It’s a Sin to Deceive a Kid (or a Parent)

One of my bone of contentions, is Young Life’s lack of honesty.  What I mean is this,  Young Life is an Evangelical Christian outreach to teens.  Their goal is to win an audience with teens and convert them to an Evangelical form of Christianity.  The problem is, that Young Life leaders are often coached to be vague with non-Christians.  In other words, hiding their true intent to convert teens.  This is deceitful, in my opinion.

Let me give you an example of what I mean.  The following are two quotes from a Young Life Leadership manual published in 2008…,

“How would you explain Young Life?

Christian: Young Life is a Christian outreach to adolescents.
Non Christian: Young Life is a non-profit that connects caring adults with kids.

Christian: Young Life is a ministry that shares Christ with kids through relationships and helps them grow in their faith.
Non Christian: Young Life is a faith-based organization that reaches out to high school and middle school kids through
mentor relationships.”

Notice that the manual is explicitly telling Young Life leaders to use vague, non-religious language when talking to Non-Christians.  The local animal shelter is a non-profit.  The local food bank is”faith-based”.  Big Brother is a mentoring program.

You get the picture, by using vague descriptions, it gives the impression that Young Life is a benign youth program that is fun and safe for kids. Just like other benign faith-based, non-profits in their community.   What these descriptions avoid, is their explicit intent to convert teenagers.

Another example would be this recent promo video for a summer Young Life camp

While it’s true, that your kid or friend will probably do all of the exciting things shown in the video,  it does not show or even hint at the fact, that the focal point of the camp will be Evangelizing teens for the Christian faith.  It offers no glimpse into the many hours spent listening to adult speakers present the Christian faith.  The hours spent each night, as leaders lead discussions centered around the Evangelistic talks.  That the final days of camp will be spent, asking kids to choose whether to become a follower of Jesus and make a public declaration of faith.

And in short, I think it’s deceptive.  I think many a parent has agreed to allow a teen to go on a week of camp with friends from school, only to have a religious convert delivered back to their home.  This sort of parental blindsiding is unfair and deceptive.  Parents (and teens) should be better informed about the faith-based aspects of camp before they are hooked on going because of the fun, sun, and friends.

Jim Rayburn was right, “It’s a sin to bore a kid…”, but I say it’s an even worse sin to deceive a kid.  A sin, Young Life seems all too easy in committing.