"The truth is, every church needs young people*. Their passion enriches the soil around them. The curiosity they bring to Scripture and the authenticity they bring to relationships keep your church's teaching fresh and fellowship fruitful. Young people also need a thriving church. A thriving church both grounds them in community and sends them out to serve. Your church needs young people, and young people need your church. One without the other is incomplete" (Growing Young, 14)
I love this quote, because it reminds me that young people play a significant role in the church as young people right now, not as "the future" of the church. We place much emphasis on growth and maturity in Christian communities, yet we preach Jesus who invited us into the Kingdom with faith like a child. Don't get me wrong--wisdom and maturity are good things! Churches need those too. But I wonder if we place enough value on the presence of young people in our life together.
Do we believe that our church needs young people? And more importantly, do we act on this belief?
How do we show we value young people? Surely, it is more than just being nice. Jesus was not just nice. I don't think niceness creates depth and warmth in a community. I have had the privilege of being a part of a few different church communities throughout my life and I did not keep attending them because people were nice to me. I saw Jesus' love in the people I met on Sunday mornings. These people were real. They cared that I would show up each week. They opened their homes to me, asked me to be involved in the church in ways that used my gifts, mentored me, taught me, and loved me for who I was. I also saw them care about each other, not only me. Prayer in worship felt like family prayer time. Greeting time took a full five minutes because of how long people spent greeting one another. Children sat in on worship services because they were part of the family, too. Often we think churches need to be 'cool' to be attractive to young people. These places were 'cool' to me not because of structure or programs, but because they were warm communities. And I'm pretty sure most young people would agree with me. To quote the authors of Growing Young, "warm is the new cool." (163)
"It turns out that [young people] are looking for warmth not as an add-on but in their church's very DNA." (169)
Does our vision, worship time, and allocation of resources say, "We need young people!"? And are we a community that young people say about us, "These are my people, this is where I belong and am known."
*In this case, young people refers to those ages 15-29.