The church of today

Have you ever heard anyone say that today's youth are the church of tomorrow? There was a time I bought into that idea, but I've come to realize it just isn't true. They are the church of today. I think of what Paul told Timothy: "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity." I don't know how old Timothy was when he wrote those words to him, but I dare say any child who is putting his faith in Jesus could accept that statement as a mission statement for his/her life. I have truly come to believe our kids don't need to wait until they are in high school to take their places alongside adults in kingdom work.

I experienced a great example of this principle this morning. Today was "Youth Sunday" and the worship team was composed of 4 adults and 6 or 7 6th-8th graders. 6th-8th graders! 2 young girls led most vocals with minimal backup from our regular worship leader and another adult male, while the rest of the kids were on guitars (electric, bass, electric acoustic...). The other 2 adults were on keyboard and drums. These kids were nothing short of awesome. If I had been blindfolded, I would not have known it wasn't one of the regular worship teams up there. I was definitely encouraged by those kids today.