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[Poll]
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WHY DO YOUNG ADULTS QUIT CHURCH?
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| they don't feel connected to the people in the church |
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| church members seem judgmental or hypocritical |
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| simply want a break from church |
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| Church is irrelevant |
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| disagree with the church's teachings about God |
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Total Votes : 18
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(last vote on : 7/1/2008 2:54:23 PM)
(Poll will run till: -- )
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RE: WHY DO YOUNG ADULTS QUIT CHURCH? - 6/2/2008 4:38:34 PM
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StephK
Posts: 2341
Joined: 4/11/2005
From: Southwest Louisiana
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Doinkdom, well said. Like you said, people want authenticity and real relationships with others. Many who have left church simply want some depth instead of this shallow and vain experience that passes for church today. If we would just stop doing churchianity things and just plain flat BE the church we would be so surprised at how God would work in people's lives.
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Stephanie
The heart of the wise inclines to the right but the heart of the fool to the left.
Even as he walks along the road, the fool lacks sense and shows everyone how stupid he is. ~ Ecc. 10:2-3
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RE: WHY DO YOUNG ADULTS QUIT CHURCH? - 6/2/2008 4:44:32 PM
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landabee
Posts: 2852
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From: Central Florida
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quote:
If we would just stop doing churchianity things and just plain flat BE the church we would be so surprised at how God would work in people's lives.
Yup.
_____________________________
"Sound theology discourages ignorance instead of promoting it." ~ CourdeLeon
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RE: WHY DO YOUNG ADULTS QUIT CHURCH? - 6/2/2008 4:47:41 PM
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doinkdom
Posts: 4290
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: The higher lowcountry
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quote:
ORIGINAL: landabee
Also all of the rules that churchianity places as high if not higher than the Word make the Church look like freaks. I know we are called be a "peculiar people"...but sometimes it goes too far.
well said
quote:
ORIGINAL: StephK
If we would just stop doing churchianity things and just plain flat BE the church we would be so surprised at how God would work in people's lives.
Amen
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RE: WHY DO YOUNG ADULTS QUIT CHURCH? - 6/2/2008 4:48:28 PM
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Aseldaar
Posts: 6
Joined: 6/2/2008
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quote:
ORIGINAL: JesKlu
Pentecostals may seem to be the fastest growing, but a lot of younger people want spiritual experience, more than the kind of emotionalism found in Pentecostal Churches. Many young people want to return to the Early Christian Church. They want to worship in a church that does not deny the writings of the Early Church Fathers, or any of the traditions that came from the Early Church, such as Advent and Lent.
There are some churches returning back to these traditions, because some people are converting to either Orthodoxy or Catholicism, so, in order to satisfy the people, there are churches (protestant) returning to these early traditions, which I feel does not conflict with Scripture.
Some churches are becoming more liturgical, and there is a reason why people are not attending Church as often. What about the modernism that has hit the Church, and is so prevalent in Pentecostal Churches? Some Churches are returning back to the traditional way of doing things, such as hymns, because the Church Growth Movement, with all it's false doctrines, is not satisfying young people.
Your sister in Christ Jesus,
Jessica
As a young adult myself, I can only give you my experience, and the experiences of the other young adults I know.
I'm 19 and attend a non-denominational church now, but I was raised in old fashioned, hymns only, traditional churches my entire life.
For most of my time as a teenager, going to church was a struggle. Even though the church I went to was right beside my house (our yards connected), I would still miss most services. I wanted to go to church, but no matter how much I went, I just never felt fulfilled, I never felt like I grew spiritually. I thought it was because I wasn't close enough to God, or because Satan was holding me back. About 8 months ago, I was still going to the same church, but there came a point where the passion for God in my heart started burning so deeply that I had no idea what to do with it, or where to go from where I was. It was like I was at a spiritual road block ready to explode.
That's when, on a whim, I went to a non-denominational (many people would say charismatic) church that someone had been begging me to go to for years, but I had refused to go to, because my church had always taught that churches such as that were of Satan--How dare their women wear pants, and how dare their preacher come to church in jeans and a tshirt? And how dare they use guitars, drums, and keyboards in their worship music? How dare they use something newer than the divinely-given hymns of old, such as "When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder" and songs with lines such as "Just a few more weary days...and then I'll fly away!" (Which is NOT biblical--We're not hear to moan until we get to the other side--we're here to bring heaven to earth! "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.")
