“At the risk of sounding quite insolently obvious, I shall say that if the Church is to make any impression on the modern mind she will have to preach Christ and the cross.”
– Dorothy Sayers[1]
The same could be said of making lasting impressions on the
youth of the church, especially when it comes to contending for and delivering
the Christian faith (Jude 3). The word Lutherans use for this is catechesis.
Now, by catechesis we must mean a lifetime of receiving the Word of God,
participating in the sacramental life of the church, and believing, teaching,
and confessing – not leave the catechism, Scriptures, and hymnal behind once
you’ve hit made your confirmation vows. At its best, Lutheran catechesis
centers on Christ crucified throughout our entire lives. Quite simply, this is what our youth need.
More historic Lutheran teaching. More discussion and studies on current topics
from a Christian worldview. More apologetics for the defense of their faith.
More worship that points them to Christ and not themselves or the latest pop-Christian entertainment
fads. In other words, our youth need what we all need: More 200 proof Lutheran
doctrine and practice. More Word. More Sacraments. More Jesus.
It’s simple really. You put good Lutheran teaching, worship,
and throw in some fun activities – and you get good Lutherans out. Good
Lutheranism in, good Lutherans out. To be sure, some of our young men will be
pastors and some of our young women will be deaconesses and they will all go on
to serve in various vocations. But the youth are not the future of the church.
They are the church, right now,
already. From the moment they were baptized and marked with the cross and the
water they were members of the body of Christ.
And this is why the youth board and pastors here at Redeemer
have made going to Higher Things conferences in the summer (not to mention
using their resources during the year) the highest priority for our youth.
Higher Things youth organization provides the best in Lutheran teaching,
worship, and fun for our youth and adults alike. Through conferences, daily
devotions, online videos, Facebook, radio, and so much more, Higher Things is
giving our youth a faith that they can grow into, not out of. And that’s what
we spend our time doing here at Redeemer whether it’s in Sunday School,
preschool, adult Bible studies or with our youth. Train up a child in the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6).
Over the past several decades protestant churches throughout
the United States have been learning this the hard way. Studies have been done.
Surveys conducted. Data has been re-studied and re-researched to the point of
exasperating redundancy. Everyone agrees that youth and college students are
leaving the church in large numbers. The problem, however, isn’t in the
diagnosis, it’s in the treatment. The youth are leaving the church not because
of too much Christian doctrine but too little. They are leaving not because of
too much liturgy and good hymns, but too little. They are leaving not because
the church is uncool but because it is too cool, too friendly with the world.
If the church becomes too much like the world, why should our youth – or anyone
for that matter - come to church? What’s the difference between going to the
club on Saturday night and the rock band on Sunday morning? Honestly, not much
and the club is probably more fun (and better music). If faith is a house,
we’ve built them a house of straw and sticks. No wonder that when they get to
the later years of high school or college that the big bad wolf of skepticism,
atheism, and all sorts of other “isms” blows their house down. The church
growth methods and trend setting ways of popular Christianity have been tried
and found wanting and they have failed our youth. Too many youth are leaving
the church not because they are overstuffed on good Christian substance, but
because they are starving, or worse yet, the church has fed them a steady diet
of sugar-fied Christianity which turns out to be a fantastic gateway drug to
unbelief or, at the very least, an early exit out the back door.
No doubt you’ve heard the old cliché: You are what you eat.
To an extent that’s true. The food and drink we put into our bodies affects our
weight, cholesterol, metabolism, and so forth. The same is true for the
Christian faith: you are what you worship and teach. The Christian teaching we
receive, the spiritual food and drink we partake of, and the worship we are
involved in all affects our spiritual diet and well being.
That’s why false teaching and self-centered worship are bad
for your spiritual health; these things are also poisonous to our youth and
it’s everywhere in our culture and sadly in our churches. Thankfully, there are
good ingredients for our youth and families today. We don’t need to settle for
the McJesus of fast food Christianity: Have it your way! Thank God for Higher
Things and this year’s From Above conference,
where we were reminded daily that we are God’s children, born from above in
Baptism and fed by Christ’s Word and Supper.
This why the youth and adult chaperones spent four days in
Tacoma, Washington at a youth conference this summer. Our youth are important
members of the body of Christ. They need to be fed and nourished just like our
other members, with the same wholesome word and sacraments we all need. At this
year’s From Above conference that’s
exactly what they received. The youth attended 14 worship services in 4 days, 4
plenary (meaning full) sessions and at least 7 breakout sessions on individual
topics of their choosing. And here’s the best part of it all: they loved it.
They ate it up. They wanted more and were actually disappointed we had to leave
a little early to get to the airport.
But don’t just take my word for it. I encourage you to check
out the pictures in the newsletter and the youth’s highlight list printed
below. Those are their words, not mine.
At Higher Things From
Above our youth - along with 450 other Lutheran youth - received exactly
what they as Lutheran youth (and all of us alike) need: solid Lutheran worship;
faithful teaching; and a whole lot of fun.
Teaching. Everyone knows this is an essential part of the
Christian life. And it’s a key part of the conferences at Higher Things. The
topics range anywhere from homosexuality to dating, marriage and family or from
Christ in the movies to telling Old Testament stories using Legos. Each day the
youth got to pick from several options at several times for these breakout
sessions. It is a joy to see our youth hunger for and rejoice in good solid
teaching. We don’t need to dumb it down for them. They’re not dumb kids. They are extremely intelligent. Take
the time to explain complex words and ideas. They’ll appreciate it and thank
you for it. Take them seriously. They have serious questions. And as Lutherans
we have the best answers around. We have all the right tools and resources: the
Scriptures, the Catechism, and the hymnal. Combine that with a thoroughly
Lutheran apologetics and you’ve got a great recipe. Put good Lutheran teaching
in and you get good Lutherans out.
Fun. What would a youth conference be without fun? We had
plenty of it. From the moment (even if it was at 5 AM) we met at the airport to
the moment we picked up Clifford the Big Red Suburban and arrived on campus at
Pacific Lutheran University, we were all having fun, despite being tired! In
fact the whole week was one exhaustingly joyous day after another. But it was
that good kind of tired after a satisfying bike ride or workout. That’s a
fitting way to describe Higher Things: a solid Lutheran workout. You are what
you eat, worship, and teach. The fun extended from the city heights of
Seattle’s Space Needle down to the simple things like making new friends and
going to Baskin Robbins. Redeemer’s youth have fun wherever they go. That’s
just who they are. They had fun. I had fun. And I’d go with them to a Higher
Things conference any day.
Our youth are a joy and a delight. You really should try
spending some time with them. I pray you find time to interact with them and
find this out for yourselves. Of course, there is a great deal we can do to
support them and train them up as they dare to be Lutheran. But one of the best
things that Higher Things From Above
taught me is that our Lutheran youth have just as much to teach us about daring
to be Lutheran. Because when you put good Lutheran stuff in, you get good
Lutherans out.
[1]
Dorothy Sayers, Creed or Chaos? Letters to a Diminished Church.
Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2004, p. 60.
In principle what you say is good, but it didn't work out quite that well at Purdue this summer. Trying to do ecclesiastical things in an auditorium, and commune 1400 people just doesn't work. I appreciate the efforts, but it doesn't work. Also, I wish some of the speakers would not bounce around the stage like pin balls. Our kids don't come to be entertained,they come to learn. The pentecostal style takes away from the message. Keep trying.
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