We hear ministers on a continual basis speak this
particular mantra “We must reach the youth of our generation.” My question
always becomes “what about reaching the parents?” Isn’t it the parents responsibility
to reach/teach/instruct their own children in the ways of the Lord? Wouldn’t a
lot of resources be saved in the church budget to be allocated towards missions
instead? Is the church creating its own welfare state for irresponsibility in
the home? These are questions that keep going through my mind. I’m not criticizing
having fun and youth “get togethers” but that is not what the church leaders
are talking about. Our own children must be entertained with church programs or
the fear is they will not want to be a part of the church.
I don’t know… I’m a
bit confused by the approach these days. I thought if the parents receive
salvation then God expects them to raise their children in the admonition of
the Lord. It seems like we need to delegate authority back to the parents and
let the church move on to missions and winning the lost through personal evangelism and discipling by its members.
I’ve
told our church that Sunday school does not replace the spiritual education of
the home; we echo what the parents are already doing.
I think there are several ways to look at this. We are not winning the parents, that is true which is why we are losing the kids. Kids, though are looking for something real and unlike what their parents have so their hearts are more tender and open as opposed to the calloused hearts of their parents. When they encounter God-for real- they are very teachable and easy to disciple which then sets up the next generation to be raised in the fear and admonition and reality of God. We should not babysit or entertain youth. What we offer them should be the radical reality of a living Christ and encourage them to embrace it. Of course, this takes adults already living in that reality! So there we have a catch 22. But as your brother so often says, "it's easier to tame a wild horse than to raise a dead one" which is why youth ministry is so important. Statistics show that if a child does not receive Christ by age 14, his chances of ever doing it after that dramatically decrease which is why there is such a push for youth ministry. Unfortunately we have to examine if most youth ministry is actually ministry or just entertainment and emotional fluff and hype.
ReplyDeleteThe following was taken from Christianity Today Leadership Journal.
ReplyDelete"Six in 10 young people will leave the church permanently or for an extended period starting at age 15, according to new research by the Barna Group. And for the generation now coming of age, it's more than the usual "driver's license to marriage license" joy ride, according to the pollsters. For church leaders, the question is, what will we do about it?"
"Today's young adults are marrying later, if at all, are technologically savvy, and hold worldviews alien to their upbringing. Barna Research president David Kinnaman, after a five-year-study, declared that church leaders are unequipped to deal with this "new normal."
Their response is mostly at the extremes, both dangerous. Many ignore the situation, hoping young adults' views will be righted when they are older and have their own children. These leaders miss the significance of the shifts of the past 25 years, Kinnaman contends, and the needs for ministry young people have in their present phase—if it is a phase.
But the opposite reaction is just as problematic: "using all means possible to make their congregation appeal to teens and young adults." This excludes older members and "builds the church on the preferences of young people and not on the pursuit of God," Kinnaman said."
This is my point. The current church approach is obviously not working. I believe at the bottom of it all is simply this; we have forfeited the power of God in preaching and in demonstration for a motivational talk and pop worship. All of it is designed to appeal to the flesh with a shot in the dark that something will penetrate the heart. I'm seeing more and more that music is being used as a catalyst to create a mood atmosphere, so that youth are caught up in the moment, and they are confessing as a result but without any lasting effect.
Concerning the push for youth ministry: preachers usually are not confronting sin in the adults of that congregation and demanding a responsible holy lifestyle out of the congregants. I think the church is harvesting what they have sown. I personally think they will continue to create the same problem over and over. Kind of like the welfare system. Parents are on welfare with no desire to get off of it... the children become the same as a result of learned behavior. The church wont confront sin in the adults now I am to expect them to confront sin in the youth?
Of course this is not every church and pastor. However, it appears to be a prevalent problem that is creating a method of spiritual insanity. If we keep doing the same things expecting different results - have we become mad? The revivalists of old met calloused hearts without a program... but with the power of the Holy Spirit. I need more of this in my life and am striving forward as I know you and Darrell are doing the same. What you guys have done with youth while living in a secular mecca has been phenomenal, but this is not the norm throughout the land unfortunately.
I totally agree! We are and have always been very disturbed by what we see in youth and college ministry. Unfortunately, the products of those ministries are now Pastors themselves who continue in the methods they were taught as youth. As you mentioned, the church has now entered into a cycle like the welfare system where what we produced due to our lack of spirituality is now reproducing at an exponential rate! For sure the church in America is in deep trouble!
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