Faithful Ones

Dearest Faithful ones, I commend you for fighting the good fight, and hopefully, when we do finish the race, we have all kept the faith and have not backslid to a point where we're not even sure we're saved at all.

Alright, in my recent article, I mentioned that how we look and act affects our target audience/unbelievers. It may be positive or negative, or plain ineffective. There is a common philosophy going around in youth churches that in order to penetrate the youth culture more effectively, you have to use strategic ways to get to them. To a degree, I agree. Yes, we have to be creative and very wise and shrewd as snakes.

I don't go and speak in a young people's congregation dressed up in coat and tie, in my shiny black leather shoes, and well pressed slacks. I usually go in jeans, a nice polo shirt, and with a neat haircut and a clean shave. Why? I don't want to gap myself too distant to the generation Im speaking to. Impression is very vital to a speaker's attention retention. However, I know of a speaker whose name is Paul Washer, who never cared for what he looked like, but focused on the Power of God to say His message...and I tell you, it didn't need fashion to do so. Bottom line, its really the Holy Spirit factor that counts.

But, at times there is credit to the "reach the audience" philosophy. Like the new translations of the Bible offer an easier understanding of the Scriptures as compared to the King James Version of it. And I know lots of young people drawn to the Lord because of churches using the contemporary music style, and "the preacher talking relevant topics of today's generation" talks.

I agree. Yes I do. But there is a flaw in this philosophy, that makes it soooo dangerous. If we as a church target these audience and do too much of the "Christians are cool too" philosophy, we neglect the change of heart part, the turning away from sin. We focus on Jesus as the gift of God, we hand Him out like pamphlets to people we meet in evangelistic meetings, but never focus on the relationship with Him. Jesus cant be your best friend if you're not willing to follow Him. He cant be Lord if you don't want to follow Him. Yes you're saved and all, but without Jesus as LORD, the whole point is missed. The kids only get to heaven, not be with the Savior.

Alright, as for my real message, the faithful ones now adapt this lifestyle of being like the world. Yes, again I do not disagree. But this lifestyle must be done with EXTREME caution. The style of music, the fashion trends, the places we go to, the lifestyle we show and live by more often than OFTEN changes us. In a scale of 1-100, it's 99% effective in changing the way of thinking of a young person.

Take my life as an example. I grew up learning classical music, Broadway musicals, church music and those stuff. I hated it. I then turned to Rock and heavy metal music, then to rap and dark poetry. Very appealing. God used the new trend of Praise and Worship music to "lure" me into the ministry, and I got addicted to the music ministry. But wait, had I stayed in the addiction, I would have easily fallen away and did something else in my life.

Music, has a lot that comes with it. The philosophies of the genre (punk is really an against the authority philo, rock is more of an emotion driven music, from where we get emo, Jazz is the enjoy playing and improvisation, freedom, etc, etc. etc. ) Once you learn the songs and get a preference your belief structure would soon conform to the music's structure. Also, fashion and the places these music are linked to become a common downfall of many Christians.

I am a rocker by nature. I have been a part of a metal band, a rock band, and acoustic band, a jazz-rnb band, a hip hop group, and all those music, before I got into classical music, orchestral, and the things old people usually listen to. In a word, I've done it all, been there, done that. My life was strangely preserved against the forces of music because after I got into the ministry, God gave me the commitment that I should worship Him and not the music style. I learned to respect other musical preferences and learned from them also. I was taught to simply listen and get what you need from any kind of music, and use it for God's glory, but God always reminded not to immerse myself in music that does not glorify Him.

Alright, here are the basics. Hairstyle is a little debatable, so the emo hairstyle (though I hate it) I'd go with allowing it if it was in my church. The music, I would say that even though everyone has their own preference, we must learn to WORSHIP GOD not the style of worship music. People often drift to other mental activities if the song style gets too corny for them or offends their taste. We should look at what the song is saying and if it glorifies God, makes a lot of sense, has a reasonably singable melody, has STRONG SCRIPTURAL content, why be bothered by the style?

If we cater too much to the "please me" generation, even our churches would find it hard to "please God". Its really not about us, what pleases the congregation, what is more comfortable, what is more stylish or in trend, these are all marketing strategies. And market caters to customers who are ALWAYS RIGHT. And if we focus on being a business too much, we get to serve the "Comfort" of the people, not their real needs.

Just study it. Statistics often tells us information whether we were effective or not. How many young people did we really effectively share the "CHRISTIAN LIFESTYLE" to in our youth catering camps? How many young people really committed to transforming their lifestyles, loved God with all their heart, and become faithful members of a church? If a vast majority is still the same, or even got more confused because we tell them they're saved but they cant reconcile it with the fact that their lives are still unchanged, therefore we're missing the point. But some churches got their plans correctly coz they are effectively reaching their target people. Not 100%, but a lot of them.

Some churches boast of reaching 50,000 souls. I thank God they did share the gospel to those kids. But it should never get to your head, because I tell you not even a thousand faithfully attend their youth gatherings, and are really transformed. What happened to the 49,000? Our church is no different. Possibly, given a big budget, we would also focus on the peripherals too. My prayer is that God would work mightily in the lives of young people, and use people who really care for them and disciple them and be accountable to, and watch them grow as Christians. Numbers are great. But there are only so much you can do to make those numbers really count. Right now, I am focusing on my praise team members. I watch them, take care of them, train them, and ultimately to be better than I am. But I cannot commit to more than that. If my members commit to 3 people too, train them, disciple them, teach them God's ways and watch over them, then I would be confident that our small congregation of 800, would reach more effectively than a 50,000 youth-catering camp.

So, to all Faithful Ones, focus on God. Do the basics. Those marketing stuff are only good for a while, its the basics that count.