Opinion / Religion
How relevant is the church to our youth?
09 Mar 2014 at 08:45hrs | Views
AS a pastor I have come to the point of asking myself some very fundamental questions about the manner in which we as the church are ministering to our young people. I have come out with the question of our relevance as well as our effectiveness in their lives.
As a parent I ask myself the same question of what adults are our youths growing into. At times we are so engrossed in churchianity that we forget that these young people need a life where they can see their future in the faith. We are at times steeped in our old ways which we hated at the beginning but have become exponents of the same.
I have noticed that our youths are seeking for something that is real and meaningful in their lives. Yes, they have a couple of faults and need guidance but that is not the reason for being. They also want to be known for something positive and significant in life. They are smart and more often than not they see through the thin veneer of our not-so-genuine selves as their adult mentors.
Our youths are smart. They picked up on the message we unwittingly taught. If church is simply a place to learn life-application principles to achieve a better life in community . . . you do not need a crucified Jesus for that any NGO can teach those life skills without a hint of the gospel. Why would they get up early on a Sunday and watch a cheap unprofessional repetition of the entertainment they witnessed at a show at another venue they went to the night before? The youth are looking forward to an impacting experience that will give them more meaning than what they are used to. We seem to have jettisoned the gospel, our youths are never hit with the full impact of the word of faith, their sin before God, and their desperate need for the atoning work of Christ. Now THAT is relevant, THAT is authentic, and THAT is something the world cannot offer. Every human no matter is in need of that irrespective of age. That is the universality and the authenticity of the gospel.
We have traded a historic, objective, faithful gospel based on God's graciousness toward us for a modern, subjective, pragmatic gospel based upon achieving our goal by following life strategies. It has become a motivational and life skills rendition of the gospel or downright entertainment interspersed with the spasmodic prophetic utterances that the African seems to enjoy or seek so much. Rather than being faithful to the foolish simplicity of the gospel of the cross we have set our goal on being "successful" in growing crowds with this gospel of glory that is not transformative for most of the time. This new gospel saves no one.
Our youth can check all of these boxes (tick them out) with any manner of self-help, life-coach, or simply self-designed spiritualism . . . and they can do it more pragmatically successfully, and in more relevant community. They leave because given the choice, with the very message we've taught them, it's the smarter choice.
The youth leave because we have failed to deliver to them the faith "delivered once for all" to the church. I do not forget the time I gave a lift to some MSU students on my trips who when I spoke about the commitment to being born again they were surprised. They had told me they were bonafide members of a local Pentecostal church in the city where they had been attending for the past four years when they were in high school.
This Mrevu is not against entertaining our youth, no, it is just that the one thing, in the MAIN thing we have been tasked with we are failing. We have failed God and we have failed our youths. No other youth should walk out of the door of the sanctuary without being confronted with the full weight of the law, and the full freedom in the gospel in the grace of the risen Christ.
We cannot cheat them through our liberal or control freak mechanisms. The law and extreme moral requirements without the teaching of the grace of the gospel is what moves them out of church at the earliest opportunity given to them. We now need to give them the true gospel that gives them an identity. We all know them, the kids who were raised in church. They were stars of the youth group. They maybe even sang in the praise band or led worship. And then… they graduate from high school and they leave church. What happened? Are we missing something?
Why do our youth leave the church or simply pass their time in church without making a deep commitment for God? Look, I am not saying the youth are not in the church, they are there but they are not main-stream. To a large extent we cannot comfortably say if we are not in the church as their adult leaders the church will continue into the next generation. We need to ask the perennial question why is it that even as musicians or artists they end up going to the world to ply their trade.
It is not all youths that leave the house of God, there are those that stay. Why? It is because they are converted not just made to be interested in church or God. The Apostle Paul, interestingly enough, does not use phrases like "nominal Christian" or "pretty good kid." The Bible does not seem to mess around with platitudes like: "Yeah, it's a shame he did that, but he's got a good heart." When we listen to the witness of Scripture, particularly on the topic of conversion, we find that there is very little wiggle room.
Listen to these words: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." (2 Cor. 5:17) youth pastors need to get back to understanding salvation as what it really is: a miracle that comes from the glorious power of God through the working of the Holy Spirit.
We need to stop talking about "good kids." We need to stop being pleased with attendance at youth group and fun retreats. We need to start getting on our knees and praying that the Holy Spirit will do miraculous saving work in the hearts of our students as the Word of God speaks to them. In short, we need to get back to a focus on conversion.
How many of us are preaching to "unconverted evangelicals"? Youth pastors, we need to preach, teach, and talk - all the while praying fervently for the miraculous work of regeneration to occur in the hearts and souls of our students by the power of the Holy Spirit! When that happens - when the "old goes" and the "new comes" - it will not be dubious or iffy. We will not be dealing with a group of "nominal Christians." We will be ready to teach, disciple, and equip a generation of future church leaders - "new creations"! - who are hungry to know and speak God's Word. It is converted students who go on to love Jesus and serve the church.
