Growing Young
Our church office staff tries to read a few books together every year. We tend to read these books one chapter at a time and then discuss them. Sometimes we agree with the author’s opinions and sometimes we don’t. We often agree with each other’s opinions, and sometimes we don’t; but we still love and support each other even when we don’t agree. A book we are beginning to read together now is Growing Young: Six Essential Strategies to Help Young People Love Your Church. The book was written because so many churches are growing older, but not younger. In other words, churches often have a large number of members who are older in age, but a shrinking number of members who are younger in age. When this trend continues in a congregation, that congregation will eventually not exist any longer. The majority of the book examines growing churches that seem to have a good mixture of young and old in their church families.
The key points that the authors focus on related to these churches who are “growing young” are:
I’ve only read a small part of the book so far and have simply skimmed over the rest, but when I consider where we are as a Christian family at Western Heights, I see glimpses of these qualities mentioned in the book. I’m not saying that we have mastered all these qualities, but I believe that we are attempting to move in these directions. Now, I may not know exactly what the authors mean by each of these focuses (As I said, I’ve only read a small part of the book), but I think I have an idea as to what they are getting at.
The point isn’t to say that we want young people, and we don’t need older people. That would be a foolish goal. The reality is that we gain wisdom as we get older and therefore those who are younger need to have access to that wisdom, and they won’t have it if older members are alienated or are no longer part of the church family. Without good healthy relationships between different generations, that wisdom won’t be passed on. A healthy church has people of all ages and backgrounds. Yet, while we can gain wisdom from those who are older, we can also learn valuable lessons from our children and young people. I remember a time during a church camp many years ago where the youth ministers who were leading the camp had been trying to orchestrate things in such a way to make Thursday night of camp the spiritual climax of the week. By Tuesday of that week, several young people had already been baptized, and the director’s concern was that we were peaking too early. During the discussion that followed one of our younger counselors spoke up and said, “Shouldn’t we listen to the Holy Spirit in this. He might know better than we do.” We can learn spiritual truth from each other, no matter the age. The point is that we are all a part of the Body of Christ. Paul says it this way:
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. 14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 1 Corinthians 12:12–14 (ESV)
It doesn’t matter whether we are Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, or might I say, “young or old”. We were all baptized into the same Body of Christ by God’s Spirit. We are a part of the Body of Christ and of this church family specifically because God saw fit to add us to it. All of us have a different story to tell about what brought us here, but if we look closely, we might see God directing our steps. Since we are a part of the Body of Christ we should care about one another no matter the age.
24 . . . But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 1 Corinthians 12:24–25 (ESV)
As a church, we have recently been investing more in our young people and young families. There’s a reason for that. Whether we are old or young, we all need Jesus. In addition, we want the wisdom and the faith that has been developed over time in our church family to be passed on to new generations. We want Western Heights not to just survive, but to flourish as we grow together in Christ. So, let’s take Jesus seriously, by loving and showing empathy to old and young alike. Let’s prioritize our young people and their families and continue to pass on our faith with love and grace, and as we grow together in Christ, let’s become the best neighbors to those in our community so that they can know Jesus too.
In Him,
Rusty
The key points that the authors focus on related to these churches who are “growing young” are:
- Their leadership empowers others to lead.
- They empathize with young people.
- They take Jesus’ message seriously by focusing on Him.
- They fuel a warm community.
- They prioritize young people (and families) everywhere.
- They are the best neighbors.
I’ve only read a small part of the book so far and have simply skimmed over the rest, but when I consider where we are as a Christian family at Western Heights, I see glimpses of these qualities mentioned in the book. I’m not saying that we have mastered all these qualities, but I believe that we are attempting to move in these directions. Now, I may not know exactly what the authors mean by each of these focuses (As I said, I’ve only read a small part of the book), but I think I have an idea as to what they are getting at.
The point isn’t to say that we want young people, and we don’t need older people. That would be a foolish goal. The reality is that we gain wisdom as we get older and therefore those who are younger need to have access to that wisdom, and they won’t have it if older members are alienated or are no longer part of the church family. Without good healthy relationships between different generations, that wisdom won’t be passed on. A healthy church has people of all ages and backgrounds. Yet, while we can gain wisdom from those who are older, we can also learn valuable lessons from our children and young people. I remember a time during a church camp many years ago where the youth ministers who were leading the camp had been trying to orchestrate things in such a way to make Thursday night of camp the spiritual climax of the week. By Tuesday of that week, several young people had already been baptized, and the director’s concern was that we were peaking too early. During the discussion that followed one of our younger counselors spoke up and said, “Shouldn’t we listen to the Holy Spirit in this. He might know better than we do.” We can learn spiritual truth from each other, no matter the age. The point is that we are all a part of the Body of Christ. Paul says it this way:
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. 14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 1 Corinthians 12:12–14 (ESV)
It doesn’t matter whether we are Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, or might I say, “young or old”. We were all baptized into the same Body of Christ by God’s Spirit. We are a part of the Body of Christ and of this church family specifically because God saw fit to add us to it. All of us have a different story to tell about what brought us here, but if we look closely, we might see God directing our steps. Since we are a part of the Body of Christ we should care about one another no matter the age.
24 . . . But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 1 Corinthians 12:24–25 (ESV)
As a church, we have recently been investing more in our young people and young families. There’s a reason for that. Whether we are old or young, we all need Jesus. In addition, we want the wisdom and the faith that has been developed over time in our church family to be passed on to new generations. We want Western Heights not to just survive, but to flourish as we grow together in Christ. So, let’s take Jesus seriously, by loving and showing empathy to old and young alike. Let’s prioritize our young people and their families and continue to pass on our faith with love and grace, and as we grow together in Christ, let’s become the best neighbors to those in our community so that they can know Jesus too.
In Him,
Rusty
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