The Second Generation and the Church

Posted Tuesday, May 22, 2007 by Charlie Trimm

I have been thinking recently about the second generation and how they fit into the church. Throughout church history, there have been two broad responses. On the one hand, room can be made for unbelievers or those who do not live out the Christian life by diluting the requirements to be part of the church (such as the half-way covenant). On the other hand, there have been those who say that the church is a group of called-out individuals and the unbelievers of the second generations are rejected from the church. It seems to me that this is a very difficult decision for us today.

If we say that the church is only those who believe, then the second (and third, etc.) generation who do not believe cannot be part of the church. I think that this is a good decision because we should not dilute the church. But on the other hand, by saying this I think that we also expose ourselves to another problem. Since many grow up in the church and feel at home in the church, when the church rejects them for not being believers they become bitter towards the church. A more serious aspect is when they have the opposite reaction: they make a false profession of faith so that they can stay where they are most comfortable. So how do we keep the church pure while not encouraging hypocrisy? How to run a youth group is probably the place where most of the difficulty comes. Do we expect all in the youth group to be saved? Is it possible to run a youth group with not expecting all to be saved? And how do we do this without having those who make a profession of faith just to get us off their backs?

Wednesday, May 23, 2007 9:49 AM

Sam wrote: what do you mean by "reject?"

I'm a bit confused about how to begin to help...what do you mean by reject? Do you mean "refuse membership to?" or something different, like "refuse admission to?"

Our church family has both members and non-members, each being equally accepted and loved, but each has different privileges and expectations. A non-member is not expected or asked to contribute financially, and they are not permitted to serve in a position of authority. At the same time, when the church is having some sort of fellowship gathering, they are invited and participate in those events like anyone else. I suspect that some of our non-member attenders are not saved, but I do not push the issue with them. They hear the gospel almost weekly, and understand (if they have ears to hear) the expectations and demands of Yahweh. In time, He will call them irresistably or not...that is not up to me. In the meanwhile, I would never push them away because of a lack of confession or a refusal to join in membership.

The youth group is a different matter altogether, and I would encourage you to determine what the point of the youth group is. Is it a mini-church, where believers minister, and are taught and strengthened (while non-believers listen in)? or is it an outreach to unbelievers? Are your saved youth considered co-ministers, or are they treated like the pagans? Youth groups often seem to be poorly thought through, and the chaos that results from this approach is to be expected.

You brought up several issues in your post...but here's the beginning of my response.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007 11:12 AM

Charlie wrote:

I'm sitting here in my office at the seminary and watching a deer outside the window, who has been laying on the grass for about an hour. This is a rough life. The main point of my questions has to do with youth groups, I guess. But first, what I mean by reject is reject from being a member or a vital part of the group. They are certainly still encouraged to come, but they will never be part of the "group."

With youth groups, is there a way that they should be run? Or do we simply need to know what we are doing and head that direction?

Wednesday, May 23, 2007 1:19 PM

Eric wrote:

I would say that you should make no distinction between a Youth group vs the Church in terms of purpose or membership. The church is the church. When churches try to create a "purpose driven youth group", they fail to be the church and instead become a business or a club. When a church tries to segregate a youth group from the rest of their ministry, the group becomes eletist and really doesn't understand the concept of "The Body". In our modern day rush to accept everyone, we loose sight of the joys of true membership in the body of believers. In a sense you are absolutely correct, you cannot be a member apart from salvation, and this is something that you should proclaim.

The thing with a youth group is that the minister that runs that group has a greater obligation to protect the youth and the dynamics are frequently more complicated. Relationships between a youth pastor and his group are much deeper than is typical of a senior pastor. One of the things that I found helpful, and I know many other youth ministers who did as well, was to define events around one purpose. Prayer meetings, ministering events and Sunday School are programs that are designed to minister to the body of Christ and each one has a distinct purpose. Activity nights are evangelistic events designed to be fun and to present the Gospel in a culturally relevant way. Don't try to do two things at once.

Train your group to understand the difference. Outsiders are always welcome at prayer meeting, but that is a time of spiritual communion with God, not a time for goofing off, networking or a time to proclaim the Gospel.

In my estimation, the problems come when a minister tries to make every event Evangelistic or every event Ministering. A healthy body needs both kinds of events. The single most important thing to remember is that the events of a group do not define that group. In other words, examine the churches in Revelation. The characteristics of the churches didn't change what they were, they merely indicated the health of the local body. Frequently the issues were ones of balance.

The other problem occurs when you have young people that were raised in the church, and whose parents expect them to attend every meeting, saved or not. In those cases you really need to tread carefully. Establish your boundaries and expectations and make sure your Senior Pastor supports those boundaries. Then communicate that to the parents to make sure they understand and buy off on them as well.

I had an issue with a couple of adolescent boys that simply didn't like Sunday School and they sought to be very disruptive to the point that I had to have them leave. Ultimately the parents blamed me for the problems and for a while I actually had a parent in every class to make sure I wasn't out of control. The problem ended up being a significant problem for my ministry at the church and was a contributing factor to my leaving.

I hope this helps. I can recommend some good books and possibly some online courses if they would be helpful.