Does the Quality of a Church effect the Commitment of its Members or Vice Versa?

Summer is winding down and our youth program is gearing up for kick-off of some fall ministries that have taken the summer off. It's been on my heart to see that our students start the year off with a deep sense of commitment to the program so that we can build some momentum to get the program rolling. So as I have thought about this the last few days, I have thought not just about our church's youth ministry, but how the principle of commitment applies to the church universal.

Commitment and the BIG MO in Youth Ministry

Summer is winding down and our youth group is getting ready to kick off our Sunday small group program in the fall. This program is not a new one, but we have taken the summer off since the majority of our students scattered like cockroaches when school let out--band camp, football camp, family vacation, going to stay with grandma for a week, etc. And so now we want to start strong and build consistency and momentum going into the school year.

I've been a player and fan of sports my entire life. The concept of momentum (the Big "Mo") is one that is debated among people in the sports world. Some will say that key plays during the course of a game have no effect on that team's ability to make more critical plays. Others, like me, though, believe that one key play can be a turning point. One key play can be what causes a team to realize they can actually score on the next possession, close the lead, and/or pull off the upset. Momentum is what makes it easier to push a rolling car than it is to push a car that is setting still (and is hopefully in neutral with nobody's foot on the brake!). So how do we get a new program rolling from a dead standstill? The answer is simple. Commitment.

I thought about how important it is that parents and students who participate in our program be committed from the beginning. For the first 4-6 weeks, we need to have everyone there. This is not the time for one last trip to the lake or that family vacation. (These things aren't bad, but they are detrimental to the re-establishment of any ministry program). I also examined the climate of the program, with and without the commitment of the students.

No Commitment:

Worship feels small, worshipers are timid

Adult volunteers are frustrated (waste of their time)

"Where is everybody?"

Discussion groups have little to no discussion

"Who else is coming?"

Boring

With Commitment:

More friends=more fun

Group discounts

Inviting visitors

Fun with friends

Discussion groups have more discussion

More relationships built

Worship is exciting

Students don't have to wait for the next big event to enjoy youth group

"I can't wait for Sunday/Wednesday night"

Synergy--The whole is greater than the sum of the parts

We live in a culture that doesn't honor commitment. With celebrities being known for being flakes and professional athletes whining over getting $4.5 million instead of $5 million, it's no wonder that commitment is not a mainstay of our students' lives. Some kids sign up for a sport or activity and decide halfway through the season they don't want to do it, parents often let them drop out. Or the kids join an activity only to have their coach or volunteer bail out because he or she doesn't have time. But I think commitment is important to God and should be to us.

In Exodus 16 the Israelites have been in the desert for several weeks and are running out of food. They miss the "pots of meat" and abundant food they had in the oppressive land of Egypt. So God provides manna (bread) from heaven that he requires them to gather daily. The crafty Israelites soon try to outsmart God and decide they will gather a surplus so they don't have to gather it daily. The Bible says that it became rotten and full of maggots. God wanted their daily dependence on him, and their daily commitment to trusting him.

Commitment in any ministry program can be a catch 22. You need active kids to get them committed and you need commitment to have active kids. So let's start this school year off as youth workers, parents, and students with expectations of being committed to our youth ministry this school year.

You Don't Have to Guess What I'm Against if You Know What I'm For

Last Friday night, my wife and I went to see Pat Green in Crockett, TX. While I have several of his CD's and have been a big fan of his music for a long time, I spent that afternoon raking hay on the tractor with his songs stuck in my head. While I like just about every song he's done, his most recent radio single really stuck with me. It is one of the few songs that he has recorded that he didn't write. The name of the song is "What I'm For" and here is what he has to say about recording it:

"One of two songs on the album that I didn’t write. It’s by Marc Beeson and Allen Shamlin. When my record company sends me songs -- and they literally send thousands -- my usual reaction is to throw up a little in my mouth. But both this song and “Let Me,” my producer brought to me. What stuck me about “What I’m For” was that it was all wheat, no chaff. I thought maybe the song was too perfect – I remember thinking anyone could have a hit of this song, but I really hope it’s me. "

Here is how the part of the song goes:

I'm for dusty pawn shop guitars
And boxers passed their prime
I'm for soakin' up the wisdom
When an old man speaks his mind.

I'm for laid off factory workers
When the wolf is at the door
You don't have to guess what I'm against
If you know what I'm for

Growing up in church, for some reason, I kind of took on a legalistic approach to Christianity. I kind of grew up with the mentality that following Christ was more about a list of "don'ts" than a list of "dos". You know, good Christians shouldn't swear, drink, smoke, gamble, (insert your favorite vices here). And somewhere along the way it clicked for me that following Christ is more about the things that we should be doing in the world, not the things we should be abstaining from. Likewise, the Christian community, unfortunately, has become a sounding board for all things negative. One thing liberal media has a heyday with is the way Christians are known for protesting, boycotting, and some who claim to be followers of Christ acting violently to express their opinions.

