Some Reflections on Rushall Junction 12

Introduction.

The following is one person’s reflection on the 2004 Junction 12 Youth Camp. The author refers to it as “ramblings”, however I felt that they are an excellent synthesis not just of the camp but rather of the major issue which has affected the Church for at least the past 30 years and probably much longer – “Relevance”. It reflects struggles which Penny and I have had with “church” for almost as long as we can remember. I have purposely left this anonymous and publish it here, almost as my own, as it so much represents what I believe myself that I could well have written it myself – but not as well!

It is simply not enough to bring this generation of young people through

to replicate what their parents have achieved in the church

I wanted to attempt to put down on paper a few thoughts relating to Christian young people’s experiences at Junction 12 this year.  Much has been discussed before, during, and certainly after this years camp, especially relating to how appropriate/effective the camp was, not at ‘reaching’ the non Christian young people, but effectively ‘feeding’ or at least challenging the Christian young people. 

People have quite rightly questioned the appropriateness of any event, in this case a week long camp, that attempts to not only ‘reach’ non-Christians but also appropriately equip those young people who are part of the church.  Young people who have perhaps traditionally relied upon events like youth camps to provide an annual ‘shot in the arm’ of Holy Spirit ministry, teaching and worship.  Many young people I have been involved in working with over the years can testify to 'red letter days' in encountering God in a number of ways at camps like Junction 12, and it’s previous incarnations.  Many who are now close friends have found that more ‘exposure’ to the things of God away from their everyday circumstances, coupled with the atmosphere a Christian camp can create, have led them to hear God speaking more clearly and led to a more significant ‘experience’ of the Holy Spirit. In many cases this has led to greater desire for knowledge and understanding of God in their everyday lives, as a result of a youth camp ‘experience’.

It is this sort of exposure that I gather many people feel we missed out on at this years Junction 12.  In adopting a different approach to what worship means, we might have somehow ‘conned’ young people out of an experience of God that they might have had in a more traditional worship environment.  In attempting to ‘do both things’ (reach the unchurched, challenge the churched) we may have failed to do either effectively and this was especially hard on the young people who look to J12 for such an experience.

 I fully appreciate that time away with our Christian young people can be a truly valuable experience.  It’s no secret that a few nights away with a group can be so much more beneficial than any number of meetings or clubs during a normal week, just for the developing of relationships, and for the Christian young people, in their experience of God through focussed teaching, worship and the Christian youth group dynamic.

As those charged with working with the next generation of people

who will be part of our local churches

we must think carefully about what we can do prevent the current status quo

repeating in the lives of today’s churched young people

tomorrow’s parents of churched young people

However, there are a few things that I believe to be of the uttermost importance for our Christian young people. 

·        There is, without doubt, a widespread acknowledgement that today’s church is largely ineffective at reaching their communities, except for the occasional community-specific projects that exist outside of the immediate influence of the mainstream church. 

·        Often, these initiatives are managed and maintained by the dedicated and committed few, whilst the majority of people in our churches are more concerned with the level of input they are receiving into their own lives and families. 

·        In addition, these attempts at effective outreach, service in the community and evangelism, often provide an excuse for the average church attendee (the parents of the majority of our Christian young people), to NOT get involved in this kind of work. 

·        Meeting the needs of those around us is by no means high on the agenda of the majority of our churches.  This may be a sweeping and not entirely accurate point of view of every church, but perhaps is true of a modern mindset found in the majority of our churches, certainly in the affluent areas of Reading that many of us live and work in. 

It is simply not enough to bring this generation of young people through

to replicate what their parents have achieved in the church

As those charged with working with the next generation of people who will be part of our local churches, we must think carefully about what we can do prevent the current status quo repeating in the lives of today’s churched young people, tomorrows parents of churched young people.  I believe that we need to see successful youth ministry as not just the maintenance of the church, keeping young people there, but how we can contribute to a flourishing church that can grow and is actively involved in the lives of others, partnering God in His work in His world.  It is simply not enough to bring this generation of young people through to replicate what their parents have achieved in the church.  Somewhere along the line we need to help young people see God’s desire is for all His people, not just the church.  If today’s Christian young people can grow up with a healthy realisation that they are not just called by God for their own benefit, but for the benefit of those around them, then this will have a dramatic change on the mindset of the church in the years to come.

we should be doing all we can to help Christian young people

not assume that Church is primarily there to feed them

In order for this to happen, I honestly feel that we should be doing all we can to help Christian young people not assume that Church is primarily there to feed them.  Many of their parents have perhaps grown up with an understanding that church should feed and feed and feed them so that they can live better lives, more ‘pleasing’ to God.  And for the especially keen, there is the optional add-on of this thing called ‘evangelism’, which is somehow separate from the rest of the normal Christian life, kind of like an extra module on a course that we can take if we’re really committed.  This perhaps leads to a mindset of getting as fat as we can on knowing about God and His purposes for my life, but without the essential missing ingredient that we actually get fed in order that we might give it away to feed hungry people, rather than storing it all up for ourselves.  This, I believe, is the underlying problem with today’s church, which will eventually lead to the church becoming more and more separate from the everyday reality of the majority’s existence.  A church that is essentially missional in its outlook, cannot fail but to remain in touch with reality, because its primary aim is to be there for their communities. 

