Chapel, and other things on my mind
So I preached chapel services for ___ Christian School (based out of ___ Baptist Church) today. They have separate chapel services for the Junior/Senior High and Elementary age groups.
I always enjoy the chance to preach to teenagers, and preaching these chapel services has been pretty much the only opportunity I've had so far. My years and relationships with the teens at Bethel taught me so much about integrating the way of Christ into the time/space where God has placed us. I have a lot of empathy for where teenagers are in their journey, and I am aware that many of the spiritual and relational crossroads they're coming to are pivotal ones. I want so much for them to make it as followers of Christ!
With the move to a new ministry and place coming soon, I was aware that this might be the last time I get to speak to them in this way. I didn't do anything emotional or dramatic, but I did begin my time with them by telling them that relationship with God on their own terms exists, and if they weren't at that place, to not give up digging and searching until they began to find it.
The religious experience of parents/leaders is so easy to co-opt as your own, especially in the hermetically sealed subcultures we often create, that finding your own relationship with God doesn't seem to be worth the work. Or surface actions get mistaken for authentic relationship, but by the time the mistake is discovered, bitterness/jaded outlook have set in, and it's too late.
Or, in perhaps the most ironic twist of all, they find the authentic relationship outside the church/relationship circles in which their walk with God was formed. That's just not supposed to happen, it's been dictated by those who've taught us: but it does. And it shouldn't have to.
Two friends of mine, D__ and S__, come to mind. Good kids, brought up in one of the signature ministries of our independent Baptist church circles. Talented, got-it-going-on types. Sincere and dedicated in their faith. And forced to come to grips with the fact that the expression of Chrstianity they were living was a dead end, in every sense of the term. Forced to consider straining - and losing - friendships built over young lifetimes. Forced to consider aligning themselves with local bodies of Christ followers outside the group of independent Baptist churches in which they had grown up. Forced by the intensity of their desire to be followers of God in the way of Christ.
Is it a shame they're considering churches that aren't independent Baptist? You bet it is.
It's a shame because it shouldn't have to happen. As a group of churches, our doctrinal statements are true to the Word of God. As a group of churches, our relational dynamics are haphazard at best, and at worst, they are absolutely detrimental to the development of the generations whose walks with Christ are just beginning.
At least D__ and S__ were strong enough in their faith to continue pursuing it. Most just continue mediocre, brain-dead, irrelevant existences where they are. Or they give up on any expression of a relationship with Christ whatsoever.
These are my observations. They are a big part of my heart for ministry: to be part of creating a whole-life church experience that is an expression of the way of Christ in the time and place in which God has placed us.
Godspeed, teenagers. Just don't give up the search, the journey.
Godspeed, D__ and S__. You're not alone.
Godspeed, independent Baptist churces. The ball's in our court.
Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. -The Bible, I Thessalonians 4:1,9
I always enjoy the chance to preach to teenagers, and preaching these chapel services has been pretty much the only opportunity I've had so far. My years and relationships with the teens at Bethel taught me so much about integrating the way of Christ into the time/space where God has placed us. I have a lot of empathy for where teenagers are in their journey, and I am aware that many of the spiritual and relational crossroads they're coming to are pivotal ones. I want so much for them to make it as followers of Christ!
With the move to a new ministry and place coming soon, I was aware that this might be the last time I get to speak to them in this way. I didn't do anything emotional or dramatic, but I did begin my time with them by telling them that relationship with God on their own terms exists, and if they weren't at that place, to not give up digging and searching until they began to find it.
The religious experience of parents/leaders is so easy to co-opt as your own, especially in the hermetically sealed subcultures we often create, that finding your own relationship with God doesn't seem to be worth the work. Or surface actions get mistaken for authentic relationship, but by the time the mistake is discovered, bitterness/jaded outlook have set in, and it's too late.
Or, in perhaps the most ironic twist of all, they find the authentic relationship outside the church/relationship circles in which their walk with God was formed. That's just not supposed to happen, it's been dictated by those who've taught us: but it does. And it shouldn't have to.
Two friends of mine, D__ and S__, come to mind. Good kids, brought up in one of the signature ministries of our independent Baptist church circles. Talented, got-it-going-on types. Sincere and dedicated in their faith. And forced to come to grips with the fact that the expression of Chrstianity they were living was a dead end, in every sense of the term. Forced to consider straining - and losing - friendships built over young lifetimes. Forced to consider aligning themselves with local bodies of Christ followers outside the group of independent Baptist churches in which they had grown up. Forced by the intensity of their desire to be followers of God in the way of Christ.
Is it a shame they're considering churches that aren't independent Baptist? You bet it is.
It's a shame because it shouldn't have to happen. As a group of churches, our doctrinal statements are true to the Word of God. As a group of churches, our relational dynamics are haphazard at best, and at worst, they are absolutely detrimental to the development of the generations whose walks with Christ are just beginning.
At least D__ and S__ were strong enough in their faith to continue pursuing it. Most just continue mediocre, brain-dead, irrelevant existences where they are. Or they give up on any expression of a relationship with Christ whatsoever.
These are my observations. They are a big part of my heart for ministry: to be part of creating a whole-life church experience that is an expression of the way of Christ in the time and place in which God has placed us.
Godspeed, teenagers. Just don't give up the search, the journey.
Godspeed, D__ and S__. You're not alone.
Godspeed, independent Baptist churces. The ball's in our court.
Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. -The Bible, I Thessalonians 4:1,9
posted by pastor mike at 1:06 PM
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