How can a young person keep their way blameless?
By guarding it according to the Word. Psalm 119:9
How can a young person guard his/her way according to the Word?
By being rooted and grounded in the Word
How can a young person be rooted and grounded in the Word
Of the several possible answers an important one would be by being part of a Bible believing and Bible Loving church.
I had a very interesting series of encounters with young adults across the last few weeks who openly shared with me their expectations about the church and about their pastor. What is that the young people of the 21st Century are looking for when they walk up the doors of the church. When they look for pastoral guidance what are their expectations?
- An authentic, genuine and transparent religious experience. We live in a world where there is lot of hypocrisy and the young people are looking for a space where they can find realness. It should be a space where their beliefs are nurtured, challenges addressed and struggles acknowledged.
- An inclusive and welcoming community marked by equal acceptance of all irrespective of backgrounds, orientation, race or gender, where no one is judged or side-lined, ignored or mocked. It is a place where there is no condemnation or finding fault but where people are accepted as they are.
- A dynamic community- supportive and concerned. A young person thus quipped about the church- It is the place where I truly feel I am cared for. I feel that I am loved and accepted as I am. It is a place where I am reminded that my life mission is to care for others.
- A Bible cantered teaching- bold, prophetic and uncompromising. It is very easy to find proponents of the prosperity gospel who seldom preach about the cross or of discipleship. What we need is the willingness to allow God to disturb us and interrupt us and to allow the Holy Spirit to constantly stir us and mould us more and more to the image and likeness of Christ. The fact that Christ became like us is so that we would become like him.
- A relevant worship pattern and heart touching music. William Temple once said- to worship is to fill the imagination with the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God and to devote the will to the purpose of God. It is an experience far beyond rites and rituals and music plays an important part in making worship relatable to the young people. Worship is the experience of a grateful heart cherishing the value of grace and salvation.
- A vibrant missional engagement. The church becomes church only when it exists for others. To live in Christ means to exist for others. And to be participants in the mission of Christ is, ‘to bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. (Luke 4: 18-19). The young people wants to be participants in mission trusted with the responsibility of reaching those that need to be reached with the love and fragrance of Christ.
- A willingness to allow youngsters to be participants in every aspect of the life of the church and a readiness to include them in the vision and witness of the church. Young people desire to be the subjects in the story of the church and not mere objects. They want to dynamically participate in the kingdom engagements wiping the tears of people and proclaiming the coming of the reign of God, calling for repentance.
- An updated integration of technology. It is worth noting here how technology is important in the life of the young people. On Reformation Sunday the WCC press note brought to the attention of the world the story of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland inviting people to share their questions with the AI-powered Luther. Rev. Ralf Peter Reimann of the Evangelical Church in Rheinland, one of the creators of the project, said: “The AI Luther avatar is an experiment, but with artificial intelligence, we strive to make the Reformation’s message tangible for our era. On YouTube, people can directly ask Martin Luther their questions and receive answers in real time. They can interact with Luther as if he were alive, bringing the 500-year-old message of the Reformation into the 21st century.”
- An oversight on personal growth. Wholistic growth is something that every living person would desire. It has not only its physical dimensions but also mental, emotional, spiritual, moral, ethical and social dimensions. Young people are looking for authentic shepherds who understands the needs and desires of the sheep, who would not in anyway reflect devouring wolfishness in their lives. Spiritual guidance and mentoring are realities people are longing for.
- A passion for justice and peace and a commitment to love, It was Dietrich Bonhoeffer who said, “ we are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself.” He went on to say- we must not assume that our schedules are our own to manage but we must allow it to be arranged by God. He challenged the Christians saying- the way you live your Christian life should make non-believers question their disbelief in God.
- Availability and Accessibility. The basic things that young people expects from pastors is their accessibility and availability. They could take some time to be sure that the presence is welcoming and the space around the pastor is a safe space. Once they realise that, they open up and what unfolds would be a new world of tremendous possibilities. Once they see spiritual integrity, compassion, empathy and commitment in the pastor and the leadership team they easily connect to the church
- The Impact-fullness. A genuine church will make indelible marks on the community around them. It realises that the real responsibility is towards next generations and focus on creation care. The watch word of the church to any person in need would be “For we are neighbours”. To such a church the young people would love to go.
We must be willing to listen to our young people
We must be willing to change to make ourselves acceptable to the young
We must be willing to be the fragrance of Christ that attracts young people
We must be willing to take responsibilities of spiritual nurture and allow them to take responsibilities
We must be willing to unlearn, de-learn and relearn to be youth saavy.
Vinod Victor
November 1, 2023
Freiburg Anglican Church 