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Over the last few years I've, mostly gratefully, been involved with different things in the church and, especially when it came to any form of leadership, one question I always heard people asking each other is "how can we get church members/youth/kids more involved?" How can we get them excited? Especially as it relates to the youth, we've had many a discussions about this. What I've written here is first and foremost for me – but I thought I'd share in case others read and are blessed by it.
Whenever I've been asked for my opinion I try to look back in my own life and see what had been done/said/planned for me that helped me become closer to God. First I usually think about the 'what' that people (specifically my leaders) had done that I thought helped. There were cell groups, more/longer conferences, big brother/sister programs, etc etc. But when I've thought about implementing some of those same (or new) things now, there seems to be a bigger problem at hand. It's very difficult to start/continue any program when the people organizing the event and/or the people attending just aren't THAT interested (or in more common vocab, they're just “too busy”). In other words, the problem is deeper rooted than missing/broken programs. Of course as leaders (and members) of any body it's our duty to do whatever we can to encourage spiritual growth in the body, but my point is that when I looked back in my own life, programs aren't what really made the difference.
So what was it? More consistently than anything else it was the life of the people (and more so leaders) themselves. It was the fire I saw in them that drove me to the flame. I was just talking to a leader about this a couple weeks ago and I don't know how well my point was received – it does sound a bit idealistic and non-practical but today I was reading a Watchman Nee book and he summarized it much better than I could, here's what he said:
We cannot inject spiritual appetite forcibly into others; we cannot compel others to be hungry. Hunger has to be created, and it can be created in others only by those who carry with them the impressions of God. But there must also be something in us that gives release to the fragerance we have of Christ and that produces in others an awareness of need. And that something is a willingness to yield, a breaking and pouring out of everything to God. This is what draws others out and on to know the Lord. (Secrets to Spiritual Power).
He also said something else thats not directly related but can be applied:
As long as we are trying to do anything, He can do nothing. It is because of our trying that we fail.
We can actually impede God's work by trying to help Him (almost always true in our own lives). How can we apply this, practically? Well I think that if any of us are in service and are racking our brains on how to do it 'better' we need to look at ourselves first. Is our life a true testimony of what we're trying to guide others to? This doesn't mean we should be perfect before we can serve, it's a matter of our relationship with Him and the path we're on rather than our current position. I think before planning new programs, classes or anything else (all of which are important) we need to look at ourselves first and foremost. If a leader has the best weekly program in the world but is seen gossiping elsewhere it's useless. Same is true of parents. You can talk to church leaders over and over again to do more for your kids, but if what they see of you at home is not God's life, they'll likely be driven away regardless of others' efforts.
Sorry for the length, I hope I got the point across.
- Mike
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