Getting
the church’s youth to stay committed to God and His church has been a problem
that church leaders and parents have been faced with for hundreds of years.
There have always been (and will always be) young people of the church that
leave with no intentions of coming back. Historically the remedy to this
problem was personal investment by family and friends on behalf of the lost
member. By God’s grace and electing love some have returned while others
remained outside. The most discouraging part of all this is that the percentage
of youth leaving the church today is rising to unbelievable (and unsustainable)
heights. Many people have done studies on why this is the case and what we can
do to remedy the problem.
This
topic intrigues me greatly because of the stage of life that I am in. Both Leah
and I are humbly thankful that God placed us in families that instilled in us a
desire to live our lives for God’s glory and service. Now that we are married
we are beginning to think about how we can instill that same desire into our
children someday. Of course it is only by God’s grace that any child comes to
embrace Christ as their Savior, but we want to be the best tools we can be to
encourage our children to grasp the wonderful truth of salvation by faith. All
of this has led me to think a lot about how I can most effectively pass down
the greatest gift of all.
So
if I’m going to write about what I want to teach my kids, why the title “The
Youth Driven Church”? Well, first of all I do think that the church and the
parents in the church should be doing what they can to keep the youth from
leaving the church. However, I also think that the youth centered direction
that mainline churches are going is the wrong path. While I think the church
should be driven to pursue the youth, I don’t think the youth should be driving
the church, and that is what I feel is happening.
What
do I mean by the youth driving the church? Well, let’s start by looking at
worship styles. In many mainline churches worship is becoming more and more
youth oriented. The songs they sing are the most popular songs on the radio, regardless
of theological significance. Special activities are planned for children during
church to keep them more entertained and engaged. Outside of church services,
youth groups attempt to keep the youth of the church interested in the faith.
In order to do this youth leaders plan fun activities (that often have nothing
to do with church) and feed the youth cliché messages that they hear from
mainline speakers.
Don’t
get me wrong, I think most of the stuff that’s happening in our churches has
some good to it. There are a handful of good, theologically sound contemporary
songs that belong in a hymnal next to the traditional hymns. Pastors should
make parts of their message relevant to children. Fun activities for the youth
get them to be more social on a face-to-face level. Sometimes mainline speakers
see things in our culture that we are blind to. The problem that I see is that
these youth oriented decisions are beginning to dominate our churches. No
matter the circumstance, I don’t think the church should tailor every aspect of
itself to the youth.
So
what made the church begin to tailor itself to the youth in the first place? I
think the answer is that parents in the church began to get lazy. They tried to
get their children interested in the church without showing any interest
themselves. After all, what child is going to want to go to church when he sees
his dad skipping church to watch football? If parents are always rushing to get
things wrapped up before church, what kind of priority does that show to the
kids? If dad doesn’t sing in church, why would his son? What daughter is going
to look forward to church so that she can spread the town news afterwards like
her mom?
The
reason I bring all these things up is because I truly believe that the best
gift parents can give to their children is a passion and eagerness for the
church and God’s Word. This is something that the church cannot replicate or
replace. Kids learn so much from their parents, and we shouldn’t undermine the
things they might catch on to. I strongly believe that if parents are excited
about their faith and serve out of passion for Christ their kids will be far
more likely to follow in their steps and commit themselves to the church.
Yikes!
As I look forward to my (Lord-willing) parenting days, I’m realizing that I
have a huge and daunting task in front of me. No matter how hard I try to share
my passion for the church with my kids I know that I am going to fail at times.
Thankfully my kids’ eternal statuses do not lie in my hands! It is only by God’s
grace that He might plant the seed of faith in my children, but I am still
looking forward to cultivating the most fertile soil possible inside of them.
It is my prayer that any parent (or future parent!) that reads this truly seeks
to make their children’s faith their priority. And not only to say it’s a
priority, but to live it out to the fullest!
Until next time,
Daniel