Choose your choice! Till next week, shalom!
As a parent I ask myself the same question of what adults are our youths growing into. At times we are so engrossed in churchianity that we forget that these young people need a life where they can see their future in the faith. We are at times steeped in our old ways which we hated at the beginning but have become exponents of the same.
I have noticed that our youths are seeking for something that is real and meaningful in their lives. Yes, they have a couple of faults and need guidance but that is not the reason for being. They also want to be known for something positive and significant in life. They are smart and more often than not they see through the thin veneer of our not-so-genuine selves as their adult mentors.
Our youths are smart. They picked up on the message we unwittingly taught. If church is simply a place to learn life-application principles to achieve a better life in community . . . you do not need a crucified Jesus for that any NGO can teach those life skills without a hint of the gospel. Why would they get up early on a Sunday and watch a cheap unprofessional repetition of the entertainment they witnessed at a show at another venue they went to the night before? The youth are looking forward to an impacting experience that will give them more meaning than what they are used to. We seem to have jettisoned the gospel, our youths are never hit with the full impact of the word of faith, their sin before God, and their desperate need for the atoning work of Christ. Now THAT is relevant, THAT is authentic, and THAT is something the world cannot offer. Every human no matter is in need of that irrespective of age. That is the universality and the authenticity of the gospel.
We have traded a historic, objective, faithful gospel based on God's graciousness toward us for a modern, subjective, pragmatic gospel based upon achieving our goal by following life strategies. It has become a motivational and life skills rendition of the gospel or downright entertainment interspersed with the spasmodic prophetic utterances that the African seems to enjoy or seek so much. Rather than being faithful to the foolish simplicity of the gospel of the cross we have set our goal on being "successful" in growing crowds with this gospel of glory that is not transformative for most of the time. This new gospel saves no one.
Our youth can check all of these boxes (tick them out) with any manner of self-help, life-coach, or simply self-designed spiritualism . . . and they can do it more pragmatically successfully, and in more relevant community. They leave because given the choice, with the very message we've taught them, it's the smarter choice.
The youth leave because we have failed to deliver to them the faith "delivered once for all" to the church. I do not forget the time I gave a lift to some MSU students on my trips who when I spoke about the commitment to being born again they were surprised. They had told me they were bonafide members of a local Pentecostal church in the city where they had been attending for the past four years when they were in high school.
We cannot cheat them through our liberal or control freak mechanisms. The law and extreme moral requirements without the teaching of the grace of the gospel is what moves them out of church at the earliest opportunity given to them. We now need to give them the true gospel that gives them an identity. We all know them, the kids who were raised in church. They were stars of the youth group. They maybe even sang in the praise band or led worship. And then… they graduate from high school and they leave church. What happened? Are we missing something?
Why do our youth leave the church or simply pass their time in church without making a deep commitment for God? Look, I am not saying the youth are not in the church, they are there but they are not main-stream. To a large extent we cannot comfortably say if we are not in the church as their adult leaders the church will continue into the next generation. We need to ask the perennial question why is it that even as musicians or artists they end up going to the world to ply their trade.
It is not all youths that leave the house of God, there are those that stay. Why? It is because they are converted not just made to be interested in church or God. The Apostle Paul, interestingly enough, does not use phrases like "nominal Christian" or "pretty good kid." The Bible does not seem to mess around with platitudes like: "Yeah, it's a shame he did that, but he's got a good heart." When we listen to the witness of Scripture, particularly on the topic of conversion, we find that there is very little wiggle room.
Listen to these words: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." (2 Cor. 5:17) youth pastors need to get back to understanding salvation as what it really is: a miracle that comes from the glorious power of God through the working of the Holy Spirit.
We need to stop talking about "good kids." We need to stop being pleased with attendance at youth group and fun retreats. We need to start getting on our knees and praying that the Holy Spirit will do miraculous saving work in the hearts of our students as the Word of God speaks to them. In short, we need to get back to a focus on conversion.
How many of us are preaching to "unconverted evangelicals"? Youth pastors, we need to preach, teach, and talk - all the while praying fervently for the miraculous work of regeneration to occur in the hearts and souls of our students by the power of the Holy Spirit! When that happens - when the "old goes" and the "new comes" - it will not be dubious or iffy. We will not be dealing with a group of "nominal Christians." We will be ready to teach, disciple, and equip a generation of future church leaders - "new creations"! - who are hungry to know and speak God's Word. It is converted students who go on to love Jesus and serve the church.
Choose your choice! Till next week, shalom!
Source - Sunday News
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