That was the night that changed my life. There was a sweet spirit in that place that I don't know how to describe. By the end of the sermon, I was at the altar, and God spoke to me in a way there that He had never spoken to me before.
For the first time in my life, I was at a church where I truly felt the love of Christ emanating from the people there. There's an awesome spirit of freedom to worship God there that I had never known--worship to me was always explained as following the command schedule of the music minister, as he told us which page of the red book to turn to.
While I never could make it to church before, I may have missed 5 services since I started attending this church (which is a 45 minute drive for me, as opposed to being in my yard), and that was only because I was visiting other churches 4 of those times, and sick one of them. I've grown so much in God since I started going, and I feel the fire growing stronger everyday. I don't even feel like the same person. I've been empowered to do things (as a Christian) that I was always either too afraid or just unable to do before. I have relationships with people that I never could have had at my old churches.
When I started coming, there were only two other young adults. Now there's about ten of us, and all of us have that same burning passion--we've given up dating, devoted ourselves to purity, pray at abortion clinics, etc. Do you know how far removed that is from what I grew up in? I grew up in churches where the youth groups would party and get drunk and sleep around all night Saturday, and come to church on Sundays just because they were supposed to--I remind you, those were the traditional churches.
Our church doesn't generally keep older people who grew up in church--they visit once and don't come back. But when young people or drug addicts, strippers, alcoholics, abused people, homosexuals, etc., visit, they usually keep coming back--and I have seen several people delivered from these things (homosexuality included) since I started going here. THIS is what I want to see--people truly changed, not just seed swapping. In my old churches, new members were just people moving from another church 99% of the time.
I also have to say this in appreciation of my pastor--I have never been at a church where my pastor was not only my pastor, but a friend who I felt comfortable talking to like any other friend. I always used to be sure to keep several feet away from the guy in the suit, because I never felt holy enough to be in his presence, sadly. And I thank God that what he preaches lines up with the Bible, and that while he believes in signs, wonders, and miraculous manifestations of God, he constantly reminds us that the greatest sign and wonder is the most basic message of the gospel--the salvation of souls. I also thank God that he's not afraid to call out false prophets *coughToddBentleycough* Does he make people angry? Yes, he does, and he's not an ear pleaser. If he were, our church would be about 5 times as big by now (and that would not be on account of young adults).
I know of another church very similar to mine, though it has about 300 people in regular attendance. I went to a revival service there a few months ago, and the preacher brought up a statistic that stated that the 16-28 year old age group was the hardest group to get to come to church. Then, he asked everyone who was between those ages to please stand up. Half the congregation stood up, although most of the ones that stood up were already at the altar worshipping and praying.
Young adults aren't to blame, not wholly. Trust me, I know. I spend most of my time with people in their late teens and early twenties, who don't mind spending 2 or 3 hours at an altar praying, staying at a Bible Study from 6 PM until 1 in the morning (we have a weekly in home Bible study--not associated with our church-- that started in October with 6 people, and now has up to 30 people some nights--all late high school or college age, most of them unchurched).
So, from what I can see, young adults are far more open to God than we are given credit for. The main problem is that all they've known is religion. All they've known is services that went perfectly along schedule, never giving the Spirit of God elbow room to shake things up. All they've known is red hymnals or liturgies, where they were told exactly how to worship, when to worship, and when to stop worshipping. All they've known is churches where they never saw lives changed, just church members. All they've known is judgmental glances and attitudes that told them they weren't good enough because they wore jeans instead of a dress or a skirt to church. Essentially, they've seen God put inside a box and seen the bondage of religion, and they didn't want it. If only someone would find them and show them that there's true freedom in Jesus Christ--freedom from drugs, freedom from alcohol, freedom from homosexuality, freedom from the opinions of men, freedom from the lusts of the flesh, and freedom from the bonds of religion-- then you'd see a massive shift in this generation.
< Message edited by Aseldaar -- 6/2/2008 4:57:14 PM >
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RE: WHY DO YOUNG ADULTS QUIT CHURCH? - 6/2/2008 4:53:16 PM
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cow451
Posts: 3972
Joined: 5/6/2005
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A lot of what passes for "church growth" is actually just churches exchanging members.
