Young People Leaving the Church

When I think about the dismal statistics about young people “leaving the church” I am reminded today that I was one of those statistics. When I went away to college I abandoned going to church. I didn’t renounce my faith per se, but I certainly wasn’t living it. And still God reached me. Not through a traditional church, but through other young people who were focused first on Jesus – not on the institution of “church.” I even became a pastor in a very unconventional way. God doesn’t use institutions. He never has. He always uses people – and He has them in all shapes, sizes, colors, styles, degrees of coolness, attractiveness, and “togetherness.” He has them in every field of endeavor and every economic strata. He may not use the parents. He may not use their church. Or any church for that matter. That’s okay. The goal is not to get them into “church” but into the universal church, the church without walls, the kingdom of God. So instead of fretting about how to make church more effective, (remember “be anxious for nothing?”) let us “ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Luke 10:2) and pray He would do what He has always done, lead our young people to Himself by whatever means or person each one needs.