Youth Say the Smartest Things

It seems that almost without fail I have reason on Monday to be impressed with what my youth said in youth group on Sunday. A couple of weeks ago I was asked about the phrase "being born of water and the spirit." One of my youth was curious how come I talked about it being something that occurred at Baptism while her Bible teacher at the Christian school she attends talked about it referring to our physical birth and then our spiritual birth. It was a wonderfully sophisticated question from a high schooler who is still very new to the faith. This week the distinction was around a morality quiz I had found through Time.com and was using with the kids. All of the questions centered around differ events that required the sacrifice the one for the many. On one of the many difficult issues another of my youth made the important distinction. He would only participate in such a sacrifice if all of the rest of those affected where also willing to consent, in other words he would do it for the betterment of the group but not only for himself if the rest of those being saved were not comfortable with it.
In addition to just being proud of my youth, the point of all this is my own pondering on how we continue to develop such great minds. How do we keep making the church a place associated with active thought, not mindless following. One of the biggest criticisms of faith seems to be that it encourages people not to think. While I would agree that at times different faith traditions have discouraged new ideas, I think you can find that at one time or another most have also actively encouraged new thinking and new ideas. How does the church help to perpetuate a stereotype that the church encourages though rather than discourages it? How do make sure that people know that part of being a faithful follower of God is learning how to think for ourselves? Youth are not the only smart, curious people in the church, so how do we stimulate everyone to seek to better understand God, and what God wants for each of us in our lives? So in conclusion, people should be smart and ask great questions, like my youth. :)