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Wenn Sie so intelligent sind, warum Sie hier sind?
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RE: WHY DO YOUNG ADULTS QUIT CHURCH? - 6/2/2008 5:04:34 PM
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Aseldaar
Posts: 6
Joined: 6/2/2008
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quote:
ORIGINAL: cow451
A lot of what passes for "church growth" is actually just churches exchanging members.
That was certainly what church growth meant in the churches I grew up in. In the past few months I have been blessed to witness people who were unchurched alcoholics, strippers, drug addicts, and homosexuals having repented, standing with their hands in the air and tears streaming from their eyes, or otherwise on their knees in prayer. But growing up it was always someone who got offended by something the pastor of their old church said, got upset because of gossip, or had someone otherwise "do them wrong" at their old church, or some other such vanity. That was church growth--getting people out of other congregations.
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RE: WHY DO YOUNG ADULTS QUIT CHURCH? - 6/3/2008 11:23:45 AM
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JesKlu
Posts: 551
Joined: 4/16/2007
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Aseldaar
So, from what I can see, young adults are far more open to God than we are given credit for. The main problem is that all they've known is religion. All they've known is services that went perfectly along schedule, never giving the Spirit of God elbow room to shake things up. All they've known is red hymnals or liturgies, where they were told exactly how to worship, when to worship, and when to stop worshipping. All they've known is churches where they never saw lives changed, just church members. All they've known is judgmental glances and attitudes that told them they weren't good enough because they wore jeans instead of a dress or a skirt to church. Essentially, they've seen God put inside a box and seen the bondage of religion, and they didn't want it. If only someone would find them and show them that there's true freedom in Jesus Christ--freedom from drugs, freedom from alcohol, freedom from homosexuality, freedom from the opinions of men, freedom from the lusts of the flesh, and freedom from the bonds of religion-- then you'd see a massive shift in this generation.
Hello!
To me, it sounds like they just didn't go to a good traditional church. I prefer hymns, not praise songs. Why? Because Hymns preach the Gospel through music. Praise songs in Churches these days are not very Gospel-Centered. The reason is because those who perform the praise songs are rock bands inside churches. You can barely hear the words because of the head-banging, eardrum popping music. And trust me I've been inside churches who have that kind of atmosphere. They trade in the organ for rock bands, Hymns for praise songs, creeds for "deeds". Anyway, you get the point. Churches want to please the world, to attract people to their Church so they can gain members, and not necessarily win souls for Christ. These Churches seek to please people. True Theology will not please/attract people in that sense. People who adhere to True Theology seek to evangelize in the correct way, by preaching the Pure Gospel, focusing on who the Holy Spirit will bring in. But that is not what certain Churches want to do. So they shift from going "old fashioned" to more worldly to attract more customers.
And this shift has a name. The Church Growth Movement. And it is not pretty if you read about it.
Your sister in Christ Jesus,
Jessica
< Message edited by JesKlu -- 6/3/2008 11:35:27 AM >
_____________________________
And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
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RE: WHY DO YOUNG ADULTS QUIT CHURCH? - 6/3/2008 12:00:55 PM
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rlj
Posts: 2201
Joined: 4/14/2005
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JesKlu - are there no men and women of faith that can write new hymns? Is there anyone who can re-arrange them in such a way that they don't resemble 400 year old drinking songs? The best praise chorus' came from the '80s and early '90s before that kind of music became "main-stream". The songs were often just memory verses put to song so that you'd be free to praise and worship without a book or staring at the overhead. Their is some good modern stuff and some bad modern stuff. I think the newer stuff expands the better and the worse by a great margin.
Lastly, read the Psalms. How did David say to praise and worship the Lord?
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-Roger
This is who I'm voting for. He is from the same party I voted for last time. This is consistent with my belief in the failure of the two party system and my disgust with it.
http://www.baldwin08.com/#
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RE: WHY DO YOUNG ADULTS QUIT CHURCH? - 6/3/2008 12:40:14 PM
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StephK
Posts: 2341
Joined: 4/11/2005
From: Southwest Louisiana
Status: offline
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My main beef with contemporary only services is the fact that the same praise songs are sung over and over and over ad infinitum that the same arguments that were used to switch over from the hymns could honestly be used today. You know the "people sing hymns from rote memory" and aren't always focusing on the words, etc. It's just more proof of the dumbing down of society to be honest. It is shameful that we have failed to teach nearly two generations the classics, in general. Why is there such a desire among young people for the orthodox and liturgical faiths? Could it be that many realize the depth that is lacking in a lot of the contemporary evangelical churches today?
