"Well, it's not that I see anything wrong with the church; I just don't like the conventionality of it all. I mean, I feel like I can worship God just as effectively during a walk through the woods on Sunday afternoon as I can sitting in a pew in a building on Sunday mornings. I just think the way we do church is stale and antiquated."

I can often feel the inevitable question. It usually occurs at night when we've finally gotten the children to bed and are left with a few quiet minutes to ourselves, reading or watching television. She will be lightly flipping through one of the seven catalogues that arrived in the mail today when she'll turn to me and say, "What do you think about this color here for our bathroom? Would this be a good one for us?"

Do you ever feel like you are standing in front of an apathetic sports team, trying to get them psyched up for the big game? They lack focus and desire, and your motivational attempts seem to fall on deaf and uninterested ears.

The situation is far worse and more challenging than you think.

Sneaking out of Sunday School was pretty easy. Where to go was the hard part. I didn’t drive yet. So I couldn’t leave the church “campus”, but I also didn’t want to be seen. Not that it would matter; I didn’t think anyone would notice I was gone. They didn’t really notice when I was there.

I liked church. I liked Sunday School. I liked youth group. I just didn’t seem to fit with these students. I had grown up in the church, come to know Jesus as my Savior and Lord when I was young, and even went to a Christian school. So why did I feel like such an outsider? I was pretty sure I knew the answer.