How can a society that has been fixated on its own beliefs, attempt to comprehend the beliefs of an aspiring mind? This is a question that I must ask myself every time I stand before a youth group. Though I can’t recreate myself or annihilate my every thought, I must remember that what matters most is getting them interested in what I am teaching. With all due respect to the patriarchs and Matriarchs of the present-day church, but based upon what is being brought to the table, what brought them to the church is not what kept them there? The things that kept them in the church were the things about the church that sparked an interest, or that filled a void of some sort for them. My question is why is the church afraid to do the same for the youth of today? All the youth need is to be interested and engaged rather than be picked on or persecuted. You might ask, how do we revive today's church, and the answer is by making the next generation part of it. We often overlook the importance of the next generation in our current church, but honestly they are vital to the kingdom of God.
I don’t believe in compromising, making the church more relative to the world, or even performing a circus act to get their attention, but merely bringing the church to them where they can see it. The youth are so interested in the world and its riches are because its tangible and they can see it. It brings a tinkling to their eyes because these riches are something they see. What they see seems to be a reality, to the untrained eye, but there still is a sense of realness in it all
The definition of real is: existing as fact, rather than as a product of dreams or the imagination. Oftentimes, as Christians we don’t practice what we preach which makes our religious foundation seem unreal, whereas the world makes it seem that they are authentic in all aspects. This is why our youth is entangled in the music, culture and actions of this world because they do not appear to be hypocritical. Hypocrisy causes a lot of indifferences, and one place where we should be able to be honest at all times is in our religious traditions. They listen to this music because the lyrics to these songs offer a therapeutic session that often times; we pass up the opportunity to use. They become a part of the culture because it often accepts them more than they feel the church does. They begin to act in the way they do because they believe that this is who they were all along. A lot of these artists come from a church background, but didn’t reach their full potential until after they left the church because we didn’t accept them.
Just as uncomfortable as it is to make a change that you make believe doesn’t need to be made, is how uncomfortable it is for some of our youth to live in the traditions of the old church. The church should be just as resourceful as Wal-Mart, having everything they need. It has what the Seniors, Middle Aged, Young Adults, Teenagers, Children and the babies need. We, as the church body need to find our way to get the youth in the church. Though the transition may be difficult at first, it will be worth it in the end.