_____________________________
Stephanie
The heart of the wise inclines to the right but the heart of the fool to the left.
Even as he walks along the road, the fool lacks sense and shows everyone how stupid he is. ~ Ecc. 10:2-3
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RE: WHY DO YOUNG ADULTS QUIT CHURCH? - 6/3/2008 1:02:56 PM
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Aseldaar
Posts: 6
Joined: 6/2/2008
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The sound of the music has nothing to do with whether or not its worship to God. I can worship deeply to Skillet's hard-rock song, "Better Than Drugs"--just as deeply as I can worship to Amazing Grace. In fact, David said for us to use loud noises to worship God (Psalm 150). It's about the position of the worshipper's heart.
The truth is, there's very few hymns that I agree with theologically. If you read a hymn book, most of the songs are more concerned with getting to heaven than praising and worshipping God. Most of the old hymns talk about God, but they don't sing to Him. It's a lot easier to talk about someone that it is to talk to them--especially God.
Going back to the hymns I grew up singing would be akin to going back to Egypt while mana was falling from heaven. There's very few hymns out of the hundreds we sang that I like. Among those are "Nothing But the Blood", "How Great Thou Art" and "Amazing Grace" (my favorites). While there are contemporary churches where worship service is nothing but a glorified rock concert, that is no different from the thousands of traditional churches where worship service means mumbling some words out of a hymn book because the guy in the suit told you to.
Personally, hymns, especially the ones I grew up with (Most of which were songs about how the singer couldn't wait to die and get away from earth and go to heaven) just remind me of the religious bondage I grew up in. Good hymns are awesome and I welcome them, but they are few and far between if you really examine the words in a lot of hymns. If you take a close look at your average hymnal, about half the songs are unbiblical (just like some contemporary songs).
As for liturgy? It's too "scripted" if you know what I mean. When I worship, I want to flow in the Spirit of God, not just repeat the words of men.
In the end, it's not about the way the song sounds. It's about--once again--the position of your heart when you sing it and who you're singing it to.
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RE: WHY DO YOUNG ADULTS QUIT CHURCH? - 6/3/2008 1:14:52 PM
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StephK
Posts: 2341
Joined: 4/11/2005
From: Southwest Louisiana
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You missed my point. Many churches split over style of music and it wasn't of God. He doesn't cause division or selfish ambition does He? In fact one of the main movers of the Church Growth Movement admitted that they were wrong. There's a thread about in this folder. There are many evangelicals flocking to the orthodox and more liturgical churches because so much of the evangelical church has followed fad after fad after fad and many are burnt out. Many are also leaving traditional churches and going the home church route too. It's not just the young people either. The question is why? In order to answer it you have to look at what's going on. There is a lack of teaching sound doctrine. There is a lack of reverence for the sovereignty and holiness of God. There is too much similarity to the world with the advent of the Christian sub-culture. I might add that most of these imitations pale in comparison as far as quality goes. I could go on but hopefully you get the point.
< Message edited by StephK -- 6/3/2008 1:21:19 PM >
_____________________________
Stephanie
The heart of the wise inclines to the right but the heart of the fool to the left.
Even as he walks along the road, the fool lacks sense and shows everyone how stupid he is. ~ Ecc. 10:2-3
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RE: WHY DO YOUNG ADULTS QUIT CHURCH? - 6/3/2008 1:25:41 PM
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Aseldaar
Posts: 6
Joined: 6/2/2008
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I see what you're saying. You have a great point. It's pretty disgusting that a church would split over music, but then again, from what I understand, we had a few people leave our church when our church decided to move away from the hymns only route.
I know exactly what you're saying. It is increasingly harder and harder to find a church that teaches sound doctrine, and it doesn't matter what denomination it is.
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RE: WHY DO YOUNG ADULTS QUIT CHURCH? - 6/3/2008 1:27:16 PM
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glenn78
Posts: 14
Joined: 11/8/2005
From: CNY
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Hi there guys...
