Youth and Young Adults
Do you have a place in the church?
You have surely been told so. Yet I have seen most churches that do not have youth on their boards or sessions. The idea is that youth is too immature. It seems Jesus’ admonition to “let the children come” to him goes by the boards. No matter what age you see that scripture as addressing, it seems that youth are a segregated part of the church.
Many congregations have youth services, children’s services, youth groups, bible studies, activities, but no youth giving input that is accepted regarding church policy. I was in one church that assumed the youth would watch the children of guests at an outreach picnic. Didn’t even ask.
So as a youth, what do you do? Rest assured that certainly if baptized, and nearly as assuredly if regularly attending, you are entitled, even compelled to make your feelings known about treatment. How one does this is always essential to look at. Always with courtesy and respect, remembering though, that always (when one does it) is just as important a word as respect or courtesy.
Rebelliousness is never an acceptable attitude, but swallowing the way one feels on repeated occasions will simply lead to explosions. Your present age is always a time to learn how to communicate needs and desires and discontent in acceptable ways – because such skill of communication will be necessary till ones dies.
The fact that you are young allows you greater latitude for making mistakes, which I consider to be learning experiences. Real preparation for the future is not, “I can’t wait till I am away from home”. I went that route many years ago. I then got the point where I couldn’t wait to get home.
The most important key is learning where your support comes from to step out and take the risks of communication. Even congregations that allow their youth to read scripture and participate in worship draw lines, even where a youth has met all the requirements for “full membership.”
You already have full membership, which may mean living with the duplicity of congregational rules and adult hypocrisy. Unfortunately, as many of you may have already learned in school or your home church, prejudice is alive and well. But Jesus is not that way. Always remember that the real God is not a bigot.
People are the church. They are not God. God leads the church. God is not the church. Most congregations are simply microcosms of the world they are drawn from.
So what am I saying here? Keep your eyes focused higher than the people who have authority over you. Keep the attitudes of holiness, forgiveness and understanding uppermost in your minds. Also remember that the attitudes of others do not belong to you. They are rightly the attitudes of others.
-LetsTalkJesus.com-
Do you have a place in the church?
You have surely been told so. Yet I have seen most churches that do not have youth on their boards or sessions. The idea is that youth is too immature. It seems Jesus’ admonition to “let the children come” to him goes by the boards. No matter what age you see that scripture as addressing, it seems that youth are a segregated part of the church.
Many congregations have youth services, children’s services, youth groups, bible studies, activities, but no youth giving input that is accepted regarding church policy. I was in one church that assumed the youth would watch the children of guests at an outreach picnic. Didn’t even ask.
So as a youth, what do you do? Rest assured that certainly if baptized, and nearly as assuredly if regularly attending, you are entitled, even compelled to make your feelings known about treatment. How one does this is always essential to look at. Always with courtesy and respect, remembering though, that always (when one does it) is just as important a word as respect or courtesy.
Rebelliousness is never an acceptable attitude, but swallowing the way one feels on repeated occasions will simply lead to explosions. Your present age is always a time to learn how to communicate needs and desires and discontent in acceptable ways – because such skill of communication will be necessary till ones dies.
The fact that you are young allows you greater latitude for making mistakes, which I consider to be learning experiences. Real preparation for the future is not, “I can’t wait till I am away from home”. I went that route many years ago. I then got the point where I couldn’t wait to get home.
The most important key is learning where your support comes from to step out and take the risks of communication. Even congregations that allow their youth to read scripture and participate in worship draw lines, even where a youth has met all the requirements for “full membership.”
You already have full membership, which may mean living with the duplicity of congregational rules and adult hypocrisy. Unfortunately, as many of you may have already learned in school or your home church, prejudice is alive and well. But Jesus is not that way. Always remember that the real God is not a bigot.
People are the church. They are not God. God leads the church. God is not the church. Most congregations are simply microcosms of the world they are drawn from.
So what am I saying here? Keep your eyes focused higher than the people who have authority over you. Keep the attitudes of holiness, forgiveness and understanding uppermost in your minds. Also remember that the attitudes of others do not belong to you. They are rightly the attitudes of others.
-LetsTalkJesus.com-
