In his book, Balance, Ira North discussed the great success the Madison church had in growth and attributed much of it to their commitment to their young people. In that good book brother North noted: “I have observed that congregations that go all out for their young people seem to be the ones that enjoy the greatest growth.” That, friends, is a fact. Now it is true that this statement can be taken too far and used to step outside of God’s authority, but that must not keep us from doing all that we can do to be an aid to our young people’s faith. They must be nurtured and admonished in as much as possible both by parents and their brethren to remain active, faithful, and serving in the church. Where we have failed in that respect, congregations have been forced to close their doors because they have declined so sharply. Where we have succeeded in that respect, congregations have had to enlarge their buildings to hold those interested in truth and righteousness. In which of those two camps shall we be?
I am personally a beneficiary of a strong youth program. I thank God regularly that in the congregation where I grew up we had parents and church leaders who thought enough of us to keep us active, not just in fun activities but mostly in faith building activities. Did that require a lot of time? Yes! Did that require a lot of effort? Yes! Did it require sacrifice in other areas? Yes! But the result was a tremendous retention rate. No, not everyone involved remained faithful; but many did. I still attribute that to how active they ensured we were. If we want our young people to grow up and have a primary base of friendship be Christians to exert Christian influence in their lives, we need to encourage them to be around Christians now. If we want the church to be a priority in their lives when they are adults, we need to teach them to make it a priority in their lives now. The church is not meant to supplant the home, but it sure can be an aid to the function of the home – to raise faithful children (Ephesians 6:1-4). In order for that to happen, though, we must go all out for the young people.
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).