I voted for "Church is irrelevant". God currently has me serving as a teen pastor, and through our church we provide a youth group, apologetics class, and small groups. What I have seen, and experienced when I was a teen/young adult christian, is that as we bring youths up through the church there is not a deliberate push to get young adults involved in ministry. For me, and others my age, we were never really challenged with serving. We would have a mission trip or a food pantry trip, but there was no opportunity for us to serve on a routine basis.
It seems that as teens come up through programs that entertain/teach/and equip, perhaps an needed element in this mix is to make an effort in discipling students to serve in ministry. I have been to more then a few chruches that tell teens (through word or deed) that you are to sit back and wait to grow up, and then they turn 18 and do not see how they fit into the larger church.
< Message edited by glenn78 -- 6/3/2008 4:23:35 PM >
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RE: WHY DO YOUNG ADULTS QUIT CHURCH? - 6/3/2008 4:18:09 PM
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notmycity
Posts: 1175
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“[The Scriptures] disagree with the church's teachings about God”
We’ve been to several churches and have found the above to be true.
I would also concur with several in that Christ is not taught or “reflected” in any church we have seen, heard of or known.
Acts 2:42
42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Acts 2:42 is a foundational verse for the local church, and yet we’ve seen a correspondingly disproportionate amount of time spent in the OT. So-called “fellowship” is the 5-15 minutes after the service some congregants take with each other before jetting off , breaking bread is rarely done and prayer is officiated by the guy up-front posing as a “pastor”.
All of the “churches” we’ve known were/are about money and control of membership. As for us and ours, we choose to believe what God’s Word says about true church practice via the Scriptures - period.
_____________________________
<><Topher
"I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts." Psalm 119:63
and..
"For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come." Heb 13:14 = "notmycity"
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RE: WHY DO YOUNG ADULTS QUIT CHURCH? - 6/3/2008 5:01:12 PM
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JesKlu
Posts: 551
Joined: 4/16/2007
Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: StephK
My main beef with contemporary only services is the fact that the same praise songs are sung over and over and over ad infinitum that the same arguments that were used to switch over from the hymns could honestly be used today. You know the "people sing hymns from rote memory" and aren't always focusing on the words, etc. It's just more proof of the dumbing down of society to be honest. It is shameful that we have failed to teach nearly two generations the classics, in general. Why is there such a desire among young people for the orthodox and liturgical faiths? Could it be that many realize the depth that is lacking in a lot of the contemporary evangelical churches today?
Exactly my point. I think mainstream evangelicalism is just too focused on Christian Rock music and all this emotionalism. Dancing, hands up in the air etc. I am not saying I have a problem with this, and there are times where these actions are appropriate, but where is the fear and reverence of God? Reverence is worship, and many Christians have lost the idea of reverence. I think that is a big reason why more people are becoming more interested in the orthodox and liturgical denominations. There is more reverence of God, there is more fear of God, there is more awe...
In Christianity Today, there was an article about more and more young people, and people in general, are more interested in Churches where they see more of the Early Church, such as the Lutheran, Methodist, Eastern Orthodoxy, the liturgical denominations. And even some non-denominational churches are starting to practice more Early Church customs, such as Advent and Lent, and because of that, becoming more liturgical.
Your sister in Christ Jesus,
Jessica
< Message edited by JesKlu -- 6/3/2008 5:08:24 PM >
_____________________________
And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
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RE: WHY DO YOUNG ADULTS QUIT CHURCH? - 6/3/2008 5:59:01 PM
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notmycity
Posts: 1175
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quote:
ORIGINAL: JesKlu
..... I think mainstream evangelicalism is just too focused on Christian Rock music and all this emotionalism. Dancing, hands up in the air etc.
Wow...
Take remove the word “Christian” and you just described many a rock concert where I observed the very same thing before coming to Christ.
The emphasis is on EXPERIENCE and FEELING as opposed to the truth of salvation through Christ alone and living out the Christian life.
I’ve been to “retreats” where this occurred even more and I used to think something was wrong with me for not getting caught up in the music like all the others. Not many Bible studies later I learned that this was not taught in Scripture.
Between music, stage shows and warm-fuzzy messages I found the true gospel missing in “church”.
