No, I have not quit posting, just quite busy right now.
However, I wanted to say that I am contemplating a post on youth, along the lines of the elders post. I think that there are some things in the youth group movement that need to be addressed.
BTW, I have worked with youth for fifteen years, and while that does not make me an expert, (can anyone be an expert on youth?), I have watched the youth movement change over the years and much of what I have seen has not been for the better.
The youth groups of today tend to be more self-absorbed, and superficial than when I first began working with youth. While I do not want to get deep into this right now, I wanted to at least provide a framework for the upcoming post.
I want to close this post with a statement -- I have a lot more faith in youth themselves than in the youth leaders, and the materials they produce (which, by and large, stink).
Stay tuned!
4 comments:
Is the idea of a youth group Scriptural? The Exclusive Brethren seem to manage fine without them.
It seems to me that the idea of a youth group shows a great problem in Evangelical ecclesiology.
Instead of viewing the Church as a family, the Church seems to be treated as a sort of academic establishment, divided up into classes based on age and circumstances.
-The youth group
-the sunday school
-the senior citizens group
-the mother and toddler group
-etc
These divisions prevent the Church from being a real community, let alone be a family.
I think youth groups also encourage young people to follow theri peers rather than their elders. I have seen this myself. When it is cool in the youth group in-crowd to be zealous for Christ, they show zeal, and when it is cool to rebel, they rebel. Youth groups just seem to re-inforce peer groups.
Sorry if I am getting on my hobby horse.
Every Blessing in Christ
Matthew
Matthew --
You are hitting upon where I am going in my upcoming posts; starting with the elders post...
I think that the problem with youth groups are myriad, and I plan on addressing them (you actually addressed the major concerns in your comment), but at the end of the day, thew biggest problem I see is that we have subdivided the Body...
I also think there is a use for youth groups as well, and have seen some of the benefits in fifteen years of working with youth.
I think the question in my mind is: Does the good outweigh the bad?
Thanks for commenting...
Staying tuned. My wife and I have worked with youth off and on (mostly on) for sixteen or seventeen years. We love it, and we love the kids. We also get so frustrated with the frothy, topical, dumbed-down material, and with the premature elevation of the immature christians in the "youth group". It also seems that the opportunities for the youth to learn from the elderly have to be searched out despite the structure of the youth program.
Looking forward to your post. Also hoping you get around to those posts on the Israelite feasts that you mused about once upon a time. :-)
Bugs -- I have not forgotten about those other posts, and I will get to them, but I want to really give it some prayerful thought...
Also, I hope to get to the youth posting this week (maybe by Friday)... Been a busy week for me...
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