d is for discipeship

I spent the weekend in Montgomery, Alabama, playing for a youth retreat. It was one of those affairs where the students spend the night in various homes around the city and in the interest of planning meals, the church split the band up and put us in houses with the students. My room was hot pink; jealous? I thought so.

As I sat in on the group sessions and at a city wide event the second evening, I found my capactiy to participate waning. Not that I was being lazy and didn't want to be there, but I slowly became discouraged by what I was witnessing. It's not like they were performing cult rituals or anything, but the overwhelming impressions of the weekend is that we don't care about our students. The leader of our house session simply sat and read out of the guide book like a father reading to his 3 year old a new book he's never read, minus the loving attention. Shallow answers were encouraged by hasty discussion, scripture references were skipped to save time, and phrases like, "We aren't going to take the time on this one, but just trust me when I say..." abounded. And for five sessions, the students were given weak theology, encouraged to mindlessly except everything being thrown at them; not encouraged to ask questions, to dig deeper, or to develop a faith of their own. This was the very thing that nearly killed my faith as a teenager.

The city-wide event was equally discouraging. The music was awkward and difficult for the students to be involved in (I'm not just being an anal musician). The teacher was more comic relief than content, often inappropriate and giving a message that was both contradictory and mostly irrelevant. The service was emotionally manipulative with two separate invitations, one of which had half (no exageration) of the 1000 students at the altar. Don't get me wrong, I want to see student's lives changed, but we aren't doing them a favor by teaching them content that insults their place in life and manipulating them into a lifestyle Christ wants us to experience with joy and love. There was no joy or love in this place and I couldn't help but feel like there was nothing there that would make me want to be a Christian.

These things sadden me because it shows the church's willingness to give our students anything but our best. It's kind of like we say, "Oh, they're just teenagers (or children)," and carelessly execute student ministry. The youth deserve outreach and discipleship with the best of our ability, our most intention, just as we the believers should approach everything with excellence. Even in my own church, the youth and the youth workers are treated like they aren't a part of the church, which just blows my mind. I say this not of my own opinion but of the opinions of several workers and students I've been around, worked with, and lived with. I just hope these kids don't feel like they don't matter. I will say that the youth minister of this church in Montgomery shared the same thoughts about the weekend and is trying his best, but it's a big task and he needs a lot of help and the help must be leaving him frustrated.

On another note, the speaker cabinet for my new amp shipped today! This is a pleasant surprise, considering the builder's normal turnaround for an amp is about six months and this took less than a week and the amp itself about a week. Plus it's pleasantly warm outside and I believe a jog is in order. Cheers!