There’s the Biblical account of my Lord being despised, brutalized, shredded and impaled naked on a cross for my sins, and there’s exactly what’s missing in this experiential worship.
The worship is there for certain, but what is truly being worshiped?
_____________________________
<><Topher
"I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts." Psalm 119:63
and..
"For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come." Heb 13:14 = "notmycity"
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RE: WHY DO YOUNG ADULTS QUIT CHURCH? - 6/3/2008 6:05:41 PM
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PrincessDonna
Posts: 10437
Joined: 4/11/2005
From: Cow country, Upstate NY
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quote:
The worship is there for certain, but what is truly being worshiped?
If you are not the worshiper being critiqued, can you truly know whether they are worshiping God or not?
I quit church between 18 and 21. Why? God seemed so far away, so unconcerned with my life, and my church experience reinforced that. I grew up in a religious church and I do not mean religious in a healthy sense. It was all about doing things a certain way and Heaven forbid you get excited about God EVER.
Why did I go back to church? Because my husband left me and our then 15 month old son, and the only people who stood by me were those from a church that my first church taught did things that were from the Devil (speaking in tongues, laying on of hands for healing, etc.). God, through those people, was made real to me, and not just a big scary judge in the sky...He became a God who loved *me*, faults and all. We still go to that church (and my husband came home and was saved!!!) now. We sing some modern worship songs, some hymns with real meaning and a beat (oh the horror!), and there is a whole lot of real worship going on, including an awe, reverence, and respect for God.
Bottom line why I believe many young adults quit going to church...they do not believe God loves them and they do not believe God's people love them AS THEY ARE.
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<<-----------Brian + vacuum= sexy man!! 
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RE: WHY DO YOUNG ADULTS QUIT CHURCH? - 6/3/2008 6:26:30 PM
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notmycity
Posts: 1175
Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: PrincessDonna
quote:
The worship is there for certain, but what is truly being worshiped?
If you are not the worshiper being critiqued, can you truly know whether they are worshiping God or not?
I don’t think I’ve been to your church. I am speaking only of those we have been to.
As for loving others, I am reminded of....
Phil 1:9
9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment...
Love in knowledge and discernment. That love will seek accountability while loving others as they are.
There’s another sign of trouble I am reminded of. How much the “church” resembles the world nowadays, despite the call by Christ and the apostles for sanctification.
_____________________________
<><Topher
"I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts." Psalm 119:63
and..
"For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come." Heb 13:14 = "notmycity"
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RE: WHY DO YOUNG ADULTS QUIT CHURCH? - 6/3/2008 6:41:23 PM
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PrincessDonna
Posts: 10437
Joined: 4/11/2005
From: Cow country, Upstate NY
Status: offline
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quote:
Love in knowledge and discernment. That love will seek accountability while loving others as they are.
I absolutely agree!
My Bapti-costal church does not resemble the world. Quite the opposite, in fact. Modern worship does not make a church like the world. Allowing, tolerating, or encouraging unrepentant sin, yes...that would be like the world. Thinking only of oneself, yes...that would be like the world.
Young adults want a church that is REAL. One that lives what it says it believes and not just religious mumbo-jumbo.
BTW...you look nice in purple.
< Message edited by PrincessDonna -- 6/3/2008 6:47:37 PM >
_____________________________
<<-----------Brian + vacuum= sexy man!!
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RE: WHY DO YOUNG ADULTS QUIT CHURCH? - 6/3/2008 7:05:22 PM
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drussell52
Posts: 208
Joined: 4/24/2008
From: Michigan
Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: notmycity
quote:
ORIGINAL: JesKlu
..... I think mainstream evangelicalism is just too focused on Christian Rock music and all this emotionalism. Dancing, hands up in the air etc.
Wow...
Take remove the word “Christian” and you just described many a rock concert where I observed the very same thing before coming to Christ.
The emphasis is on EXPERIENCE and FEELING as opposed to the truth of salvation through Christ alone and living out the Christian life.
I’ve been to “retreats” where this occurred even more and I used to think something was wrong with me for not getting caught up in the music like all the others. Not many Bible studies later I learned that this was not taught in Scripture.
Between music, stage shows and warm-fuzzy messages I found the true gospel missing in “church”.
There’s the Biblical account of my Lord being despised, brutalized, shredded and impaled naked on a cross for my sins, and there’s exactly what’s missing in this experiential worship.
