I want you to answer two questions.
1. What do you think is the biggest danger to the church? Not necessarily the local church, but Christianity as a whole.
2. What do you think is the biggest danger to the local, and more specifically our youth group?
Before I became the elder over youth, I regularly taught the leadership training class for the church. It was broken up into two modules. One spent 12-14 weeks looking at all the major doctrines. The other module spent 12-14 weeks working through Alexander Strauch's Biblical Eldership. The two questions above are asked in this book. I would teach through book 1-2 times a year. It always helped me stay focused on the responsibilities of an elder. I have not taught through it since I took over the youth. I have been thinking about the lessons from the book lately and how they will apply to the youth.
So what do you think? What are the biggest dangers.
Anybody is welcome to join in this discussion. You don't have to be from OBC.
Jamie
3 comments:
My answer is the same for both questions. I think the biggest danger comes from the many people who attend church regularly and even get involved in ministry but aren't really saved. I'm walking a fine line here because who am I to judge someone else's salvation, right? So let me give my sister and her husband as an example. Both are what society would call "good people". They were never rebellious growing up, were good students, went to college, got married, have good white collar jobs, own a home etc, etc. They are also likable and friendly people and they attend church every Sunday. If asked, they would tell you they are Christians. Why? Because they go to a Christian church every Sunday and "believe in God". I'm really close to my sister and can say with almost 100% confidence that she does NOT know the Lord. I pray everyday that this will change, but for now, in many situations, I know she looks at me and Tom as a Jesus Freaks or as being a little too religious.
So why do I think people like my sister are a danger? Because they are among us when we fellowship as a family on Sundays or at Flocks and other church activities. We like them because they are helpful and friendly people. So we listen to their non-biblical opinions out of respect and sometimes wonder if our Christian values are too judgmental. If you aren't a strong Christian, their views that mimic worldly values can seem to make sense. Indeed, I see this happen with youth all the time. And ultimately this can all cause strife within a church...
I think that complacency is the biggest danger to the Church. The sessions on false teachers that we just finished up made me realize how dangerous complacency can be. I remember a speaker at Creation talking on the damage that Luke-Warm Christians can do to the church. If we allow ourselves to fall into complacency our walk with god and the youth group suffer.
I think the biggest danger to both is the watering down of the Word. The church is slowly but surely creating a society friendly gospel. I see this in my Bible study students at school as they talk about their church and youth group. The danger for our youth is that they get that message from other christian circles outside our church. As they leave youth group and venture out on their own, they may become a part of this movement.
Scott
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