Things You Won't Hear in Church

    It's really important for me to be regularly connected with young people in the church.  Why?  They bring a vibrant and vigorous perspective to the faith.  And they voice things that you wouldn't normally hear in the church.  They have an ardent desire to know what we believe, why it matters, and how we live it out.     

     The honesty and curiosity of a young person is a gift to the Christian community.  A church without a youthful voice will stop asking questions and never be challenged.

Things I typically hear in the church:

• "How are we doing on the budget?"
  
• "Why don't more people come to church/Bible study?"
  
• "Do you remember the days when we used to _______?"
  
• "This coffee is too strong.  When are we going back to the old stuff?"  
  
• "Can you believe she wore that?"
  
• "Good morning.  How are you?"  "Fine, thank you.  How are you?"  
  
• "We never used to do it that way."  
  

     I have some college students/young adults at my house every Tuesday evening.  Here are some topics of conversation from this past week:

• "So what do I say to my lesbian teammate who's angry that Christians speak about a loving God and are so un-accepting?"
  
• "I don't want a job just to make money.  I want my career to really help other people in a meaningful way."
  
• "Pastor, no offense, but the church didn't prepare me to live in the real world."
  
• "Pastor, no offense, but when I come to worship I feel like a lot of people are just going through the motions and saying the right things.  But I wonder about their relationship with Christ."
  
• "Why does it matter to be Lutheran?"  
  
• "Pastor, some of my friends saw you and wanted your number.  But I told them you were WAY married."  
  

      Find some young people.  Hold your tongue.  Listen.  What you hear might bless you.