A New Generation in the Church

We were recently at the Keswick Convention, where I was encouraged to hear that over 3000 children and young people who had gone through their programmes this year. I know there were quite a few others on waiting lists for over-subscribed groups.

It's a bit simplistic to see those children and young people as long term members of the church of the future (not all are Christians of course!), but it is encouraging to see Christian parents encouraging large numbers of children to believe the gospel and grow in their faith.

It made me think about some of the things I'd want for that generation, which includes my children. Some of those things are obvious. I want them to know and believe the gospel, trust the Bible, commit to sharing the gospel and so on. But there are some things that I think are weaknesses of my generation and I hope we don't pass on! Here are three related to the local church that struck me.

1. Commit to the local church

I suppose this is an obvious reflection when you hear of that number at a conference! However, I see this as an issue in two ways.

First, I think it is currently common to be part of a church, but not very committed. It might be shown in irregular attendance, showing up late and leaving early, unwillingness to give or serve (see below). The general vibe is that church is an add-on held at a bit of a distance rather than vital and integral part of Christians' lives.

Second, I think it is very common to flit around different churches. This church meets my needs for now, but when it doesn't I leave. Or, I'm happy here until someone challenges me about my sin, then I go somewhere more positive. Or, I liked it there until things got tough in some way, so I moved on.

No church is perfect and sometimes it is right to move on. For the most part though, churches need committed members who will stick it out in good times and hard times. It's very hard for a church to function effectively if it doesn't have a secure base of committed and faithful members. In fact, I worry if we carry on down the track we're going many/most churches won't be able to survive because of the lack of commitment of Christians.

2. Respect appropriate authority

I think it's true to say that authority and the authorities largely have a bad name in our society - sometimes for understandable reasons, but increasingly because an anti-authority attitude is the norm. It mustn't be like that in the church.

I wonder how many Christians in the 21st Century UK have taken Hebrews 13:17 to heart (or would even be comfortable to do so):

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you. (Hebrews 13:17 ESV)

Yes, there have been examples of bad leaders and the author to Hebrews does set the standard pretty high for leaders both in the verse above in and Hebrews 13:7. My concern is that it is increasingly common I think for church leaders to be leading with "groaning" and not with "joy."

Again, this is not a good track for the church to be following. Good leaders won't last. People won't want to be church leaders. Churches won't function and will die.

3. Serve don't just consume

Lack of commitment and respect for the church often mean that, at best, people show up for the things they want from the church. In fact, whether intentionally or not, many large churches have effectively set themselves up for this model. They employ people to "serve," so that services, children's and youth work and the like happen largely because there are people paid to do it.

This isn't really Christianity is it. It's hardly the call of Jesus to serve (Mark 10:45) or to love one another (John 13:34). It's not the body language that Paul uses for the church in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4.

Again, the majority of churches can't function like this and it wouldn't be healthy if they did.

I know there's lots of other things we could hope for a new generation, but I think it we want to see Christianity thrive in the UK, then evidently we need lots of thriving local churches. I think that means we need committed, respectful and serving believers. I think those might be good things to pray for the next generation and maybe some in my generation could begin to turn things around and set the example themselves.