Is Church an Elective for You and Your Family?

Is Church an Elective for You and Your Family?

I read a pretty fantastic blog post that asked the question, "What happens when parents and kids see youth group simply as an elective". I highly recommend reading it, as I think it highlights a growing concern.
  

Hebrews 10:25 says, "Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord’s coming is getting closer". (CEV)

There used to be a time when getting together as the church was a non-negotiable. It was something cemented in our schedules. These days, however, I think there's a lot of truth in this statement:

"Church, youth group, and actually any spiritual discipline are firmly on the bottom of the pecking order.  This means that if homework, sports, vacation, being tired, practice, fill in the blank, don't conflict then, both students and their parents might consider attending some gathered Christian event like church or youth group".

As a pastor, I don't want to see people regularly being a part of the church or youth group because I get paid according to the size of the crowd. No, it's because we live in a world that is jam-packed with things that pull us away from a healthy relationship with God. The support and encouragement that we receive from a Christian community, is, according to the writer of Hebrews, something we can't live without.

The one place where I find myself disagreeing with the above blog post, is that in it, the author says that, "Most Christian adults...can take months or years off of church and fellowship and still have a mostly intact faith". I don't know about you, but in over 13 years of pastoral ministry, I don't think I ever met anyone with that kind of attendance record who I would describe as a growing, thriving Christian. The simple truth is that, when we meet together as the church, we foster friendships with people who we can encourage, challenge and be accountable to. It's a place where we come together to receive solid Bible-based teaching and are prompted to actually apply it to our lives. It's a place where we can worship God together like a crowd cheering on their team at a hockey game. It's a place where we can be prayed for and where we can pray for others. It's a place where we can serve and help others get introduced to Jesus.

In the Old Testament, God asked the people of Israel to not shave their beards and to stay away from bacon as a sign that they were different. Today, simply the act of getting up in the morning and heading to church makes a statement. It screams out loudly to your neighbors, your co-workers, and your pillow that God is important to you.

Your commitment to being a part of the church also communicates something important to your kids. Children, teens and young adults are immersed in a culture that largely cares nothing about knowing or following Jesus. Let's face it, they need all of the help and support that they can get. When we, as parents, treat church as an elective, how can we expect our kids to make any kind of solid commitment? When kids and teens aren't a part of church community, they begin to feel distant and lose their sense of belonging. When those social and spiritual ties are broken, it can be almost impossible to repair them. I've often encouraged teens that, before they leave high school, they need to make a commitment that no matter where they go to college or university, no matter how much a job is willing to pay them, they need to be unwaveringly committed to Christian community. I wish I could say that those words sink in to even half of those teens.

Parents, I want to encourage you, make meeting together as the church a HABIT for your family. Make it a non-negotiable. Talk to your kids about why you go to church on Sunday mornings when most of your neighbors are sleeping in. Model for your kids what it means to be a growing, serving, Jesus-follower. Don't be so quick to allow sports, homework, or a job trump the spiritual health of your children and teenagers.

See you on Sunday!