One of my favorite titles for a book was by David Ravenhill. It was called, For God’s Sake, Grow Up!
What we haven’t done in the American church is grow up. We’ve been stuck in adolescent neverland for decades. We’re enjoying the ride, but when we want to get off… we just leave the church. And then… we blame the church.
This article in Christianity Today cuts the heart of the matter.
One aim we have in our church is to be multigenerational. It doesn’t lead to a huge church, but I believe it leads to a healthy church. We need each other in our lives.
From the article:
I believe one key is to renew our commitment to the church as an intergenerational family, in which each person has a unique role in helping the others toward our shared goal of maturity in Christ (Titus 2:1-15; Eph. 5:21-6:4; Col. 3:18-4:1; 1 John 2:12-14). Adults need children and adolescents to draw out their committed love and provide concrete opportunities to care for others. Adolescents help adults reconnect with the passion of a life devoted to Christ, what he called the first love of the Christians at Ephesus (Rev. 2:4). Young people need adults in their lives who are modeling a vibrant spiritual maturity. One reason no one wants to grow up in America is that many adults don’t make their life stage look very attractive.
