As someone who grew up in the Baptist church, I know the meaning of growing in Christ and truly experiencing the Holy Ghost in ways beyond human comprehension.
However, as a young person, I know what it’s like growing up in Christ as a young person in today’s world of many opportunities, engagements, and life challenges.
Specifically, in my generation, we find youth who stray away from the church, and many older than me often complain about how youth don’t seek Christ and His forever enduring love.
First, we have to figure out why this is an issue.
Secondly, we must understand the reasoning for the entire situation from a young person’s perspective. And lastly, we have to come up with constructive ways to influence today’s youth through Christ on their level.
Last week, my good friend, Eugene Pearson Jr., who’s an associate pastor and youth pastor, and I had a very strong discussion about why youth stray away from the church.
There are many reasons for this, and I think I can take part in saying a few from our standpoint.
Eugene and I are young, Baptist, church-going men, and we’ve come to one huge conclusion — the stigma that takes place in churches across the world.
Growing up, we were both groomed to stay sharp and wear suits, which is something that I carried as a habit in and outside of the church.
Many young people in today’s world find that if they don’t have a suit or dress, they’re not welcomed, which is something they pick up being that they hear or see others reacting oddly to simply jeans and a t-shirt.
Church folk (in a southern way) are judgemental people, and that’s truly without a doubt. Another one, which has been a huge topic in many settings, is the sexuality of young people in churches.
As we all know, God has made man for woman, and woman for man…I thank God for it every day.
However, a firm believer would combat one with such a mindset by quoting part of the book of Jeremiah 1:5, which went on to say “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” Christ himself knows the outcome of each individual, so if he can accept in some capacity, what and who is the church and those who embody the church, to stray someone away? If you get where I am going with this, you’d truly understand how part of this contributes to the lack of young people of different sexualities to be a part of Christ.
And one of the many points Eugene and I discussed, which will be the last for you to read, is the battle between traditional and modernized churches in today’s world.
What does that look like?
Personally, I would like a mix of both…I’d like to hear some good ‘ole Baptist hymns, a little stomp and clap, and most importantly, someone who can teach a diverse crowd one Word that impacts everyone.
Many young people in today’s world have a few problems with the super-traditional church — things such as women not being allowed in the pulpit, not being able to wear certain clothing, and more nonsense I think should not even be said in a church.
Although I can’t speak much about what a modern church should look like, I know for sure we shouldn’t take too many traditional things out. Yea, I don’t know…Youth just have problems with a few traditional things, so we’ll come back to this at a later time, hahaha.
Investing in today’s youth is necessary in growing the body of Christ.
Teaching young people in and out of the church to grow in their relationship with the Lord prepares them to serve Christ in all they do.
As a result, this nurtures the congregation and allows the church to flourish. Serving young people cannot only prepare them to become future leaders, but also allows them to contribute to the church.
This is seen many times in the Bible, as God often used young people to do great things.
For example, God used Timothy to pastor and lead the Ephesian church when he was a teenager. 1 Timothy 4:12 says, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”
In addition, there is much to be learned from the faith of a child. Matthew 18:2-4 says, “He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Because of God’s heart for young people, it is important to recognize their value in today’s church.
