A popular video floating around blogs and Facebook posts has been: "Why I hate religion but love Jesus". It is rapidly approaching 1 million hits around the world and has great appeal to the twenty-something world. It is extremely well done, and the speaker: "Jefferson Bethke" speaks with compassion for people turned off to religion.
I believe the popularity surrounding the video may stem from hatred of "religion" however the context of the our culture lends itself to be "anti-church". The years of 2000-2010 saw the rise of the "seeker service", "emerging church" and other such movements to expose the irrelevance of traditional church. While the movement had valid criticisms, the critique can be certainly declared to be over. Most traditional churches are providing "contemporary" services and youthful expressions of change which seem to be meeting that need.
My concern is that to the un-trained eye, "religion" can be equated to "church" (the Sunday morning experience). This is my modern day equivalent of "throwing the baby out with the bath water." An old expressions which means that there is much good in the dirty water you want to throw out the window.
Youth transition network did a study on High School Students the year after graduation and found these statistics: “An Assemblies of God study showed a loss of 66% of their students within one year of high school graduation.”
“A Southern Baptist transition project estimates an 82% loss of youth within one year of high school graduation.”“Fifty to eighty percent of high school students walk away.”
“As someone who recognizes the importance of an ever-growing faith, especially during the college years, these are staggering statistics,” said Cyndi Forman, campus minister of the Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) of Georgia Tech and Emory University. “The statistics are sad, disappointing and dangerous, all at the same time.”
If this study remains true, twenty-somethings do not need reasons to not attend church regularly and maintain their spiritual life. In fact, they need to understand that these are the years in which they need the church the most. The early 20's are years of great change in a young adults life. They are years of new found freedom, and also years of experimentation and development. Without guidance, direction and encouragement, they can easily find themselves in a tail-spin into disillusion and despair.
For me, my college years were years of great transition, growth and dedication to the Lord. All of this was formulated in me by a great group of Christian peers, a Pastor in my life and involvement in social activities at my Church. My university education exposed me to many alternative philosophies and secular positions, however my church kept my feet on solid ground. I actually survived my college years with a bright outlook and a belief that I could make a difference in a dark world.
While there can be the presence of "religion" in Church, the Church is not religion. In fact, the video talks about the "four walls" of a church building. But the church is people, not a building. It is a family, it is a fellowship, it is as the Bible calls it: "the Body of Christ." The reality is that everybody needs a church home just as every family needs to be a home for it's members. In fact it is impossible to say "I love Jesus, but not the church", simply because the church is His body. Like it or not, when you walk away from the Church, you walk away from the visible expression of the historic Jesus. So our obligation to the Lord is to find a church and help make it a better place. A place where He is worshiped and proclaimed.
The local Church in your community does not start wars, it simply is a place where people can find comfort, encouragement, growth and even sometimes a warm meal. While people make mistakes, and Lord knows we do all the time in the local church, it is a place to find forgiveness and healing from a broken world.
There was once a sign out in front of a church which read: "Ch ch". What's missing? U R. Kind of corny, but appropriate for young people who are looking for an alternative to church but not realizing that they are the church.
You can watch the video here.
