Part of being in a role that has a certain amount of decision making inherent in it is that at most times a segment of the people you work with will disagree with you. That comes with the job. I think that I could say confidently that even on staff there is a range of opinions on how to "do church" - phrase I dislike and could probably become an entire blog post itself. When you get people together there will be disagreement.
One of the areas in the young adult ministry at LBC where the most passionate debate takes place revolves around creating a young adult worship experience. Take a moment to browse around the web and look at what other churches are doing with young adults and you'll find a lot that have young adult services that occur at different times, and often, in different places than the church's regular services that are intended for the entire group of attenders. It's a popular model and it often has impressive results - niched worship experiences attract a large crowd.
We have been pretty strong in our opposition to this approach but, I can assure you, it hasn't necessarily been easy. A big part of me is pretty enticed by the idea of having a large group of young adults gathering separately from the larger body and becoming, for all intents and purposes, a church unto itself. From an ego point of view, as a pastor this is attractive because I could become a head pastor of sorts without even applying for the job! On top of that we could make a name for ourselves as a church that has a pretty sweet young adult service. Do I think that young adults would come to this type of thing - yeah, I think a lot would (many would rather not but on the whole I think this approach has proven itself).
So, why don't we do it? A few reasons:
- It might be easy but we don't think it's best. What is easy (even what we want) is not always what we need. Church splits are often predicated on this type of thinking - "I don't really like this aspect of our church, we disagree with this philosophy, so let's start our own gig." That type of thinking is easy, but not necessarily profitable in the long run. In many ways the challenge and genius of the Church is fighting against that very temptation: to strive, and keep striving, for unity. This runs contrary to our human nature and for that reason Paul knew he had to remind the Ephesians of its importance: "...until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God." (Eph. 4:13).
- It can foster a consumer mentality. In a church the size of ours it is already difficult to fight against the drift towards consumerism. We have dozens upon dozens of options in order to provide people with the tools they need to grow spiritually. The difficulty with this is that we must fight to see this as a benefit and not an expectation. When it becomes an expectation then we start to think of ourselves as clients and expect the church to provide me what I want - otherwise I'll take my business elsewhere. The moment we cross the line into this type of thinking, the game is essentially over.
- It shrinks our view of God. It is good for me to worship around people who are different than me. A couple of weeks ago I was near a "swayer" during worship and a couple weeks before that I was near someone who liked to raise their arms in worship. These two expressions of worship are far from my experience, I'd prefer we all be stoics and just think really deeply during worship. It is good for me to be around people who display that God wires each of us differently and, in his creativity, he allows for an unlimited number of expressions of worship. That's good thing for me to see.
- It leads us towards what C.S. Lewis called, "chronological snobbery." Lewis used the term to describe the fact that the current generation always thinks that their moment in history is superior to those that have preceded theirs. I think that this is our tendency as the younger church generation. If I neglect gathering together with 8 year olds and 80 year olds then I miss out on the richness that is to be gained when I see those people who have walked with God twice as long as I've been alive and those who are just starting to learn who Jesus is. God certainly wants to create a movement in our generation, but not at the expense or in spite of the faithful who have come before us. Worshipping with them reminds us of this.
- It creates one more church thing to do. Some would argue against the above points by saying they'd do both - "big church" and a young adult service but this runs contrary to exactly what we're trying to do: impact our world for Christ and His Kingdom. Why gather for another worship service that will be a mirror of those that took place on Sunday morning when we could be getting together with co-workers, resting at home, connecting with neighbors, mingling with non-Christians at restaurants and coffee shops and bars, serving at a soup kitchen, etc.? If there is any group of people that has the freedom to be "out there," it's us.
So, these are just a few reasons.
The challenge for young adults is that of the departure from college and that comes with a lot of growing pangs! The movement out of a campus atmosphere where community is basically built into your life, the movement into the work place and the 9-5 realities that come with it, the movement towards paying bills, balancing a check book, etc. The same struggle occurs at church - the difficult move from a junior high, high school, and college ministry into the life of the body at large (where it's easy to feel lost!). I went through it and understand the difficulty, but, post-college, we believe it is a pain worth fighting through.
Ultimately, the church was intended to be multigenerational, multiethnic, cross socio-economic boundaries, and, because of these abnormalities (where else do you see this), the world would look upon the Church with wonder and awe.