Schools, Youth and Violence: Where Do We Go From Here?
The Church
"The only way to go is to our knees," said Nick Hall, founder of PULSE, a student-led prayer and evangelism movement, regarding how to handle school violence.
"We need to lead with prayer and awakening. We need to be champions for the next generation. We need to put prayer at the forefront now. The generation is our future, but they will only be our future if we make them our present."
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Experts like Johnson of Lakewood Church see congregations as an integral part of moving forward with efforts to curb violence among youth.
"What the Church has to do is foundationally begin to start with kids and begin to speak to their needs and insecurities and what they're going through. And then begin to have programs, discipleship, connection, relationships, to begin to walk with them through that all the way from childhood and right into their teens," said Johnson.
"The other half is we've got to address it where it is right now. What are the key things that we're missing? What are things that we can do better? Are we doing ministry just to be doing ministry? Or are we doing ministries that are really addressing the needs people are facing today?"
Andy McQuitty, author and pastor of Irving Bible Church of Irving, Texas, explained that active engagement in Christian discipleship is a must.
"The Church needs to wake up," he said. "My plea to church leaders is, let's take a look back at the process of preparation that God has enacted in the lives of His people to prepare them to stand up joyfully and lovingly in times of persecution."
"I hope that people, instead of reacting to culture with fear and anxiety, will react proactively with, 'How can we gather and strengthen one another? How can we learn to walk in the power of the Spirit together and understand our calling?'"
Wright of The Fountain of Praise church noted that church programs for youth are an important aspect, as they help build healthy relationships.
"When you have relationships with people, you see changes, you see when there is a shift, and you recognize when someone's not in the same place that they have been," Wright said.
"I think that's one of the things you see when you look at anyone who is an active shooter. You see changes from where they were a year or two ago, because they not only change internally, they have noticeable external changes. If you have a relationship with someone, you notice those changes. The Church can help. We need to build relationships with young people and help them understand what's going on in this world."
Wave Nunnally, theology professor at Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri, explained that a fundamental need is for people to either "get back in touch with what makes us truly human and bears the image of God" or continue "going further in the direction of the abyss."
"We won't tread water. There's going to be a collective realization, that we have pushed the envelope as far as we possibly can in the direction of self-determination, self-actualization, and 'what's right for me,'" Nunnally cautioned.
"Or we're going to go in the direction where ... [Satan] is going to skew our perspective and convince us that life created in God's image is a myth and not sacred. And once that Rubicon is crossed you either have to reel it in for a major course correction or continue on into the abyss."
