I always journal when I write a sermon. Tonight I will be speaking at the training school for their teen praise meeting. I am using Jeremiah 29:11 as the scripture. But the topic is apathy. Do our teens have a vision for their lives? I wonder if the reason that many of them are apathetic towards things of the spirit is because they don't have a vision for their life that matches the calling of Jesus Christ.
I know so many of us don't figure out what we are going to do until we are finished with college. But perhaps that is a problem. Our relationship with Jesus is not just a fifteen minute time period that we spend each day reading a devotional. Our relationship with Jesus integrates every aspect of our lives. What is it that we dream about during the day while we are at school or work? What do we wish we were doing? Who is it that we wish we could be?
John Calvin (I know I immediately turned some folks off by mentioning his name, but this quote has nothing to do with eternal security or predestination) believed that it was important to have a set time and place to go to church. He thought that institutionalizing the services helped remind humans to worship God. He thought that humans were likely to be lazy with out a set structure to encourage them to worship. Isn't it the cry of our day to move away from institution towards a more casual worship? I know I am a voice for this type of movement. And I think we will have to make this move if we are going to be relevant!
But...
... if it is causing apathy then perhaps we need to adjust our strategies slightly to call for accountability among our members. Otherwise, our move to embrace the culture will not produce disciples.
3 comments:
i agree with you--and i don't think that "casual worship" and "structured worship" necessarily have to contradict each other, even though it seems that they would. i guess my concept of casual worship has always dealt more with the style than with time & place. having consistent worship times is like having consistent mealtimes; you schedule it when people tend to be hungry. that doesn't mean that they can't snack whenever they feel like it. but having set mealtimes ensures that they'll get sufficient nourishment (ok, this metaphor got away from me...i'm obsessed with food).
I think Lesley's also obsessed with metaphors - but she does a good job with them.
Anyway, I was going to comment regarding your thoughts on church attendance. I was doing research for a class I taught at the EBC and found a study from the Barna Research Group that said "The research, conducted with 2,660 twentysomethings, shows that Americans in their twenties are significantly less likely than any other age group to attend church services, to donate to churches, to be absolutely committed to Christianity, to read the Bible, or to serve as a volunteer or lay leader in churches." The other interesting thing the study found was that the majority of those who stopped attending churches didn't stop just after they left college but between the ages of 25 and 29. Just thought you'd like some of the fuel. If you want more just let me know.
Joy
hmmm...why do you think the 25- to 29-year-olds decide to leave? i find that interesting because i've always thought of that age bracket as the one in which people finally let go of their college habits--which were their teenage habits, which were their childhood habits--and consciously start forming their "adult" identity. do you think young adults associate leaving the church with becoming independent of their parents' ideals (having nothing to do with their own), and if so, is it because the church has failed them somehow? failed to inspire their idealism and sense of purpose?
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