Filed under: Uncategorized
Yesterday I had a conversation about Young Adults with a pastor within our district. We discussed the idea that some leaders feel that in order to reach young adults, we need to “abandon Pentecost” and use an “intellectual approach”. I must admit that I do believe we do a poor job of discipling teens in the area of doctrine and even intellectual wrestling. Because of that, some would feel that Young Adults are repelled to emotional expression – thus the intellectual mandate.
I wonder how balanced this thinking is. Faith is not merely a mental belief system or an academic pursuit of God. While these elements are part of being a Christian, the bottom line is that Christianity is about relationship. We are reconciled by Christ, into a relationship with the living God. I must admit, I don’t have too many relationships that don’t involve emotions. In fact, with certain relationships, my emotions cause me to act in certain ways. I kiss my wife because my emotions tell me to. I cuddle with my kids because my emotions tell me to. Yesterday, I laughed uncontrollably with this pastor…because my emotions told me to. Obviously all of these actions are only appropriate in certain relationships. You would never want to kiss, cuddle, or laugh uncontrollably in a job interview -regardless of what your emotions said! I just can’t believe that Young Adults need to abandon “Pentecost” because of the emotional component. In fact, the highest value of most Young Adults is relationship. And the relationships that seem to matter most are those that provide the best emotional times.
So, do we throw away the intellectual approach and return to a highly emotional “Pentecostal” experience. I actually believe we need to embrace both the intellectual and the emotional. As this leader and I talked, our conversation was fairly intellectual and somewhat academic. But as we discussed deep issues of faith, my heart was leaping! And that is what our intellectual pursuits should cause us to do…bring us to a mental perspective that causes us to be overwhelmed with a God who stirs our emotions…AND just sometimes, causes our expressions of those emotions to look a little less dignified. Abandon Pentecost? No…let’s grab all we can!
Filed under: Whys of Young Adult Ministry
A few weeks ago, a group of leaders for young adult ministries met to start a conversation on how to best minister within their setting. Each person in the room felt a deep burden for their “target audience” – a group consisting of individuals, for the most part, uninterested in the established church. Young adults are deeply attracted to spirituality and practical Christianity. What they are not attracted to is corporate “church” that preaches a self-serving message that never assists people to use their spirituality to cross-sect the world’s needs. There is a segment of the young adult world attending evangelical churches. Yet, there is a larger segment that has either walked away from “church” or has yet to choose “church” as pertinent to their life. This conversation is about the how’s and why’s of ministering to Young Adults. To start the conversation, let’s examine the “WHY’s” of ministering to Young Adults. Why do we need to specialize with this age group? Why are there few leaders who have found success with this age group? And WHY are Young Adults so disconnected from the “church” as we know it? Let the conversation begin…
