I had a conversation with a friend the other day. Mind you, it was a good friend. I mean, this was a good parent, a genuine believer, someone well informed and well trained and right with God and all that good stuff. It's not the source in mind; it's the content.
So we were talking about worship. I like hymns. Really good stuff. Genuine. Deep. Meaty content. But my friend said, "Well, my kids would mouth the words, but they wouldn't really get much out of it." They needed, apparently, something more ... upbeat. You know, something catchy, something fun, something with clapping and dancing and ... well, you know, not that "meaty", "deep" stuff. Because, you see, that stuff just doesn't fly with our young people today.
And I thought, "Have we lost them?"
You see, in my mind Christianity in its genuine, biblical form, has a near corner on the "exciting" market. I mean, pop singers can be fun, I suppose, and technology and games and all that can be amusing, but there is nothing in this world -- quite literally -- like God. There is nothing that competes with God's magnificent creation. Nothing can stand alongside God's astounding love and faithfulness and glory. Nothing compares with God's amazing grace. But it looks like that's just in my mind.
I get lost in "When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my richest gain I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride." I can hardly stand still for "I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene, and wonder how He could love me, a sinner, condemned, unclean. O how marvelous! O how wonderful! And my song shall ever be: O how marvelous! O how wonderful! Is my Savior’s love for me!" I can't help but be deeply moved when I hear, "My sin -- oh, the bliss of this glorious thought! -- my sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul! It is well with my soul." And when I sing "And when I think that God, His Son not sparing, sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in. That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin, then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee, How great Thou art! How great Thou art!" I can scarcely get through it with dry eyes. Nothing in the "pop Christian" realm comes close. Nothing in the fluffy, entertainment realm moves me like that. I can mouth most of the lyrics lite of the day without a stirring, but a real glimpse of God in all His glory exceeds my capacity to fully appreciate.
So I wonder, "Have we lost them?" Is God boring now? Is His grace no longer amazing? Is His love passé? Is God being pushed out in younger generations by "fun", "entertaining" and "catchy"? It's sure starting to look that way.
8 comments:
I think the notion of providing upbeat music for the young is an acknowledgement of having to one degree or another already lost the kids. To that end, I have no issue with it.
My daughter, up until last summer, spent one week each summer at Camp Timber-lee, a Christian youth camp in Troy, Wisconsin. Their entire game plan revolved around preaching and teaching kids on their level. Rock music-style praise songs were the routine and on Saturday, when we'd arrive to pick her up at week's end, there was a final "concert" and sermon at their little outdoor venue. All the kids were singing and stomping and clapping and praising the Lord in this manner. It would've been difficult to find a kid not participating. Now, this doesn't mean all the kids were truly convicted, but it was gratifying to see them engaged in worship in this way.
The whole issue puts me in mind of a passage of Paul's wherein he speaks of putting himself on the level of those to whom he intends to spread the Word in order to be on their terms in order to get their attention. I think this has value in keeping the kids engaged, at least when in youth-centered groups.
The problem is that parents to raise their children IN the faith, but instead stick them into "Sunday School" where they learn everyone about church has to be fun.
Our kids were raised by having them with us in the service, and they learned the hymns. Although they, like most kids, had no clue what the songs were about when they were really little, they were taught as they aged all about the Faith so they understood what they were singing. They never cared for "rock and roll" church music, and actually learned discernment about the importance of what the lyrics of ANY song actually said!
IF all parents raised their kids that way, they wouldn't be "bored" with real worship songs.
I love those songs.
While I agree that the world in general and youth specifically have lost sight of the exceeding wonderfulness of God, I think you caught on something that you may have overlooked. Now, I don't know the age of the children in the example, but I imagine pre-teen. You are faulting them for not latching on to the meat of those hymns. But we can't start on meat. We must start on milk. Even the Bible uses that analogy. They may not get the meat because it is too much for them at this time. I know when I was younger I didn't understand the meat, and now the milk goes sour in my mouth. By all means, don't keep them on the milk, but they have to start somewhere. You have to train them to eat the meat.
In the 1930's there was no "youth culture". Children were under their parents. In the 50's a new category had come into being called "teenager", a hybrid of "adult" and "child" that created a special culture of its own. By the 70's the youth had their own form of culture ... in the sense of "shared beliefs and values of group". Today, we exist in a "youth culture". Our society now believes that youth is of higher value/ability/intelligence/wisdom than adults. "Old" is bad; "young" is good. Under that new paradigm, then, we isolate our children, cater to their desires, dumb down the truth, and think we're doing them a favor. We find out what satisfies them now and try to give it to them rather than whetting their appetites for the eternal. In that sense I believe we are losing our youth.
No, David, I'm not faulting them for latching onto the meat of hymns. I'm faulting parents and leaders for not teaching them that there's so much more. Kids are doing what they naturally do; those whom God has tasked with training them are not doing what God has tasked them to do.
There's that. We really do let our youth stagnate. How long ago was it that it was normal for women to be married and bearing children in their teens? It seems that those generations were more mature and more responsible at an earlier age than we are now.
I was actually surprised to learn that the average age of child-bearing (and marriage) in 1970 in America was 20. Child-bearing has gone up to 26 and the marriage age has also gone up, but not as far up or down as I had thought.
Indeed, however, you are absolutely right that earlier generations were taught to be responsible at an earlier age. Sociologists are saying today that the average age of adulthood (the age at which you are deemed responsible enough to be considered an adult) is now well into the 30's, where it was below 20 in earlier generations.
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