Even Pillars Can Bend
D. Z. Cofield
July 1, 1998
The pastor of a large church sat down with the kids in their youth ministry and said, "I want you to be honest. Tell me what you think about your church."
After some hesitation they said, "This is not our church."
He was floored; these kids had grown up in that church. "What do you mean this is not your church?"
"This is our parents' church. This is you-all's church. We come and do some things that are okay, but it's not our church."
Most older Christians would be surprised to learn how young people really feel about the church. Many young people feel the older ones don't care. If young people are going to own their faith, we must help them see the church as their own.
When I came to Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church in 1994, we had some 200 people, three-quarters of them over 50, and less than 10 teenagers active in the ministry. I decided right away I needed to motivate our senior saints to make the sacrifices necessary to reach out.
The first task? To make sure each member understood the purpose of the church. It's a mistake to assume parishioners know that.
Start with the known
People who have been in church for a long time can have a consumer mentality. I had to establish the authority of the Word as the manual for the church. This allowed me to present an objective standard of truth. All the church was doing could be evaluated in the light of God's Word, not just our opinions.
Then, when trying to reach others, you motivate those in the church to care by revealing the needs of those close to them.
One day I said from the pulpit, "I want you to look around this congregation and tell me who's missing. Are your children here? Are your grandchildren here?"
If I talk generically about "the unreached," church people don't ...
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