The worship is there for certain, but what is truly being worshiped?
Hi, I am David and have enjoyed reading the posts on this topic. As a visually impaired person, I was rather surprised a few years ago when I went to acquire a guide dog, that I was the only one who sought to attend church out of the 15 to 20 adult stduents who were in my class, month-long. I went back 3 years later, and the same held true then as well. The next generation are going to be interesting to observe as to how they handle adulthood as the stats seem to reflect, people are leaving the church at large and not returning, even after marriage and family begin. I used to find more honesty and genuine qualities prevalent in 12-step meetings I attended compared to most churches, and that I know, is a general sweeping statement. There is an unwritten code of conduct that doesn't seem to permit people to come in and say, Hi, I'm ... and ... and so masks and costumes beget masks and costumes. I attend church but in doing so seek to be in a place where it's my relationship with the Savior first, then show me how to best relate to those in my life and world through the week. I think we need something in this nation that really shakes folks to the core and $4.00 gasoline aint gonna do it. I gave up listening to religious radio because it's not "for real" as they used to say in the 70s, except for folk like Dr. Laura and New Life Live, where people can be honest about themselves and their situations. Forgive my verbage but wanted to jump in here.
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RE: WHY DO YOUNG ADULTS QUIT CHURCH? - 6/4/2008 12:46:25 AM
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rlj
Posts: 2201
Joined: 4/14/2005
Status: offline
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quote:
I’ve been to “retreats” where this occurred even more and I used to think something was wrong with me for not getting caught up in the music like all the others. Not many Bible studies later I learned that this was not taught in Scripture.
Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp. Psalm 149:3
Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Psalm 98:4
O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. Psalm 47:1
3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. 4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. 5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. 6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD. From Psalm 150
Doesn't sound unbiblical to me. ; ) I did remember something though from years ago. The worship leader at the church I went to 19 years ago had a rule that no one on the team could listen to secular music. The ones I knew on the team stuck to this. His reasoning was he didn't want a rock band he wanted a praise and worship team. He was an amazing leader to because he would do brass arrangements, he'd re-arrange hymns many of the things that are missing today.
As for hymns this is what has happened in my current church. About the first 4 of my 5.5 years going there we never once sang a hymn not even the first verse of Amazing Grace and 90 minutes of "Praise God". So someone snuck in "How Great Thou Art" and wow was it lively. So the last 6 months or so we've FINNALLY had someone who has taken the time to re-arrange them and we're good for about 2 to 4 a month now. The response is just awesome. I also prefer the guitar playing now that they dumped the fancy pedals and use simple acoustic ones.
My dad's church is even cooler. They have a piano every Sunday but no organ. The piano plays pretty much a traditional arrangement. However they have 4 or 5 guys that also play some combination of guitar, banjo, mandolin, steel guitar, dulcimer- kind of like bluegrass instruments but not bluegrass arranged, traditional arrangement. It's really good. This is a non-denominational very non-charismatic church. My dad finnally came to my church last year and I think we scared him away. ; ) I was surprised because my step-mom and her mom when she was alive went to a charismatic Catholic church so I didn't think he'd be that shocked.
The more I read this thread though there's two responses I really like the most:
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Hypocrisy. That's why most young adults leave church.
This knows no denomination, no worship style, no anything. It exists everywhere in the Body of Christ. :(
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What I have seen, and experienced when I was a teen/young adult christian, is that as we bring youths up through the church there is not a deliberate push to get young adults involved in ministry. For me, and others my age, we were never really challenged with serving. We would have a mission trip or a food pantry trip, but there was no opportunity for us to serve on a routine basis.
I think it's important to get everyone involved.
< Message edited by rlj -- 6/4/2008 12:53:55 AM >
_____________________________
-Roger
This is who I'm voting for. He is from the same party I voted for last time. This is consistent with my belief in the failure of the two party system and my disgust with it.
http://www.baldwin08.com/#
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RE: WHY DO YOUNG ADULTS QUIT CHURCH? - 6/4/2008 2:50:21 PM
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SemperReformanda
Posts: 4
Joined: 2/4/2007
Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: kernsfamily
As someone who was a "young adult" in church....until I was married at age 28.....I was "in limbo", as far as MANY churches were concerned....
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