I would guess that that the vast majority (if not all) of our Christian young people have a similar view of their walk with God at present.  That it’s primarily about THEM.  We have traditionally been there for them, given them answers to questions, helped them through difficulties, taught them stuff, told them how to live and act as Christians.  And whilst this is all good stuff, and none of it is essentially wrong in any way, perhaps it is breeding another generation who look to church to provide THEM with stuff, rather than being a vehicle for the transforming of communities.  Somewhere along the line we have to, simply have to, help these dear young people realise that they are in the church primarily for OTHER PEOPLE’S BENEFIT, not just their own.  And this, I believe, gives us a mandate to encourage them to grow in themselves whilst participating in the furthering of the church and the advancement of the Kingdom of God.  All the teaching and input and dynamic worship times and exposure to Holy Spirit ministry may not be as effective in their spiritual growth as the thrill of realising that God can, does and will work through their lives to serve and reach others, and that the same God is ALREADY at work in His world, not just in the church.  This, I believe, will produce lasting fruit in the lives of our Christian young people, who will want to worship God, want to understand more of Him, and want to give their lives solely to Him; not because they’re told they ought to, not because their parents or youth leader wants them to, or because their church friends do, but because they have realised that the message of the gospel is the only way the world they are growing up in has any hope at all.

If being a Christian and knowing Christ isn’t about everyday reality

but about a way of life that’s separate from it

involving all sorts of religious practices and experiences

then what kind of Christianity is that?

I can look at numbers of young people who have grown up in church on the usual healthy diet of worship, ministry, bible study, home groups, all of which was delivered with the intention that these things should all be applied to their everyday lives.   Thankfully, many of these young people have grown up as committed Christians, keen to apply their understanding of God to whatever workplace, university or situation they find themselves in.  Unfortunately, an equal number found it hard to apply the truths and experiences that seemed so real in the comfy confines of the church youth group, to their everyday circumstances.  For these young people, might it have been that they were never really encouraged to see God at work OUTSIDE of His church, as well as inside?  Perhaps never encouraged to see any implication for Christian living other than a personal one?  Perhaps these young people, who love the church and their peers and youth leaders, but grow up fearful of a big bad world, so fearful that they either retreat from it altogether, back into a separate church existence, or allow it to consume them at the expense of their Christian experiences, that now seems so far removed from their reality. 

Christian young people of course need discipleship and input, but I feel that somewhere along the line, we need to do things differently in order to help keep the church in touch with reality.  Generally speaking, young people enjoy experiencing community, in their friendship groups and youth groups.  We need to make sure that this community experience is not at the expense of people outside the church, like some kind of retreat from that big bad world.  Unfortunately, many church parents I think quite like the church providing this ‘service’.  As long as their kids spend time with their nice church friends rather than the nasty other kids, then that’s all good.  This is an attitude that I believe is carried over into the adult church.  With this kind of approach, how can we seriously expect to be effective at ‘reaching’ communities that are full of ordinary people?

If our church young people grow up with negative attitudes to young people who are different to them, this will have a detrimental affect of the church they are part of in the years to come.  One of our foundations for the focus on this year’s camp was the reconciliation between different groups, who don’t have to not get on! (Ephesians 2:14).   Our young people in church today need to see how God can be at work in His world, and know that God’s heart is for all his creation. 

Christian-ness’ is really all about engagement rather than separation

about serving rather than receiving

about giving away rather than feeding

One quite ‘mature’ young person said to me that they felt that Junction 12 this year had lost its ‘Christian-ness’. This shows to me that somewhere along the line we have sent out incorrect messages about what the Christian faith is all about.  If being a Christian and knowing Christ isn’t about everyday reality, but about a way of life that’s separate from it, involving all sorts of religious practices and experiences; then what kind of Christianity is that?  It’s a kind that re-produces a slightly noisier version of a dying, rather than a flourishing church.  In an ideal world, young people in our churches should be able to see that effective ‘Christian-ness’ is really all about engagement rather than separation, about serving rather than receiving, about giving away rather than feeding.  Seeing how Christ is at work in all things, and holds all things together (Colossians 1:15-23).  Of course worship, prayer, study, discussion, the traditional ‘feeding’, should continue.  But what is the motivation for young people to get to know God better?  Because they’ve really realised how good He is for themselves?  Because they love spending time in prayer?  Or because these are the accepted practices of churches and youth groups?  If we are expecting our young people to spend more time spending time with God and understanding God’s heart, this will surely lead to them understanding His purposes for the world, and not just themselves.  Young people should be motivated to do these things not because of what God can do for THEM, but out of a realisation of how the world needs Him more than ever.

If you have read this and want to voice a reaction, please do write to me. I can pass on your response to the author. 

Malc Peirce