I am so worried.
My 16 year old brother has just started dating a girl... who's an unbeliever.
- He's not supposed to be dating at all right now. Our family doesn't have a set age rule, it's more about what season of life you're in. High school is not the right season in life to be dating (according to our family).
- He 'got together' with her about a month ago and has been lying all over the place in order to get away with spending time with her. The only reason he got caught was because he was driving her to some place up the mountainside and they got stuck in the snow and had to be rescued by my dad.
- Even after coming clean to my parents, he continued to lie and deceive them. My mom confiscated his ipod touch which he uses for all his socializing, and he gave her his old ipod that he never uses, knowing she wouldn't know the difference. -.-
- Shortly before getting caught, he started to realize that maybe he should tell our parents the truth, so he sought advice from his youth pastor and two of the other male youth leaders. All three of them supported his relationship with the girl, despite her being an unbeliever, and one of them actually told him that he should NOT tell my parents. Needless to say, I'm very upset about this 'wisdom' he's received.
- My parents told him they can't keep them from seeing one another since they're classmates, but they're not allowed to date or be in an exclusive relationship. That didn't stop them.
- The only thing I'm thankful for is that my brother still feels comfortable confiding in me and he now tells me all his thoughts on all the drama he's been causing. He won't talk to my parents, so I know I'm in a good position right now to advise him so I am being very careful not to mess this up.
- He says that the family disapproval is actually fueling his desire to be with her, and he wants to 'prove us all wrong'. He says that if something bad happens then I'm welcome to say "I told you so".
At this point, I feel like the only things I can do are pray and keep the communication between us open. I'm so stressed because I can see where this is going. He's not mature enough in his faith to be a positive influence on her.. it's far more likely that she will be a negative influence on him. When I was a teenager in the youth group, many of my friends started dating unbelievers. Every last one of them either stopped going to church altogether, or still attend church but are not living a Christian life. Those who I still see at church have an incredibly warped worldview now and do not uphold scripture as their source of truth anymore. I'm worried that's what will happen to my brother.
Freaking out. I'd appreciate prayers.