Bridging the Gap

As a worship pastor in most churches across America, in any given worship service we are responsible for drawing people from 4-5 different generations into a sweet intimate worship time. That can be a real challenge at times. At Immanuel, we are passionate about reaching young families, building a hope and a future for Immanuel and the community we are called to serve. As a result, our older generations can feel left out and like they have no part in leadership.

One thing I have been passionate about is bridging the gap between generations. Many, when thinking of senior adults, feel that all they do is gripe and complain. Though true with some of them, some of my biggest supporters have been senior adults. I have some seniors who call me on a weekly basis to encourage me and pray for me. Here is a generation that can pour Godly wisdom into me. Many times I have to look beyond their approach to ministry, which can seem dated and irrelevant to our present culture. However, their passion and desire to make a difference is relevant.

Tonight, we are "bridging that gap" between generations, again. We are having our children choirs and Senior Adult choir go out carolling together. They will break into groups and sing in various neighborhoods. But, that's not the best part. After they sing, they will come together for hot chocolate and snacks. It's during that time that our Senior Adults will each share their favorite Christmas song and why it means so much to them. Then, our children will have the same opportunity. We want our mature generations to pour into and become spiritual grandparents to our younger generations. Instead of drawing lines in the sand and writing off whole generations of people, as leaders we need to find strengths in everyone and plug them into areas of ministry where they can flourish and make a difference. They are still on this earth because God still has a plan for their lives. I would love to see that plan lived out in the life of the church, and give them a reason to trust and support my ministry as I seek to serve Him.

Some Tools

As I stated in my previous post, we have to be willing to exegete our culture. In other words, we need to break it down and understand who it is we're trying to reach, discover what it will take to reach them, and be intentional about influencing the culture instead of remaining irrelevant within the walls of the church. Our friends at Outreach Magazine did a study in reference to the rising disinterest of 20 somethings concerning the church. Take a look at the above link.

I'm not saying we have to hit our college campuses tomorrow and conduct interviews. However, we need a better understanding of the world that we are trying to reach in order to see a difference. Let's be more intentional about winning people to Jesus. Afterall, we do have THE CURE to the cancer that is plaguing the world in which we live.

Resources

How do we reach the lost? This question is something that has been at the forefront of the church for centuries. But, have we lost our passion to see people saved?
Recent reports show that out of approximately 45,000 southern baptist churches, only 364,000 people were reported to have been baptized last year. That would mean that collectively, each church only baptized 8 people the whole year. Even sadder than that is the fact that a large portion of our churches baptized 0. O? How do you baptize nobody for a whole year?

I think the answer to that last question lies in the fact that many of our churches have become culturally irrelevant to the people they are supposed to be reaching. I intentionally did not say "trying to reach" because that would not be true. If a church has become irrelevant to the community they have been placed in, it is because they do not care about reaching that community. If they did care, they would not be in the predicament of baptizing 0.

So, what can we do about it. Well, I believe it begins by exegeting the culture. We can not afford any longer to label generations and leave it at that. If we feel that our senior adults only want things their way and are unwilling to change, we have to meet them where they are and bring them to a realization of where they need to be. It is our job as leaders in the churches God has entrusted to us. But, we must have facts to back up our view. We can not serve solutions to a church based upon unfounded presuppositions. We must exegete our churches, and more importantly, our culture. Where we find people is not where we should choose to leave them. We must be intentional about reaching the lost where they are. This means that we have to find out how to reach them.

I'll come back soon and offer you some creative ideas that I've discovered may help us bridge the gap between our society and the church.