Empty Churchs

Once again today's news included a story about church attendance declining. The reporter said that church was not relevant to today's young generation, Generation Y or better known as Millennials. The story was brief but gained my attention when the decline was credited to a lack of relevancy in regards to religion.

There is nothing more precious and relevant than one's religion. An argument could be made, and discussed at length, as to the focus of one's religion, but I dare not go there now. I believe it is more important to concern ourselves with the reason for a loss in relevancy.

If we look closely there are two groups that are at the center of this sad truth; the church and the youth of our great nation. Our church leaders must take this news to heart. Why do the young adults, our future leaders, place religion at such a low priority in their life. Their parent's entered the church in record numbers during the 80's with the introduction of the "Big Box" church. Perhaps it is the message that these churches send; love and prosperity, God and prosperity, prosperity and more prosperity. Perhaps this new generation saw the empty promises that the carnival preachers hawked were just that...empty. Perhaps prosperity is not the focus of this new generation; that is good, unless by default it excludes the very church they grew up in. The young mind may be prone to using broad strokes when eliminating boredom and relevancy. And with a single stroke they whitewash what was meant to be a place of worship. But attendance is not just down in these mega-churches. So what is the cause in your church? If your church still preaches the gospel, still reads the bible and tells the truth about contentment, are you doing what needs to be done to attract this young mind.
If you are the leader in the church are you willing to sing a different song, to open the doors at a different time? Are you reaching out? You can do all this and never water down the Gospel! You don't know how, ask someone who is part of the Generation Y. Or maybe spend some time on your knees and ask God. You can not just keep opening the doors, sing the same hymns, greet the same faces and expect them to come. Christ told us to go and invite them in. So go.

To  this new and reluctant generation: there are many things as a young adult that will have no relevance to you right now, religion or a relationship with God is not one of those things. If you have never heard the story of Christ, take a moment of your life and learn about Him. If you believe the church is filled with hypocrisy, then change it. If you experienced unfulfilled promises then know that the wrong god was likely portrayed. God is not a lotto ticket that can be crumbled and tossed when you don't win. God is not guarantee that you will be the best at everything in life. God is not some rich uncle that will solve your problems with a checkbook. But I will tell you what God is, He is patient. He has all the time you will ever need. He will wait for you because He loves you. But you see my young friend the problem is that you are not patient, you may think you have time to kill before seeking religion, you don't. Before you know it you will be reading about Generation Z, you children, and wondering why the act they way they do. They act the way you teach them. Trust me, the time you loose away from God today will break your heart tomorrow. Start fresh, ask questions and seek answers. Learn today who Christ is, learn today why God is relevant. So go, now.