Growing Young

The past three days, pastors in our LCMS NJ District conferenced together under the theme of “Growing Young.” For many of our churches, and across many denominations, we have noticed that we are not only growing older, but that we are at risk of no longer having any connection to younger generations. In fact, according to recent studies, no major Christian tradition/denomination is growing in the United States. Based on the research from the Fuller Youth Institute, we looked at the core commitments that Fuller’s “Growing Young” research found consistently in churches that are growing young demographically rather than growing old. I’ll share more on that in the coming weeks, as we continue to work towards reaching out to young people in the context of our local ministry.  What follows is an excerpt from the opening sermon I shared at the conference...
 
Looking around the room, I think it is fair to say that we are certainly more familiar with growing old than growing young.  With each passing day, this reality hits me more squarely in the face. I now have to stretch before I do any sort of running with my children on the ballfields. My bones crack and my muscles gimp when I get out of the car after more than a 45-minute drive. And I have to be honest; I do get pretty proud of myself when I only get up twice in the middle of night to pee… now that’s a good night sleep.  Many of you can relate. More wrinkles. Less hair (at least, growing where it is supposed to grow). Increasing doctor appointments. Smorgasbord of medications. Whether this hits a little too close to home or not, the unavoidable reality of growing old looks back at us every time we wake up in the morning and walk to the bathroom mirror.
 
So what about growing young? I suspect most of you have seen the “the Chosen” TV series.  It depicts the life and ministry of Jesus. Now to be sure, there is a lot of creative licensing taken in that show. I highly doubt they would have ever passed the formidable LCMS Doctrinal Review process.  The writers provide a lot of backstory and extra plot twists to fill in and flush out the characters.  And if you’d like to talk about discrepancies or other controversies surrounding this, I’d be happy to avoid that conversation with you later. Personally, I think they do a fantastic job.  The sets, the scenery, the acting…  are all outstanding. It’s a great production.  In some of the early episodes of this show, I loved how they depicted a group of children that had discovered the encampment of Jesus. They were curious. They were excited. They wanted to see him. They wanted to get closer to him. They wanted to talk to him. They wanted to play with him. They want to hear His stories. They just wanted to simply sit, laugh, and enjoy being in the presence of Jesus.  Beautiful, genuine, inquisitive childlike faith innocently on display.  This is what I’m thinking about “Growing Young” as we begin our conference together. Psalm 66:5 declares, “Come and see what our God has done, he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.”   It’s much easier to “grow young” when we act young ourselves. When we, like those little children, get excited about simply being in the presence of Jesus.  It is much more alluring to “grow young” when we invite others to come and see Jesus with the same childlike curiosity, energy, and enthusiasm we have on Christmas morning or walking the streets of Disney World.  It’s far more attractive to “grow young” when we ourselves are ready to jump into the outstretched arms of Jesus.
 
I know as pastor’s this should be a given. But I wonder sometimes if we get lost in the frustrating business, administrative tasks, or transactional side of ministry. The outreach is ongoing and the church doors are always open. A genuine invitation to  everyone around us is always on display, but far too often they fall on deaf or apathetic ears. Yes, we know we have to look for the “young people” in our community and context, but it can be deflating when all our time, energy, and efforts to do so yield little to no results.  We’re constantly fine-tuning our evangelism approaches.  We’re always trying to discover the next great idea. But… No matter how much we blitz our church’s social media accounts. No matter how much we instill that this is not just the job of those wearing clerical collars. And no matter how much we unleash our members into their own spaces with invites in hand… The ballfields are still more full on Sunday mornings that our churches. Church-gifted Bibles still collect dust in favor of iPhones and Xbox controllers.  Confirmation classes are still an afterthought in a world of piano lessons and extracurricular activities. No wonder, we pastors, at times feel like we are dreaming the impossible dream and fighting the unbeatable foe.  Thanks be to God, that the grace and mercy of Jesus that covers our culture’s (and our members, and our own) misplaced priorities… He also forgives our own faithless moments when we are ready to give up and stop.  When we doubt our calling. When we question our qualifications. When we disbelieve our ability.  When we really contemplate flipping burgers or driving trucks for a living. When we find it easier and much more worthwhile to just focus on the people who are already there—to placate the grey-haired people in the pews, to literally preach to the choir.
 
Indeed, brothers, we could each keep ourselves plenty busy with shut-in visits, nursing home worship services, building maintenance, and other administrative tasks. But these words ring loudly from the lips of our Savior, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” To hinder does not simply mean to stand in their way, but it also means to stop inviting and stop trying. To lose the vigor and zeal. Let that not be so of us, our churches, our district. Time to jump back onto the lap of Jesus and let others know just how awesome it is to sit there. Time for our churches to channel our inner Tom Sawyer and let the young people around us see that following Jesus can be as much fun as whitewashing a fence. To genuinely engage and appeal to a younger generation, we first have to “grow young” ourselves first, embrace the joy of our baptismal identity, to receive the kingdom of God like a small, eager child.