"Of course, it is only natural for young people to default to spending time with other young people, but the church is not a “natural” agency. The church is a phenomenon that can only be explained by the operative grace of the Holy Spirit at work through the gospel of Christ. Part of the discipleship of young people is encouraging and equipping them to be willing participants in a diverse congregation.A further benefit of this integrated approach to reaching and discipling young people is the way they then contribute to the actual shape and color of the community. Leaders take the presence of young people actively into account as they plan the life of the church. Young people matter, not because they are the “church of tomorrow,” but because they are an integral part of the church today. They too need to understand the word of God as it is taught. They need to hear the truth as it is in Christ applied to their hearts, their idols, their struggles, their joys.
Listen to what Martin Luther had to say on the subject of teaching God’s word to the gathered congregation:
When I preach I don’t look to the doctors and magistrates of whom there are about forty in this church. I have an eye to the many young people, children and servants of whom there are
more than two thousand. I preach to these, addressing myself to their needs. If other people don’t want to listen to this approach then they can always walk out! An upright, godly and true preacher should direct his preaching to the poor, simple sort of people . . . when preachers talk to me they can show off their learning—they will be well put to their trumps! But to sprinkle Hebrew, Greek and Latin in their public sermons, suggests they are merely showing off."
- Tim Chester and Steve Timmis, Total Church, p. 186, 187
3 comments:
The reminds me of a very special service at a church I used to go to here in Waco. Normally, there were the usual two Sunday services (one of which was a bit more traditional) and Sunday school. There was an interim pastor who had come from the Baptist General Convention of Texas to guide the church while they sought a pastor. He canceled all Sunday School and had one combined service, wherein he prefaced his sermon by talking about the illustrious past and the hopeful future of the church. However, in the middle he had some very needed criticisms of the church, which needed to be directed to the youth and college kids as much as the older generations.
The first point here, about the inherently "inter-generational" nature of the local church, within God's plan, is so important to heed *and apply.*. I believe that it is fine, and even helpful, to have ministries in a church that are designed for different age groups. (I love the Well at DSC!)
However, we must be careful in how we think of such ministries. If those age-specific ministries ever begin to be valued and emphasized *over and above* the principle of *all* of God's people, coming together to worship Him, we have lost God's very clear vision in Scripture for what the local church is supposed to be-- a local gathering of His saved, regenerated family of *all ages.*
About the Martin Luther quote at the end, I emphatically agree-- although I find it interesting that the authors would actually *use* such a quote, given Tim Chester's view that "one man, standing before a crowd, teaching" is not actually the Biblical vision of preaching (a view with which I respectfully but seriously disagree).
Correction-- I should have written that Scripturally, the local church is a *local manifestation* (not a "gathering") of His saved, regenerated family of all ages. The organized, structured gatherings of the local church are *not the local church* itself (although very important)-- the church is simply the people of God, who have agreed, as a local body, to love and serve God and each other together.
This Biblical truth explains why, at the Sunday morning services of Capitol Hill Baptist, Mark Dever would always say, "Welcome to *this gathering* of the Capitol Hill Baptist Church." The church does and should gather together to worship God, but the "gathering" is not the church itself.
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