This summer has already been quite an experience for me.  I’ve been out of Master’s for over a year, and I watched several of my friends graduate from their second year and move on to other areas of life.  I’m now one of the senior guys at work, though my title doesn’t reflect it, and I’m working on getting my own place.  It’s a lot of change, and yet it’s really all still the same.

Over the years while working with the young adults group at church, I’ve seen alot of things, people, and events come and go.  I’ve watched people storm out of the church, fall out of the church, hide from the church, been asked to leave to church, and others leave on good terms.  I’ve been through five name changes, four format changes and a boat load of leaders and regulars.  Our emphasis has always been on relationships, because as young adults that’s what matters more than the teachings, the events and the outreaches.  All of those things help build relationships, but the relationships and connections are what keep the people coming back.  Too many young adults are caught up in themselves so much that a growing relationship with God isn’t exactly possible without first coming into contact with others that are solely focused on their and other’s relationship with Christ.

There are times when I’m selfish and I sleep in on Sundays, and times with I have some much to do that I’m still gather things when everything is about to start, but there is never a time that I put anything else higher than building relationoships with other young adults.

This summer though has brought on a whole different perspective on connecting with young adults.  I’m not a partier, and I never have been, so this summer was my first time to ever attend a keg party, and this weekend was my first time to ever go to a club aside from business and convention events.  Both of these “opportunities” opened my eyes alot.  The party was hosted by an old friend from high school, and nearly everyone there was a complete stranger.  I knew four people there, and by the time I finally left there were at least 40 to 50 people there.  I hadn’t really talked any to those that I knew already since high school, but everyone at the party was very accepting.  It didn’t matter how laid back you were, how loud and roudy, or how dorky you were, everyone accepted you.  Whether it was real or not, I didn’t stay to find out, nor do I really care, because the reality of it is, it felt real.  The feeling wasn’t a result of alcohol, because I didn’t drink enough to even feel the slightest bit.

My first time in a club was a very similar experience, though my interaction with others never exceeded more than three words, I felt like everyone there accepted me.  I’m not a dancer, I’m not the most attractive, nor am I very bold and out going, but people treated me with respect when we came into contact, and I felt cool despite my short comings.

I wouldn’t ever advicate that someone should seek out clubs or parties for their acceptance, but I know that I haven’t felt or seen that kind of openess and acceptance from anyone in a church, ever.  That is something seriously wrong.  Now, I’m not saying that the churches I’ve attended are bad, or there is something horribly wrong with them, I’m saying that there is a void in the church’s atmosphere that is a very noticeble emptiness to anyone that doesn’t have Christ or has strayed too far away.  Without that emptiness that I know and feel being filled by Christ himself, I couldn’t stand to go to church myself.  And what I’m saying doesn’t apply to every christian group or organization, because some are so overwhelmingly accepting that it’s hard to tell that they are even Christian, not because they are immoral or deviant, but because their overwhelming acceptance is louder than their message about Christ.

It’s sad to say there there will never be a way to have it both ways, because it’s the message and the principles that make us who we are, but what are we really doing to give people a reason not to go the the clubs, bars and parties?  What do we offer someone that hasn’t heard the message already to even give them the slightest interest in who we are and what we do?

Your prayer meetings and bible studies aren’t going to get people to leave the clubs.  Your outreaches aren’t going to give people the confidence and medicate the problems they are facing, but the alcohol does.  You’re activites will never recieve the visitor like a party does while the members feel superior and can’t associate with someone that has problems.

God can reach these people. God can help them with their problems.  God can give them a perminent fix to their empty problem.  But he needs us so he can do the work.  What are we doing, how are we offering it, and why aren’t they accepting it?

Yes, I did get a high from my experience this weekend, and despite being sick, I felt great.  But I know that the affects that my experience had on me are very much temporary, and without a perminent and everylasting fix, the process would have to be repeated ever so often, with the ‘ever’ becoming shorting and the ‘often’ becoming the more frequent.

How is it so easy to get caught up in the temporary.  It’s so expensive and harmful, yet it is so effective… Why is it so hard for people to truly connect with God without going through Hell first?