this sunday for sunday school i was interested in seeing what my 9th graders thought about some of the philosophies on church/culture that i have been reading in the emergent context.
what i found was just sorta disturbing.. i am not sure that i have been doing my job in the way of discipleship as a Christian leader. i asked questions to the like of; "what are your perceptions of church" "what do you like & don't like about church?" "do you feel that guilt is a part of being a Christian?" "where do you feel the church is failing in relation to today's culture?"... granted, after the fact.. i realized that i might have overloaded them with questions.. i didn't start that way, i just wasn't getting anything, so attempted to rephrase questions, or go a different direction.
i did get some insight, but nothing that i would say would blow me away, i readily could have predicted the responses; "i don't get into the preacher." "i go to sleep, it's so early." "i don't know why there are so many denominations." "what does theological mean?" ... i think what really got me was, as the conversation continued on about the success and failture of the church, i introduced the theology of "i am the church, we are the church..." i even sang the hymn that i remember as a children's choir song. blew me away that they had never heard it.... jaw dropped.. i think i was discouraged that our youth are growing without some solid spiritual formation...
i have been under the impression for some years now that one of the worst & best things, is the contemporary worship movement. i particularly don't care for it on a weekly basis.. it's generally focused around the singers & a miriad of other atrocities towards worshiping as a community of Christ. i don't believe that many of our parishoners who attend our contemporary service feel this way and pick and choose which weeks they come too, or they come to each week, but choose to not enjoy certain groups.. however, i will acknowledge that this "youth group church" as my friend sally likes to put it has brought a number of people to experience God despite ourselves.. thank you God, for your Holy Spirit!! moving on: i have wondered though, if we live a life spent in light hearted praise choruses, then we have a faith that is based on shallow understanding of God... i know you are out there, people who agree with me,.. i think we are cheating our youth and young adults by assuming that they want the same stuff they can hear on the radio, but they yearn for substance. hymns of the past bring us understanding that can live in our hearts over a lifetime.. but have traded that on the alter of culture.. shame on us..
capping this thought off, i brought up my sunday school experience to erin. she's much more inciteful than i, so i often have her sort our my confusions. her thoughts can parallel what i mentioned as spiritual formation teaching and backing down to culture... she put the sunday school experience as short fall of the family. families over program their lives, have shortened quality time,.. get the picture.. do they share their faiths of the family within the context and importance of the family? does the family leave the faith sharing up to church (as a structure &:~D), youth group, and/or friends?
we as a church (i/we as the church) need to claim our pasts and teach our children well.. our families need to become families of faith, where faith, spirituality, religions, etc. need to be discussed and experienced... some of the emergent voices talk about a "conversation" the conversations should happen, but not in the form of a souped up worship service.
