Clothesline V3 N1

Greetings to all on 10 JAN 2006

Word for the Day

Mechanical Dictation - View that the Bible was dictated by the Holy Spirit and that the writers of the biblical books were not actually involved in the compostion. [1]

Quote for the Day

“I began wondering why we separated families in worship. Where did the concept of having teenagers and families attend worship gatherings separately come from? We used to call our youth ministry a ‘church for teenagers.’ But was this accurate? Is church an age-group? As I began rethinking youth ministry and all we were doing, I realized that this rethinking couldn’t stop there.” [2]

Website for the Day

http://www.burlesonchristianforum.net Check out our Website for this and other articles; many by actually good writers!

Thought for the Day

Over the holidays I was reading an article that referenced George Barna’s Transforming Children Into Spiritual Champions. In conjunction with Barna’s research Scott Franks said that, “by age nine, most children have their spiritual moorings in place.” [3] This would indicate that we need to focus our efforts on teaching those under age ten. However, later in the article Franks says, “If our church is like the average American Christian church, despite our efforts, 40% of these kids will graduate from church when they graduate from our youth group.”[4] His conclusion was that the greatest hope for the local church was in raising Godly children. This set me to thinking - these two statistics are not congruent, ie. they don’t agree. If “spiritual moorings’ are in place by age nine, then how can we be losing 40% of our youth upon graduation? Perhaps I don’t understand the phrase “spiritual moorings” but I would contend that the ability to be spiritually discerning does not occur until about age 18-25.

If we are losing almost half of our teens at graduation, then maybe our approach to Youth Ministry has been misguided. Not by a lack of time, energy and money but a lack of meaningful integration into the family of God. The church has followed the Western world’s lead in the shift from an adult-oriented culture to youth-driven and now child-centered culture. What does this look like in the church? Programs are designed and targeted toward each demographic subgroup. Consider that upon arrival, in many instances, the family is immediately divided up according to age as they attend separate classes and activities. Current research is now revealing what common sense should have told us; the youth need to be incorporated into the greater family where friendships can be built across generational lines. Studies show that children need significant adults in their life other than parents. Wayne Jacobsen addressed this well when he wrote that rather than church activities, what children need most is to be “integrated into God’s life through relational fellowship with other believers.”[5] Research tells us that the primary factor in determining how well an adolescent will merge with society is if they have a personal friendship with at least one non-relative adult.[6] During the teen years parents often become like the appendix - just there for some unknown reason!

I would submit that we are not really losing half of our youth upon graduation because you cannot lose what you never had. While we teach against the “once saved - always saved” concept; do our actions betray us? How often have parents been heard to make some remark to the effect that if their child is just baptized by age twelve or so then they can breathe a sigh of relief? How many of those young converts really know what they are doing? My own son admits that he “went forward” because his friends did and it was expected of him. He is still struggling to find his own faith.

Conversion is a process, not an in/out or on/off proposition. Baptism is an important step and certainly marks the ultimate decision. But have we made baptism the gate between being “in” or “out” of the church family? For example, our fellowship practices what is termed “open communion” meaning that we allow anyone to partake as the emblems are passed around. Everyone, that is, except our own children. Would we exclude them from a physical meal? From what other activities do we exclude the youth? Someone might counter by saying that we just had a teen-led service. Yes, but that is a special (contrived) event with only limited male participation. Have we excluded our kids from too many avenues of participation with adults along their path to spiritual maturity?

For the past two summers we have hosted the college age kids in our home on Wednesday nights. These students are at an age where they are searching for their own faith. Their faith is being challenged on both sides by the world view and/or by Christian professors who are prodding them to search for the truth and the will of God in their lives. Perhaps one reason we are “losing” so many upon graduation is because all youth programs expire at age 18. If you are going to run a program-driven church then you must have a program for every step of the way - from cradle to grave. Many churches have chosen this route by extending youth ministry with college age, singles, young professionals, young marrieds, etc. all the way to senior saints. What happened to the concept of the older teaching the younger? [TIT 2.2.6]

I have been pleased with the direction of the BCOC youth group over the past ten years. We currently function without a paid staff person but continue along the path he pioneered. Four servant-leader families are dedicated to working with the youth, and they are supported by a network of involved parents. What a concept! The focus is on spiritual maturity through accountability, study, service to others and interaction across generational lines.

Remember the statement made in the first paragraph about our greatest hope being our children? Doesn’t that kind of thinking only perpetuate our inward focus? I would contend that, instead, we should be reaching out to the lost all around us. I would challenge you to find any example in the Bible of trying to reach the parents through the kids. Committing to Christ is an adult decision. We tend to encourage kids to postpone marriage until 20-25 years of age. Why? What about baptism? Which is the most important?

May God Bless

Mike Toole

clw, ed.

1. Carroll Osburne, Women In The Church, ACU Press, Abilene TX, 2001, p.xvii

2. Dan Kimball, http://www.youthspecialties.com/articles/topics/theology/methodology_to_theology.php?

3. Scott Lamascus, Securing Hearts While We Have Time, Christian Chronicle, V.62, N.12, DEC 2005, pg.3-4

4. Ibid.

5. Wayne Jacobsen, http://www.lifestream.org/LSBL.May01.html

6. Ibid.

For a more thorough treatment of this topic, see Jeff Childers & Frederick Aquino’s booklet At The River's Edge by ACU Press, 2004.