There is a de-ritualization of our Christian young men in our culture. They grow up without rituals and grab onto the first sign of a ritualized culture, whether wokism or socialism. Every system of thought shares common practices and liturgies. Some are distinct, and others lack thought and intentionality, as in the vast evangelical experience.
Our young men are reflecting the de-ritualization of church life. As the Church goes, so goes our young men. Dru Johnson notes in his book “Human Rites,” that we need to know our rites, and to know our rites demand the exercising of meaningful rites in the community. We can belabor the point of raising godly young men but without grounding them in godly traditions, our young men may easily find themselves grounded in their expressive individualism.
The more we understand our rituals, the more meaningful they become. The more our young men remember who they are through these rites, the more they will meditate on their meaning and the more stabilized they will be in their Christian culture.
My oldest son turned 13, and I wanted him to see that turning 13 is a rite of passage, a transition to a world of manhood. But beyond that, I wanted him to know that becoming a mature man is not the task of isolation. It’s a community rite, a shared glory with others. I didn’t want this stage of his life to pass by without marking it.
I invited my Church officers to come to our house and to pray over him. I offered a sobering charge to him in the presence of many witnesses, and we sang hymns about warfare and celebration, and then we did a toast with champagne. I will never forget the evening, and I trust he will never forget that life is not a series of empty symbols but a full and rich aroma of substantive rituals that shape your existence from baptism unto life to baptism unto death.
Rituals comprise our way of being. Rituals are established to orient the kind of people we hope to be. Our children need to be bathed in rites. They must look back and see that older men were there, sharing that moment and cheering them through sacred moments. Rites mark our stages in life, and they should be meaningful enough for our young men to pass on to their boys as well. It should be meaningful enough to keep them from chasing false rites.