A young adult friend tagged a Facebook posting to me the other day. This is a young man raised in a church home, with passionately believing grandparents and parents. And for a time he followed in their footsteps, using his gifts of music to give expression to faith. But then something happened. Disappointment and disillusionment with the church, and the anti-religious writings that seem so daring to the young have combined to cause him to turn away, and to critique the "arrogance and hubris" of many Christians. Now, he says, he's interested in "making the world a better place."
I love him dearly, and I know where his passion comes from. I know in his heart he values his upbringing. And I know he really wants to make the world a better place -- don't we all. His heart is so much in the right place.
I wish he could have come with me last weekend to a conference in Hamilton put on by True City, a network of churches committed to working together 'for the good of the city." What blew me away was that these churches are all evangelical, and several have a long history with fundamentalism and separatism. But they were talking about their mission simply being to witness to the love of God in their neighborhoods, regardless of whether people become Christians. They talked about how important it is to love people, but not treat them as "a project." Their biblical texts were Jeremiah 29-- "Pray for the welfare of the city where God has put you" -- and Abraham's pleading for Sodom and Gomorrah.
The church has a pretty dismal history in many ways, and impressions of that history have stuck in the minds of many outside the church. But I think God is doing some pretty amazing and trasnformative things in many churches, and I pray (patiently) that those like my friend will come to see them.
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I have had to catch up on several blogs (sorry, Paul - LOL), but I hear your struggle, even though I am so far from being a mnister, it is not even funny! LOL
I am attending a tiny Baptist church in my small town and I have agreed to assist the 21 year old woman who is going to take on the largish youth group (as the pastor is leaving the church due to lack of money for his salary, so the church expects the volunteers to step up and do the work).
I have attended the last 5 youth meetings, just to observe and get to know the kids and have found I am sad to see the lack of respect for the church (in all forms, physical, emotional, spiritual) and why they are there.
This week, I drove a carload of kids to a fun event and as they made fun of someone who is overweight, I said, "whoa - what kind of a group is this", and the answer was -"I don't know". So maybe we are so interested (in the church) with the number of kids attending the youth group and not really what is being taught. Numbers seem to be important - every year, the local United Church has a picture in the paper of the children who are confirmed, and as I look over the names, I see that their parents (or, more likely, the granparents) attend the church, but the kids have not entered the church doors until they need to come to classes so they can be confirmed.
So there it is - will our kids' kids go to church? - I have two who proably will make church a part of their lives, at this point anyway and one who could care less.
OK, too much info - just know I hear the problem and struggle with it myself. Even though I am not a minister...LOL
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