I heard a statistic recently, that 70% of the youth
population of my church is leaving, and that the majority of this number are
those who grew up in the church. This is very disconcerting to know. A large
part of the leadership of the church are spreading the idea that this mass
exodus is occurring because the church is not being relevant to the youth. So,
they have made changes to make the church feel more attractive: modifying the
music, the dress code, and the complete message of the church to make the youth
feel comfortable. As a young person I can safely say this will do nothing to
help anyone. I am deeply offended at the notion that the youth of today are so
shallow that something as petty as not having drums in the church or being
expected to dress appropriately in the presence of The King of the Universe,
would drive them from the place where their Saviour should be found. The real
reason young people are leaving the church is simply this, the hypocrisy of church
leadership.
The first thing to consider is this: numbers mean nothing to
God. He can, and has, and will continue to, work by few or by many (1 Samuel
14:6; Judges 7:1-7). Therefore, the numbers leaving, staying, or joining do not
matter. God is first and foremost interested the quality of persons claiming
His name, not the quantity. In church we hear the accounts, from the Bible, of
great men and women of faith, honour and integrity, like Job, Abraham, Deborah,
Jonathan, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. We also hear modern mission reports
of the faithful like George MΓΌller and his orphans, or the
missionaries surrounded by lions that were saved. But this belief in God is not
demonstrated in our leadership. The purpose of the church is to provide a means
by which individuals can meet God, not to provide for the self-centred desires
of sinful human beings. Services and messages are to be designed with praise to,
and magnification of God, as the primary goal, not for the congregation’s
enjoyment.
All our lives growing up in the church we’ve been taught
about an Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent God Who owns the cattle on a
thousand hills yet as soon as the church needs to be repainted out comes the
well-crafted, guilt-tripping tithe and offering sermons, and the appeals
dictating how much money is needed from each church member. Where is the faith
in God? When Moses was constructing the Sanctuary, he had to send people away
with their gifts (Exodus 35:21-35; 36:1-7). Why? Because God moved on their
hearts. The leadership was obedient to His will and taught the people to live
in obedience. His name was being honoured, reverenced and uplifted by the
Israelites. During the time of the youngest king of Judah, Joash, the temple
was in disrepair because of prior ungodly leadership. When Joash restored
proper worship to God the people brought their offerings willingly and
abundantly and the temple was repaired (2 Kings 12:1-14). During the time of
the early church all the believers were so committed to the purpose of the
church, they gave all that they possessed to the further spreading of truth,
and God blessed them for it (Acts 6:31-37). Where is the faith?
When individuals in the church commit blatant wrongs against
God and against each other we placate and make excuses claiming not to have the
right to judge instead of calling sin by its right name. As a result, false
witnesses remain in the church repeatedly offending and giving the church a bad
name with their vile, thieving, self-centred, faithless behaviour against
church membership and others in the wider society. Had the presence of God been
working in our churches we could and would with boldness uphold the standards
of God in our membership allowing the faithful and the wider community to be
safe in what is to be the house of God. Consider God’s instructions for dealing
with those who broke His Sabbath day (Numbers 15:32-35) or God’s instructions
through Paul for the vile offenders in Corinth (1 Corinthians 5:1-8). Some of
us leave because we are berated for seemingly tiny sins while members of church
leadership continue with their vices and get protection (Matthew 23:24). All
sin in the church should be dealt with appropriately. None should be covered
none should be ignored all should be dealt with fairly and in proportion,
because all will lead to death if left to fester. Where is the justice?
We learn in scripture that in order to receive eternal life
we must keep the commandments (Luke 10:25-28). Most of the elders in the church
hammer this into our heads but never discuss why and how this should be done.
The youth of the church have questions and these questions need to be answered
and the Bible has the answers if we would just read it. But most of the
church’s leadership (possibly because it would be self-condemning) do not
provide adequate guidance and study help. We need to hold the Bible as our primary text book and any book that supports it, we need to put away these books containing the musings and imaginings of non-scriptural, god-less, uninspired, inferior minds. God will hold church leadership to
account for every youth that is lost because of their selfish withholding of
truth (Matthew 18:6; 23:13). God’s justice and mercy must be taught in equal
measure so that individuals may receive the full picture of God’s love. God
calls us to reason with Him so that we may come to a clear understanding of how
our salvation will come about (Isaiah 1:16-20). Jesus took the ultimate
punishment so that we could have a second chance at making the right choice in
every temptation that is allowed to pass our way. When this is explained, and
practical tools are given to support the youth in holding fast to God’s
strength to obey they will have a reason to stay in church. Where is the truth?
These were just three of the many hypocritical
inconsistencies the youth find in the church, not to mention the perpetuation of baseless racial, and cultural divisions. Those of us from over-privileged
societies need to be extra cautious about our hypocritical ways. Because we are
not face to face with the tangible challenges others face daily, we tend to
forget that this life was meant to be a struggle (1 Peter 4:12). Our struggle
is against sin amidst a barrage of discouraging attacks from outside and inside,
through which God said we must endure in order to be saved (Matthew 10:22;
24:13). Our pastors - self admittedly - are more interested in their own pleasure and entertainment than leading out prayer meeting. We need to pray for vision to see beyond this life. This is not the best there is. Until there is a genuine revival and reformation in the church, where
we return to obedience of the truth of Scripture the church will continue to
haemorrhage its youth.
Being Kingdom Conscious
The Pure In Heart
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