NOISY YOUTHS
@ WORSHIP SERVICE
I was at a Sunday Worship Service recently. It was a combined service where the young people did not have their own meeting, but they sat in with the adults.
That morning, there was a group of about five or six teenagers sitting in the row right behind me. They were really noisy, throughout the whole service. They talked during the praise and worship time… They talked during the prayer time… They talked during the announcement time…
There came a time when I could not tahan anymore. So, I turned around, looked at them in as friendly a manner as possible, and put my index finger to my lips showing the “please keep quiet” gesture. It worked, but just for about one minute. Soon the talking resumed.
Then the sermon time came. Their talking changed into loud whispering. At one point, a couple of them were actually doing arm wrestling while others looked on and giggled. Oh my God! I turned around and looked at them again. I think I did not look too friendly this time. I did not show them my middle finger, but I did wag my index finger at them. They stopped but after a few moments, the ruckus came back.
Then came the Holy Communion time. They continued with their talking and whispering and giggling… and, they participated in taking the bread and the wine. Sigh!
Hmmm… My mind went into overdrive thinking about this matter…
Is it not possible anymore for younger people and older people to meaningfully come together, and worship the Lord together, and listen to the Word of God together?!
Is it true that teenagers and youths will behave “unbecomingly” like this at some point in their lives, and that we have no choice but to accept this as a natural part of their growing up process?!
Has our approach of doing “specialized ministry” where we separate children (Sunday School) and youths (Youth Church) actually caused us to polarized negatively and dangerously without us even knowing it?!
Have we actually reinforced and contributed to that vicious cycle of “short attention span” in young people, when we peddle icebreakers and games but fail to teach them that there are times we need to endure and persevere?!
Hmmm…
Incidentally, during that service; there was this middle-aged man sitting in the same row just one seat away from me. Despite the noisy youths, I noticed that he was sleeping most of the time when the sermon was preached…
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Sometimes when I visit other youth groups, i wonder if I should be more hyped up, have more trendy things and games because we dun seem to be attracting many visitors. On the brighter side of things, my youths are maturing. Most can sit quietly through sermons. All have learnt to pray out aloud. They are not put off by extended prayer time or even prayer rallies. Some actually find them very interesting!How do I strike a balance between attracting non Christians and building up Christians?
ReplyDeleteSiew Har, you have done and is still doing a great job with your YF :) As for your question, maybe you could try setting one YF meeting a month as a special "seekers" meeting... so that meeting would be more "seeker-friendly" and the youths will know that is the week they could invite their friends...
ReplyDeleteFunny, in the church service I attend, it's the adults who do that... some talk, some walk around and most of them are church leaders. I think it's not appropriate but .......
ReplyDeleteThanks AJ7 for your comments... Indeed people of all ages are capable of being noisy... and distracted... even rowdy...
ReplyDelete