Your Roots are Showing

        Anyone who has spent any time around me has heard me say that I was raised in a Southern Baptist Church, and that my views are more conservative than most.   The first memory I have of Church is of my mother dropping me off at a kindergarten class for Sunday school.  I remember crying as she left the room.  From then on, the Church was my second home.  I was involved in everything from VBS to Children’s Choir, to musicals, missions’ trips, camps, Bible drills (which I was never very good at).  The majority of my fun memories from my childhood revolve around my involvement in Church.  As I grew older, I remained involved in Youth Choir and dinner theaters, along with multiple other youth related events.  Most of my friendships were with students in the youth group.  My first girlfriend was from my youth group.  I truly looked forward to my time at Church.

        The Church that I grew up in was quite different from many Churches I’ve attended as an adult.  My Church life growing up included services Sunday mornings and evenings, as well as activities on Wednesday evenings.   Sunday morning worship service was a serious deal.   We knew that we were to look our best and be on our best behavior for this service.  We would always sing hymns out of the hymnal accompanied only by a piano and an organ, and usually backed by a choir.  Sunday evenings were a little more casual, but we were still to look presentable and be respectful.  We were expected to act and dress a certain way any time we were in the Church.  No hats, no shorts, no horseplay… After all, the Church is the house of God.  This didn’t mean that we didn’t have fun, but we knew that there was a time and place for it.

        My entire time growing up in the Church, I don’t ever remember being told that God, or Jesus, was my “friend”.  I suppose, if you really get down to the definition if “friend”, there’s nothing wrong with calling Him that.  I personally feel that God deserves more respect from me than calling him my “”friend”.  After all, this is the God that created everything, the God that can give or take anything as He pleases.  Why is it that we will hold our elders, mentors, parents, religious leaders, even the Pope with such high regard, and then teach our children that Jesus is our “friend”?  He is the KING of KINGS!  Now I know that in this country, the concept of a King or Queen may not be understood, but think about it.  A king or queen is the highest authority in the land, respected, perhaps even feared.  Why aren’t we teaching that God is to be respected and feared by all?  Sure, He can be compassionate, giving, loving, and all that sweet stuff that we want to hear.  But we simply don’t show Him that we understand that he can take this all away in the blink of an eye.          

        I wish I could say that I have been successful in teaching this lesson of respect to my son and to others that I am honored to teach.  I wish I could say that I have been as consistent with my Christian example as my parents were for me.  I wish that I would be as consistent as they were at getting the family to Church every Sunday and Wednesday.  So what has changed?   If I can see the difference, and want a change, then why is it so difficult to make the change?  I think that with every generation that goes by, we lose a little more of that sense of respect that God deserves.  Every generation seems to feel the need to find a different way to teach the next about Christ.  The biggest thing I struggle with right now is finding a way to teach students how to respect and fear God without pushing them away from the Church.  Young people, as well as some young adults, don’t like to be told what to do.  They don’t want to sit through a boring lesson.  They don’t like to feel reprimanded or preached at.  I didn’t like it when I was young either, but I think a big difference was that I wasn’t given the choice.  I knew what was expected of me and that’s just how it was.  I knew that I would be expected to be at Church when my family was.  Sure, I could choose whether or not to listen, but the lessons would sink in eventually anyway. 

        I'm not saying that the way we’re attempting to reach people is wrong.  There’s nothing wrong with having fun.  I kind of enjoy the upbeat music, flashy lights, games, and some of the videos and such.  What I am saying is that we need to be teaching our children and youth that there’s a time and place for all of it.  God deserves our utmost best, he deserves our respect.  Not only on Sunday, or on Wednesday, but when we’re posting on facebook or twitter.  On Friday night, when we’re hanging out with friends, or when someone makes us angry.  To be clear, I’m not saying that our young people are being disrespectful.  Many of them show their respect the best way they know how.  I do think that we are doing a poor job at teaching them how we are to respect God.  Maybe we don’t know how to teach them.  There has to be a way to teach that respect without sugarcoating the truth.