith is proof that American teens are embracing “moralistic therapeutic deism.” Listen, I’m an old woman with a college degree, who has penned a few books and I still had to look that up. I don’t know a single soul in my community, other than my husband, who uses words like that.

The people I know say things like “Git in the truck” or “You et chet? When they speak of God they refer to him as “Our Father” or “Creator” or the old-fashioned “Papa.” If you were to tell one of them that you think their teen is a Deist, they would just assume you are using some cuss word you picked up at the Mall. They might kick your butt for talking bad about their kid that way.

Best I can tell, the author is saying that teens today just don’t get it. Teens don’t yet understand that being a Christian – a real one versus a fake one – means trusting God even when the creek rises and your dog drowns and your mama runs off with the preacher and your daddy sits around the house all day watching Oprah and Extreme Home-Makeover reruns and crying. Dean said it a little different than I did but I went to one them there state schools best known for teaching people how to drive a John Deere tractor.

The suggestion that America’s teens are fake Christians will come as no surprise to most parents. What else do you expect from a generation raised on fake reality TV, in a society that encourages girls and boys alike to outfit themselves with fake boobs and fake booty? (I wonder if Dean knows that booty-boosting panties are the latest advancement in falsies. I try to keep up on all the latest fashion trends. Hot pants haven’t made a come-back since Jeannie C. Riley’s Harper Valley P.T.A. fell off the charts).

The author seems downright indignant about the findings of her study. She even points fingers. (Apparently, that Princeton education didn’t teach her the finger-pointing rule: When you point a finger at someone, there’s three more coming back in your direction.) She says the reason today’s teens are so fake is because “Churches don’t give them enough to be passionate about.”  

Y’all forgive me, I don’t mean to be ugly, but there comes a time when a girl needs to speak plainly so as not to confound the educated: Ms. Dean, you need to crawl out from that cubicle and circulate more. Meet some real people.

Meet my daughter who, for a year now, has served as a mentor to a 7-year-old girl. They get together and read books. It may not seem like much to you but for that little girl, those meetings are the highlight of her week. She hates her own mama for going off to prison and abandoning her, but she loves my daughter.

Meet my buddy John’s son. He is an artist and an Eagle Scout. He can talk about his faith in fifty different ways. He learned it from his daddy, I guess. His daddy volunteers with Meals-on-Wheels and writes me stories about the people he meets there.

Or my buddy Kevin who used to write for the Wall Street Journal. This past year, Kevin and his daughter Hannah wrote a book together, The Power of Half. It’s the story of how Hannah,15, challenged her parents to sell their fine home in Atlanta and to give half of the proceeds away. They are using the monies to help build wells to sustain 30 villages in Ghana.  

You may have heard of the comedian Jeff Foxworthy? He’s a funny, funny man, but his daughter Jordan? She is as serious as a heart attack. Jordan was 14 when she made her first trip to Kenya and held babies dying of malaria. Jordan decided she was going to be the change she wanted to see in the world, so she raised $500,000 by Tweeting her friends and asking them to donate $10 help these children. I bet if you had bothered to ask Jordan about her faith, you’d have found her to be articulate. I bet she could have schooled you in a thing or two.

You probably never heard of Whitney Ferrin. Whitney was a high school student when she learned that there were 900 homeless youth in Salem, Oregon. Whitney was rightly distressed by that – imagine, 900 homeless kids in the same town where legislators gather to hack away at the schools budgets. Whitney knew she couldn’t rely on those politicians, so she and some friends from church started the I Give a Shirt Foundation (igiveashirt.org). Ten dollars will buy you a snazzy tee. The proceeds are then used to help buy homeless teens the clothes they need. Whitney and her friends have helped outfit hundreds of homeless teens.

Really, Ms. Dean, I am sure you meant no harm by your little survey but you’ve done American teens a huge disservice, not to mention the local churches, youth groups, and youth service organizations working so hard to do the right thing, the God thing.

Maybe the kids you interviewed were intimidated by your education. Maybe you were too harsh to judge. Maybe you only reported on what you wanted to find. I don’t know but you got it wrong.  I put 24,000 miles on my car this year traveling from Bennettsville, South Carolina, to Mobile, Alabama, to Phoenix, Arizona, to Bend, Oregon. All along the way I met American teens who understand what it means to be a real Christian. Some of them even consider me a real friend and that brings real tears to my eyes.  

They probably wouldn’t have time to answer your survey questions, though. They are way too busy trying to live out their faith the way Jesus did, serving others in deed, and not word only.  

(Editor’s note: This story continues at http://karenzach.com/2010/more-on-fakes/)

(If you know of a teen who is living out their faith, tell us about them)