If you don't carefully read this post, it sounds like I'm saying that Christians should not be opinionated when it comes to immorality in the world or that Christians should be silent. Absolutely not! However, we need to be sure that we don't take a "fight fire with fire" approach to expressing our concerns. In Ephesians 4:1-16 Paul tells the church at Ephesus to be humble, gentle, patient, and to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit. He then says that God appointed some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and become mature attaining the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. "¹⁴Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. ¹⁵Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work."

Unfortunately, I think we as Christians have taken on the world's philosophies in dealing with things we don't agree with. Where is the love in a boycott or a protest? More often than not, I've found that these expressions are more attempts to reduce revenues for businesses and make certain people groups know where they stand in the eyes of "the church" and do very little to further the cause of Christ.

So what do we do? How do we combat the forces of evil in our world if it's not through picket signs or picking which stores we should give our business. Well, here's an idea. My wife works at a pregnancy center. She has never stood in protest at an abortion clinic. She's never sent hate mail to a doctor who provides abortion services. But she works for a center where they give counseling, education, maternity clothes, diapers, baby formula, and lots of other great stuff to young mothers and mothers-to-be. Maybe those of us who are concerned by the rise of the Gay/Lesbian movement and it's fast progression into what our culture views as normal, should be more like the people in this article.

I think the song says it all. If Christians support the things that Christ said we should be about, people will not have to worry about the things we are against, because we are spending all of our time and resources doing something about the issues at hand rather than making sure a negative voice is heard. "You won't have to guess what I'm against, if you know what I'm for."

What is Our Motivation for Making a Difference in the World?

We are coming to the end of our summer blitz at the FUMC youth ministry. We have had two major mission camps and one church camp. Sunday morning during Sunday School, we talked about two types of mission projects. Hypothetically we said that we were going to do the exact same good deed for two different people. The first person would be grateful and excited about the work we were doing and the second could care less and would show very little interest in what we were there to do. So we made a chart with each job on one side and asked the students to tell how they would feel. So here is what we decided.

Should Christians Be Patriotic?

I know this post is late since America's 234th birthday was 4 days ago. But I've been seeing blog posts here and there (like this one and this one ) questioning patriotism. People also question whether or not it is right for us to sing patriotic hymns in church services and to celebrate our freedom. And maybe the overall climate of our country and our Christianity is changing. Maybe it's because many of us would rather riot in the streets over a soccer game than peacefully cheer for our team at a baseball game? Maybe it's because we would rather get our theology from U2 and Bruce Springsteen rather than those who have been more up front about their faith, rather than putting it under the guise of pop culture. Maybe we've become so politically correct that we are not being good global citizens if we think we live in the greatest country on earth?

Faith or Fake-What Does Our Faith Look Like to the World?

The other day I put my foot in my mouth in a pretty big way. It was the first day of church camp and I was sitting at the dinner table with a group of counselors and I noticed one lady had a very pretty ring on her finger. I made the comment, "That's a pretty ring" to which she replied, "Oh, it's fake. My real one is at home, but I didn't want anything to happen to it, so I got this one at Walmart before I left. See how it's turning my finger green?" Anyway, it was a funny moment as everyone at the table quickly found out what a horrible eye I had for jewelry. But what I thought after it happened was that the ring did exactly what it was made to do. That cheap immitation ring passed off as the real thing to the untrained eye.

I grew up in the age of Christian propoganda. I remember growing up and seeing shirts that read "Don't get caught dead without Jesus!" or spoofs of popular commercials like Reeborn instead of Reebok, or "Life is short, pray hard." And we had (still do have) Christian bumper stickers, music, movies, jewelry, stationery, books, and even breath mints. And for a long time I thought that these were the marks of a true Christian. I mean, what Christ-professing individual wouldn't want to advertise his or her faith in the most poignant, and fashionable way possible? But the older I have gotten I've not been as eager to literally wear my faith on my sleeve, despite the fact that it's a multi-million dollar industry. Because I know how I act sometimes and that I do things that wouldn't make my God proud--I mean, we all do. (Now, as a side note, I do have a closet full of free t-shirts that I've received from going to youth ministry events over the last 15 years). But would I wear a shirt that professed that I was a "bible-totin', scripture-quotin', devil-bashin'....(you get the idea)...believer, and proud of it?" Probably not. You see, it's not that I am not that way in the victory Christ has given me, but I am still very much aware of my humanity. I am a sinner saved by grace. And so while I may walk through life as a child of the King, I must remember that to the rest of the world, I am still that same sinner saved by grace. Honestly, I think it is narcissistic to think that people want to know how spiritual we are.

Galatians 5 says that the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. That's a pretty steep list. I hope that I can try to be more like God in my heart rather than just promoting him on the outside with all of my Christian paraphernalia. It's my hope and prayer that we all reflect God with our attitudes and actions even more than we reflect him with our t-shirts and bumper stickers.