Monday, February 07, 2011
LOVE THEM!
Todd Rhoades asks, "How do we get young people to come to church?" He responds by discussing a church in Stevens Point, WI quoting a local newspaper article:
How do we get young people to come to church? YOU LOVE THEM!!!!!!!!! That may involve changes in musical taste and it may not - that may involve a whole lot of things, but if all we do is accommodate their tastes all we do is make consumers of religion, not disciples of Christ.
Christianity is not something one "consumes" - at least not when it is done right - it is something that consumes us.
What truly bothers me about all this is that when we keep discussing it in these limited terms it reveals that we have not allowed ourselves to be consumed by our faith. And that, in the end is why we are ineffective.
Sad, but oh so true.
"To get the young people to come, you almost have to cooperate with their tastes." That's the quote from 92 year old Ethel Sprague. Ethel joined First Baptist Church of Stevens Point in 1937. She's been attending ever since...He goes on to discuss taste and change in a near dead church - but I think it is the wrong answer to the question.
How do we get young people to come to church? YOU LOVE THEM!!!!!!!!! That may involve changes in musical taste and it may not - that may involve a whole lot of things, but if all we do is accommodate their tastes all we do is make consumers of religion, not disciples of Christ.
Christianity is not something one "consumes" - at least not when it is done right - it is something that consumes us.
What truly bothers me about all this is that when we keep discussing it in these limited terms it reveals that we have not allowed ourselves to be consumed by our faith. And that, in the end is why we are ineffective.
Sad, but oh so true.
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