Christian Living

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Despite the acknowledging of a crisis within the Church, its leadership and veteran constituency continue to search for the antidote to curb the exodus of young people from the confines of its establishment. Pastoral leadership scourers the Internet looking for ways to stop the rising number of young people leaving their environment. Programs are invented or adopted from other visibly successful organizations. Relevance and the integration of the worldly standards are copied with the hope it will not only stem the exodus, but lead to enticing those who have left to return. Some churches even offer two types of services. One is called the contemporary service which attempts to make the worship experience more inviting to the younger generation. When is the Church going to understand that the youth don’t want their faith dressed up like the world, rather they want a living hope that distinguishes itself from the world. Many contemporary services resemble a pre concert warm up in a secular venue. It is highly emotional with little substance. The other type of service is called the traditional. Here the experience is ritualistic with little relevance to the contemporary world. The Church seems to think the answer to the youth exodus is to bring the Gospel down to their level, to disguise the Bible in a shroud of modern day words which tend to parallel a funeral service. When are we going to understand that our young people are a lot more discerning than we give them credit for? They hear the messages of the Church but fail to see the results in the people. At home they see a totally different set of parents than they do at church. They hear their mother and father stressing the importance of going to church, but fail to see them exhibiting the truth that they supposedly heard on Sunday morning. If the exporting of the Gospel message is not imported into the home, how do we expect the youth to have an interest in Church?

What young people want and need is authenticity. They are drawn into the world by the enticement of worldly pleasures, but soon outgrow their influence and seek yet another plateau of temporary fulfillment. On and on it goes, as they continue to seek satisfaction in their lives. They are looking for real purpose in life. They are looking for peace. They are looking for lasting fulfillment. They are looking for happiness. They have been drawn by the counterfeit for so long that it begins to look like the real thing. But when the worldly pleasures let them down, their life begins its spiral descent. Then there is the Church. Not recognizing the situation the Church adopts the things of the world with just enough coating to distinguish the difference. The young people see this and recognize it for what it is: hypocrisy!

The Church needs change; a change back to what it once was. It is not Christian psychology from the pulpit, but the Word of God. It is not new ways but back to the time when God was honored and His Son presented with the Holy Spirit influencing and directing the message. The Church needs to be relevant, not by imitating the ways of the world, but by presenting Jesus Christ as the Way, the Truth and the Life!

If there is any hope to stem the exodus of young people from our churches, the pew warmers need to live the life that God has commanded us to live. We must stop being a religious club and start being living examples! Parents, it starts in the home. The Bible is not a decoration for the home, but the Living Word of God that needs to be read daily as a family. Don’t depend on the pew bible next Sunday, but let everyone bring his Bible in anticipation of the presented Word. The youth are looking for truth; let them see it in the adults that claim to know God!

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