Al Mohler provides a review this week of the new documentary “American Teen” which was released in a limited number of theaters back in July. The film purports to be a look at what goes on among teenagers in a typical American high school, in this case in Warsaw, Indiana.

It seems to follow the cultural party-line that adolescence is a period where misbehavior is just to be expected. Mohler puts it this way:

Over the past several decades, adolescent psychologists have supplied the concept of the identity crisis as the therapeutic framework for expecting teenagers to misbehave. American Teen follows in this tradition. The general idea is that adolescent Sturm und Drang is just to be expected. Parents and other adults are to just “deal with it” and remember their own adolescent struggles.

However, is this really true? Do parents just have to expect certain things to happen during the teenage years and “deal with it?” Are rebellion, lack of focus, self-centeredness, etc. givens for our teens? Dr. Mohler’s conclusion is that these things are in fact not givens and don’t have to be the norm for our teenagers.

I couldn’t agree more!

Beginning this fall at Grace Fellowship I will be leading a Sunday morning adult Bible study based on the book “Age of Opportunity” by Paul Tripp. In this study parents are encouraged to reject the fatalistic mentality towards the teen years promoted by things such as this film and to embrace a Biblical view of those years which says that the power of the Gospel is sufficient for any challenges a young person (or their parent!) faces as they move from childhood to young adulthood.

I’m excited about leading this study and hope if you are a parent of a teen or pre-teen you will consider joining us beginning September 7 as we look at what the Bible says about parenting teenagers.