A friend of mine told me today that, not too long ago, he actually sat his parents down for "the talk". No, not THAT talk, but he wanted to tell them something important. He wanted to thank them for making him go to church when he was young. Yes, you read that right. They MADE him go to church and he THANKED them for it.There were days when he didn't want to be a part of the church. There were days when he wanted to sleep in, play video games, or do whatever other people tend to do on Sunday mornings, but he never got what he wanted. When he was older, there were some Sundays where he might have preferred to work a shift and make money, but he was told to keep Sunday mornings and youth group nights free on his schedule. To his parents, this was a non-negotiable. They wanted to instill in him the value and importance of church community. I'm sure they thought it was important for him to have fun on weekends. I'm sure they thought that playing team sports or gaining work experience (not to mention the money that goes along with it) were valuable, but those things (as good as they might be) weren't the greatest good. You see, his parents had plans for him. They didn't just want him to be successful in our culture's eyes, but they wanted him to be successful in the eyes of God. They believed that the thing of ultimate importance was that their son would know, love, and follow Jesus. In Matthew 16:26, Jesus reminds us, "What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?" Jesus reminds us that our spiritual health and well-being is far more valuable than all of the money in the world.
I've worked with teens as a pastor for around 13 years, and something that I've always encouraged teens is that they would guard their schedule when they get their first job. It is VERY tempting to take a shift on Sunday morning or to work instead of going to youth group, and I've seen a lot of parents over the years even encouraging them to do so. The problem with this it that those parents are teaching their kids that work, sports involvement, or ________ trumps their spiritual growth and health. Parents, don't be surprised when your kids grow to think of church community, or even Christian faith, as irrelevant and unnecessary when that's what's instilled in them during their formative years.
As a pastor, I don't get payed based on the head-count of our kids or youth programs. (Thank God for that, because there would be some weeks where I wouldn't get payed at all). There is nothing in it for me to keep encouraging parents to make being a part of church community a non-negotiable for themselves and their kids. Well...aside from not wanting those kids and teens to walk away from their faith and live life disconnected from the God who loves them. It's hard to follow Jesus when you're consistently receiving teaching and encouragement. It's nearly impossible to follow Jesus without it.
Hebrews 10:24 says, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another".
When we get together as the church community, we're encouraged and strengthened in our faith. We take time to hear Bible teaching and to reflect on how it can be applied to our lives. We learn how to live as followers of Jesus in a world that largely cares nothing for him, and to help others struggling to do the same. We are given an opportunity to take a break from our hectic schedules in order to spend time in prayer and worship, expressing our love and thanks to God (and let's face it, we seldom ever do those things on our own during the week, let alone as a family). In the church, we have the privilege to foster Christian friendships and to serve as a part of the church community, using our unique interests and skills to help share the good news of God's love with others.
I told my friend (who incidentally, is a solid follower of Jesus and a youth pastor), that we recently experienced some grief when my 6-year-old wanted to attend a birthday party and we wouldn't let him. Don't get me wrong, the party sounded great! It was even taking place at a museum where they would get a special tour of a bug exhibit! This is the kind of thing that 6-year-old's dream about! But the party was scheduled to take place on a Sunday morning. My son had tears in his eyes as we sat him down to explain why he couldn't go. We told him that, if the party had been on another day or time, we would have loved to take him, but we attended church on Sunday mornings together as a family, and THAT was the priority. It was hard for him to hear it, and there might be days in the future where he'll even say nasty things to us because we are so unwavering in that commitment, but I just can't wait for the day when he sits us down for "the talk". To borrow words from a famous hymn, "What a day, a glorious day, that will be".
