Keeping Our Youth
by Carol Boyer
"Why do the Sabbatarian churches of God
have such a poor track record when it comes to keeping young people in the
church?"
I have heard and read this question several times
lately. In fact, I’ve heard this question raised regarding other
denominations as well. In discussing discipleship, our own fellowship
group has examined the topic of why so many kids leave the church in which
they were raised.
It would seem that this question begs an answer. But
perhaps it "begs" another question: "Is keeping young
people in a particular church the goal of discipleship?"
Growing up, I felt that I had a certain church
heritage. It included special times on Friday night as the Sabbath began,
fun trips to interesting places at Feast of Tabernacles time, and frequent
pot-luck socials.
But it also included a lot of dos and don’ts which
tended to steal the joy from Sabbath observance. It included an air of
superiority toward those who didn’t keep the Holy Days or whose dietary
habits differed from ours. It involved not questioning the ministry and
making sure that anyone who left our fellowship was treated like a persona
non grata.
In all the years I was growing up, I never heard anyone
worry about young people leaving Christ. But I often heard concerns about
them leaving our church.
To keep our young people, we need to know where it is
we want them to stay. Is the heritage we want to pass along a particular
church sub-culture? A set of doctrines, from which they dare not stray?
Are we trying to make them disciples of ourselves?
Or should our discipleship consist of making disciples
of Jesus Christ? Shouldn’t we be offering our young people, and anyone
with whom we have contact, their true heritage in Jesus Christ—a
spiritual heritage of service, humility, mercy, and sacrificial love? If
we are leading people to Christ and encouraging and patterning a life in
constant fellowship with Him and the Father, what have we to fear for
their future?
A close personal relationship with God is the strongest
bond we can hope for and it should be what we are passing on to our
children and young adults. It should not be a heritage of bondage to the
rules and whims of a particular group, but of the freedom found in Christ
Jesus—freedom from the power of sin. Are our young people taught to keep
rules or to seek the Source of power which fills our hearts with the
desire to do all things in love?
If we want to keep our youngsters for ourselves, we
have already lost them. Our goal should be to point them to our Savior,
for nothing can separate them from the love that is in Christ Jesus. *** |
Keeping Our Youth 