GOD Wants you!!!

God wants the next generation.

I had coffee this week with a senior church leader and in the course of our  amicable conversation he accused me of not understanding the dynamics of church congregations. He also said that most contemporary churches do not cater in their programmes for the 40+ age group, and that they are too focused on the youth agenda.

Please forgive me if I have used this illustration before but I think it is directly linked to what I have to say below:

When you have a goldfish in a goldfish bowl it needs to be fed by you on a daily basis otherwise it will die. When you have goldfish in a pond in the garden or a public park you don't have to feed them because for the most part they will find food for themselves, little insect larva or algae and maybe the occasional bread crust thrown in by a child.

When it comes to Christians those that constantly need feeding never seem to grow in their faith but those that learn to feed themselves grow and become more effective in their faith and walk with Jesus.

When Jesus told the story of the lost sheep, 99 of them were happy to eat the grass while the shepherd went off to look for that one that was lost.

From my observations those churches that have congregations that are over the age of 40 and have no youth program or have a small youth group, do not have any outreach programmes or any method by which to reach the lost for Christ. They are more pastor driven with the pastor feeding his or her sheep constantly. Everybody is comfortable with the congregational dynamic.

Those churches that have strong vibrant youth programmes accompanied with good contemporary music seem to be driven by strong 35-45 year old pastors who have a great relationship with God and have learnt to feed themselves. Those around them who are of the same age group have followed the pattern of their leaders learnt to feed themselves. While they may have a lot of young people they do not consider themselves to be a solely youth church but they do have a youth orientation and everybody no matter the age group have a youth outlook. The congregation is fluid with constant growth.

According to Christian statistical groups over 77% of all people who give their lives to Christ are between the ages of 13-21. They are more likely to commit themselves to Christ through a youth event or other such stimuli. Whereas those older than 21, (19%) young couples or young families are likely to come to Christ through a friend or relative.

Your church will be a reflection of who you are if you are young or young at heart your congregation will reflect that. If you are old feel old and act old, your church will reflect just that.

A few years ago I was in a church where the pastor told me that he had come out of semi retirement to take over the church. It had grown in the three years he had been there from 15 to 45. When I asked him the average age of his congregation he said 68, I said to him that his church wasn't growing it was in fact dying in a literal sense.

  Pastors and Church leaders should all be striving to be constantly trying to reach the next generation, the answer in part is to think young, be young at heart and raise up the next generation not to be dependent on you but upon Jesus.