Genetically Christian?
Growing Up Christian, by Karl Graustein (P&R Publishing, 2005, ISBN# 0-87552-611-X), is written specifically to and for “Church Kids”—kids who have grown up in the church and in loving Christian homes. Graustein first challenges “church kids” to consider whether they are, in fact, Christian (“Just as standing in a wheat field doesn’t make someone wheat, being raised in a Christian environment doesn’t make someone a Christian.”) before moving on to describe how they can begin to think and live biblically. Growing Up Christian provides numerous self-diagnosis tests to discover current spiritual health and tips to develop a disciplined plan for spiritual maturity.
CPYU would agree with Graustein’s remarks in the chapter on loving the world when he writes, “God doesn’t call us to completely flee from the world … But he does call us to use discernment in evaluating the content of each [media source].” CPYU also affirms Graustein when he makes the following statement in the chapter on developing personal biblical convictions that could easily be applied to the “directive” (map, thermostat) nature of media, “What we believe is of vital importance. Our beliefs shape our values, and our values shape our actions.” The question is who is teaching/shaping these beliefs and are these beliefs consistent with, or contradictory to, biblical teaching? Graustein’s remedy is for “church kids” to have “firsthand knowledge of biblical truths.”
The writing style of Growing Up Christian is accessible and the content is coherently conveyed, although ironically basic given its intended audience. Growing Up Christian would be a good book to get into the hands of, and work through with, late middle school/early high school students who have grown up as “church kids,” but who need to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
—Doug West
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