A pastor recently tweeted from a young adult retreat, "The church has failed young people because the older generation hasn't been transparent with their struggles." (@matthewgamble)
All I could think was Wow.
My Christian experience was formed in the context of a fairly rigid, yet loving, home. The church we attended was friendly and outgoing but not very open about the things burdening people. My family never talked about the underlying reasons for fights or the real events family members endured but no one wanted to acknowledge existed. As a result I formed an unrealistic view of what Christianity and being a follower of Jesus was supposed to be.
Relationships without transparency are destined to struggle and, potentially, fail. When spouses hide from each other the marriage is headed for disaster. When families fail to share struggles and sins, they look less like a family and more like strangers sharing a house. When churches perpetuate the put-on-a-happy-face-when-inside-you're-a-wreck mentality, we set each other up for a miserable, unfulfilling church life.
There's a reason Hebrews 10:25 tells us to spend time with others who believe in God. There's a reason James implores us to "Confess your trespasses to one another and pray." (James 5:16) We build each other up when we carry a portion of the burden for one another. We begin to see Christianity as the marathon it is.
Find a trusted friend, pastor or family member and talk about your struggles. Recognize your Christian experience, rocky and warty as it may be, is just like everyone else's. It's a road requiring perseverance. You can make it. And others will be there to help you make it.
3 comments:
This is wassup
Awesome!
Martin Weber did research on pastoral families and their kids leaving the church. He found that the top indicator of whether a pk would be connected to the church as an adult was whether or not the child was able to ask the father open questions in the home. This isn't something that can be forced, but if the pastor is OPEN with the child as he grows, the pk will be more apt to ask these questions. I think you're right on the money, Aaron! We've got to get away from FAKE and INAUTHENTIC or we'll have no relevance to this generation coming up.
Michael's comment makes "This is wassup" seem stupit. But still...This is wassup.
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