“I’m too busy!” An excuse that tends to plague the youth in the “fast paced” world of 2010, but the truth is I don’t buy the excuse that the youth are busier now than they were ten years ago. Sure there are far more technological distractions today, but none of which cannot be shut off for an hour a week. If technology is what is keeping you from GOD, then people should have stopped coming to the church long before Playstation and Facebook.
Everyone on Earth, old or young, rich or poor gets the same 24 hours each day. Time is what you make of it and people generally find the time to do what is important to them, and if they aren’t going to church, that just means church is not a top priority. So the idea of teens being too busy for church is mostly hogwash. They just simply choose not to be there. I believe that there are three modern notions teenagers have that keep them coming home to GOD.
First, teens don’t show up because they don’t think GOD is showing up. If the power of GOD isn’t moving in your church’s youth group beyond the free pizza and the basketball, you’re eventually going to hit a wall. There’s always going to be a church with better pizza, a more talented band, a better gym and bigger crowds. Its okay to use draws, but you’d better have a good foundation for your ministry and back up the draw with something real. The youth today is far too wise to old tricks; they can no longer be sold, but instead educated.
Second, teens don’t make church a priority because their parents don’t make it a priority. Too many families are either pulling out of church altogether, or they’re moving it so far down the list of things to do that it gets lost in the shuffle. It happens far too often that going to church is put on the back-burner and soon before you know it you haven’t been since Easter and its almost Christmas. Busy parents, sadly, do not have the time to take their kids to youth group let alone church on Sunday. And if the parents don’t make time, their children won’t. Remember, kids take cues from their parents.
Lastly, teens are very connected to each other now and don’t need church to meet up anymore. Since the beginning of Christianity, the church has coasted on the assurance that teenagers would at least come to church to see each other. Now they have texting, Facebook and other means to connect so they’ve effectively eliminated the middleman. Real spiritual substance within community has to be the draw– not just community. Because there’s probably somewhere or something else that does community better than church.
It is a changing world for teenagers and as the world evolves the church must evolve with it. if for no other reason than to let the youth of today know that GOD will always be there for you whenever you decide to come home.
Song Of Life UMC 
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