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In a recent discussion on books for teens, one of the group members stated they didn’t want a book to be too ‘churchy’. I’m sure we’ve all used that word before, particularly in youth ministry settings where we want to demonstrate relevance to ‘today’s teen’. But I think the word is problematic, even though its use may be appropriate in some cases.
When we say, “Churchy” we mean something else and we’re using the church, any church, as the analogy. So, when we hear it, we think irrelevant, not meaningful, out-of-touch, boring, and a host of other related words. Yet we in youth ministry are deeply committed to the church and are concerned with the church ‘dropout problem’ for youth (see Think Orange, Sticky Faith, etc.).* And that’s the problem. The very thing we’ve committed ourselves to, the means by which Jesus declared to Peter and the other disciples (Matthew 16:18-20) he’d establish is kingdom, is an analogous word for something else.
So what do we do?
First, I commit myself to a local church and involve myself to make it as vibrant, meaningful, and God-honoring as possible. The world is already full of critics from the corner. Leaders lead from the middle. Helpers help alongside others. Teachers teach people. Shepherds know their sheep’s faces.
Second, I work to develop a solid biblical theology of what the church is. Not what my cultural context says what the Bible says, but I spend some time learning what God has said about the topic before I run to the whimsical musings of the day. This is a difficult step, for sure, because voices from both sides of the aisle, from all corners of the ‘kingdom’ have their interpretations. Yet, there are some clear core components that evidence what ‘church’ is in Scripture.
Third, I teach in a way that shows value for Christ’s church. In the same way that youth ministry leaders sometimes devalue theology by skirting the ‘big topics’ (and thus their teens know little theology when they graduate and contribute again to the ‘dropout problem’ because they have no footing), I think we have to be careful of using the word ‘churchy’ as our analogy.
I’m not worked up over this, and it’s just an observation. But, it’s one of those little things that may suggest a larger issue at play here. And perhaps that issue is that those of us in youth work don’t have a well-developed ecclesiology and don’t value church that much either.
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