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  • So to get right to the point today, I got a little game that I'd like for y'all to play.

  • It's called "How many teenagers do you know that are actively pursuing a life with God?"

  • For most of us, that game doesn't last very long. Like a bangin' on a gong, the preachers

  • say, "What's wrong with kids today?" and the song goes on and on and on. But the song being

  • sung is partly true. We're surrounded by a generation who, for the most part, would rather

  • smoke a joint than sit in a pew, and to be honest, I'm really tired of placing all the

  • blame on them. So I'm here to suggest that perhaps part of the problem, church, is you.

  • Please hear me out. You see, teenagers today, and people, for that matter, would rather

  • live by their own luck because they see the religious system is just way too stuck, and

  • if you heard me say that I read my Bible every day, you'd be like "What the fudge? Doesn't

  • that mean you're quick to judge, never budge, and just a plain old schmuck?" And if this

  • is the perception that we're so full of pride, then perhaps it's time we took a look inside

  • and tried to reclaim the part of Jesus that some of us have lost: the one who partied

  • with sinners, touched the lepers, loved the children, and who paid the highest cost.

  • Have you ever considered just how many parties Jesus went to in the Gospels? If someone wanted

  • to throw a party today, church, I'm not sure that they would hire us. People don't wanna

  • gather around Jesus anymore. They gather around Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus. And I'm not here

  • to bash secular music, either. I'm tired of that, and plus, I like some of those songs.

  • I'm here to suggest, church, that we also might be in the wrong.

  • Please hear me out. You see, it's clear in the lives of the next generation, the church

  • rarely plays a part, and maybe that's because some of the messages in TV, and film, and

  • radio are a little bit more from the heart. The church shouldn't be this billboard of

  • propaganda, a list of shoulds and should nots. It should be a living, breathing artpiece,

  • where people see us, and they say, "I want what they've got!" When did the movement of

  • Jesus lose its authenticity and require its members to climb to some spiritual peak? Because

  • if only the strong survive, then how come His power is perfect when we're weak?

  • Now please, hear me. I know some churches do this right, and I'm not tryin' to start

  • a fight. I'm here to suggest that we might just be as blind as those to whom we're trying

  • to give sight. We as the church need to wisen up because the next generation is rising up,

  • and they're finding their prize in the things of this world because in their eyes, we haven't

  • given them a better option. Runnin' away from the church like a toxin, because some of us

  • are locked into a system of judgment and dismay, hate you if you're struggling, different,

  • or gay. Why would anyone want to stay when they're just viewed as a project on which

  • we can project a list of rules? And the more we try and protect the children in this way,

  • the more we reject what God is trying to project through them! And that is His project of

  • authentic love.

  • Please hear me out. You've made it this far. I'm not trying to be harsh, and I'm not trying

  • to be condemning to either side. I'm suggesting that instead of forcing people onto some religious

  • journey, let's just invite them along for the ride. Let's look to share, before we look

  • to teach, and maybe let's put a little more care into what we preach. Let us make faith

  • in Jesus a little more attractive, and by that, I'm not talking about hip, or cool.

  • I'm talking about interactive - because you can never underestimate the power of someone

  • who truly cares and who dares to be the one person who will listen when no one else will.

  • This is the kind of love that I believe Jesus was talking about, that authentic love that

  • spurs us to a life that people can't help but be attracted to.

  • Church, let us begin to live in that love. And let us stop blaming the younger generation

  • for every problem in the world, and instead, come alongside them and invite them on an

  • adventure that Jesus said would bring even greater things yet to come.

  • This is authentic love.

So to get right to the point today, I got a little game that I'd like for y'all to play.

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