Revolution

This Sunday I am preaching on Judges 2:6-13. Joshua has just died, and now God's people are drifting away from everything Joshua worked so hard to instill in them. The Israelites, we are told in these verses, were faithful during Joshua's leadership, but then almost as soon as Joshua died they began to worship other gods. We specifically are told that the children of the generation Joshua led did not follow in their parents' footsteps. It seems like the children of the supposed faithful are guilty for going astray. But I think that this sudden drift away from God might not necessarily be a problem with the youth as much as it is a problem with the parents. Were the parents raising their children in a Godly home? Were the parents passing on their love and knowledge of God? Were the parents holding their children to the same expectations that Joshua had held them to? Where was the community of faith to fill in where parents did not teach, did not pass on, did not show? If the faithful generation was so faithful, then what went so wrong with the children of the faithful? I think if the faithful were really faithful in and with everything then such a drastic and dramatic drift from God by the children of the faithful wouldn't have happened--shouldn't have happened. 

Today we, the faithful generation of the church of the past want to blame the children, youth, young people of today for the the state of the church. But what have we given them to inherit? What kind of faith have we passed on? What kind of love and knowledge have we instilled in them? How have we embodied our beliefs for today's generation? Maybe instead of asking, "What's wrong with these kids today?!", we need to look right at ourselves, and not others, not them, not the young people…but where did we, the faithful, fail in passing on our faith that has led to the current state of the church? Yes, our culture has had a significant influence on our young people, and yes, times have changed and this generation coming up now is different than my parents' or grandparents' generations.  It's much easier to point out what exterior corruption has caused our children to drift from the church. And it is definitely easier, less offensive and much less convicting to sit around and talk about how we can change "them"--that is the 30s and under. But, again, perhaps we need to begin to change us, the church, and how we communicate and pass on our love and knowledge of God in relevant ways that speak to the children, youth and young people of today. Maybe a little repentance needs to happen for the ways we have failed our children. 

I went to Revolution 2013 this past weekend with two of my youth. For the past several years, the SCUMC Annual Conference has sponsored a Revolution weekend in Columbia where literally thousands of UM youth 7th to 12th grade descend upon Columbia for worship, fellowship and service. It is an awesome experience to see 2,000+ youth worshiping and participating in service projects together. The youth this weekend sang "I'll Fly Away" and "O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing" and other familiar hymns, but to tunes and rhythms that had 2,000 youth clapping, jumping, waving their hands, shouting out, dancing around---all for the glory of God. They also rapped along with Christian rappers rapping about Jesus' love; they moved to the beats, and pumped their fists and danced--all for the glory of God. They heard a message about sin and our need for a rescuer, grace and forgiveness, and having faith and standing up for our beliefs. At the end of the weekend, 200+ youth gave their lives to Christ for the very first time, and almost every other person recommitted their lives to following Jesus. This was definitely not your "normal" church experience. The music was different. The delivery of the sermon was a bit different. But the message of Jesus Christ was the same, and hundreds were moved by the gospel wrapped in such a "different" church experience than has been passed on to them. Revolution is testimony to the faithful generation effectively passing on our faith in a way that will not result in drifters, but in dedicated disciples. Such worship events will inspire a revolution among the youth and young of today.

I don't know about the other adults, pastors, and youth leaders there, but this weekend gave me such hope for the future of our church. I was in awe taking in 2,000 young people pumped up for Jesus Christ, and even more so when hundreds were moved to come forward to commit their lives to Christ. You would have thought we were gathered at the Carolina Coliseum for a basketball game or a concert or some other event that usually elicits such energy and enthusiasm. I heard more people say, "I get to go to Revolution again this year!" than "I have to go to Revolution." The youth wanted to be at church, wanted to learn, wanted to sing, wanted to serve, wanted to meet other youth who were fired up about God, wanted to be fed. 

It's not that our youth and young people lack the desire to know God, nor is there absent the search for God. It's there; that was evident this weekend. It was a very hopeful weekend for the church, but in that same hopeful feeling, I also experienced a little bit of heartache because I can't help but think about what kind of church and to whom are we sending most of these youth back to after such a mountain top experience that was Revolution? I certainly hope and pray that youth leaders and pastors can engage their youth so that they can continue to learn, worship and grow in the faith. It is, after all, up to my generation, my parents' generation and my grandparents' generation to provide an environment where children can be instructed by the faithful, where youth can express their faith in a variety of ways, where young adults can ask questions and be a part of change in the church. It doesn't have to be go-big-or-go-home with bright lights and loud music to the scale that Revolution was, but I would say our local congregations do need to look into ways that they can make worship more relevant and engaging to and with the under 30 crowd. This kind of environment where children, youth and young adults can be nurtured and grown in the faith might look very, very different from the environment you or I were nurtured in the faith. We who have always known and experienced church a certain way must swallow our pride and be ok with church looking a little bit different. Because it is our job as the faithful to pass on the faith--whatever music, worship style, or small group experience that may be or look like. We're called to cling to our faith...not the manner in which we learn our faith, celebrate our faith and live our faith. We must remember that the "traditions" we inherited as far as music, worship style, etc have evolved over time. The message has always been the same. Today we are in the middle of a revolution, and so the delivery of the same message we learned as children must be radically different if we the church is going to be relevant and effectively raise up a generation of faithful disciples. It is up to us--those who call ourselves "the faithful"--to either raise disciples or drifters.

Revolution 2013 Video Clip: