I am currently and interim Children’s Pastor. Which in the words of my former pastor mean I am 2 seconds away from being fired. I always loved joking around with him about stuff as far as I know he was never serious about that statement. Anyway I have been a youth pastor for 15 years and there is a part of me that gets somewhat disappointed when others seem to destine our teens to a life of mediocrity.
It seems we have somehow got it in our heads that that teens can’t make a difference, or they are just a bunch of good off’s. We tell ourselves if only the teens in our churches could survive their teenage years just perhaps something good could happen. Since when did the teen years become about survival. Why do we sell them so short. Perhaps my favorite quote is this one “the teens are the church of the future” well the teens are more then the church of the future they are the church of today.
I recently heard one pastor who seemed rather upset because his church was looking for a youth pastor to hire part time. His response was that teens will never change the church. I really dont think I will address that here but why is that our mentality in the first place. Why do 70 percent of teens abandon their faith when they leave home for college or a career. Has the church failed them? In many respects we have. We have created this sub class of people we call teens and we have lowered the bar for them and have expected far less from them then we ever should have. In essence we have made them destined for mediocrity.
When Paul wrote to Timothy he did not say “well Timothy I sure hope you can make it” No way he challenged Timothy. He told him to be loyal to the faith, to be strong in Grace, he told him about being an approved workman, He talked to him about following doctrine and preaching the word. Paul did not tell him to be lazy he told him to fight the good fight, to beware of Apostates, to be a servant of Jesus Christ. Will every teen grow up to be a sold out Christ follower? Absolutely not but why do we continue to sell our selves short.
Parents, pastors, teachers it is time we stop lowering the bar and settling for mediocrity and start raising the bar and challenging our teens to be more then we are willing to settle for.
Just some thought from a former Youth Pastor who might be one again someday who knows?