HAVE YOU WONDERED? Top 10 local questions about the Christian faith

Beginning at 9 a.m. this Sunday, Sept. 10, the Destin Church of Christ, 150 Beach Drive, will begin addressing the top 10 questions locals have asked about the Christian faith. We believe that the church should not be a hard place to ask hard questions. During the summer months, we have been asking people in our community to submit their biggest, hardest and toughest questions about the Christian faith. Thus far, the No. 1 question we have received is this: How can an all-powerful, all-loving God allow so much suffering and evil in the world? The second most frequently asked question, thus far, is why are there so many hypocrites in Christianity?

We are going to hit these, and other questions you have asked, head on and you are all invited. We would especially like to invite non-Christians, skeptics and doubters. Everyone is welcome. If you would like to submit a question, it is not too late. This series will continue until Nov. 19. To submit a question, send an e-mail to russwhitten@gmail.com.

I believe that this series will be especially beneficial for young people. While serving as a full-time campus minister for 16 years, it was my observation that most Christian high school graduates had not been properly equipped to handle the onslaught of difficult questions that came at them when they reached the college age years. The young adult years tend to be some of the most tumultuous times in regards to a person’s faith.

According to Lifeway Research, “Seventy percent of Protestant young adults exit the church between the ages of 18 and 22. About 8 million 20-somethings who were active churchgoers as teenagers will no longer be active in a church by their 30th birthday.”

According to the National Study of Youth and Religion, the largest and most comprehensive study of teenagers and religion ever undertaken, the most common answer non-religious teens offered for why they left their faith was “intellectual skepticism.”

According to research cited in Patrick Zukeran’s “Staying Christian in College,” 84 percent of first year Christian college students cannot intelligently defend or explain their beliefs.

Statistics reveal that “96 percent of conversions to Christianity in the United States occur before the age of 26.”

I have discovered that most young people are eager for concise, logical, relevant, Biblically-based and easy-to-understand answers to the questions they hear and they themselves struggle with about the Christian faith.

I know that there are many in our local community trying to find solid answers to life’s biggest questions but have yet to hear a clear, compelling presentation of the truthfulness, trustworthiness and attractiveness of the Christian faith. It is my hope and prayer that this series will provide accessible and Biblically-grounded answers to the questions you have asked.

Russ Whitten is minister of Destin Church of Christ. He can be reached at russwhitten@gmail.com.