Flip the Script
Greetings from Orlando, Florida! I am currently at the annual CPC (Children’s Pastors Conference) taking in a lot of great ideas, resources, and energy from people who also serve in children’s ministry all over the country. It has been a wonderful and eventful week so far, and although my heart is sad that it’s the last day my legs are rejoicing!
During my time here I was gven a free book called Flip the Script by Chuck Peters. Chuck is the Director of Lifeway Kids and I had the privilege of meeting with him during a one-on-one coaching session at last year’s CPC. What Chuck and his team have done through this book is take a hard look at the statistics surrounding the issue of connecting the Gospel to children and youth in our current culture. Research is showing that with each generation fewer and fewer people are attending church or identifying as Christians. Many churches are stuck using the same script they used years ago when the culture and climate was much different than it was today.
Imagine a football coach using the same game plan against every single opponent, or never making half-time adjustments. That coach wouldn’t last very long. As a coach you have to adapt your game plan to your opponent. While the fundamentals of being successful on the field never change (positive mindset, hard work, focus, etc.) the way you approach one opponent is not the same way you approach the next opponent. We are living in an age in which the opponent has changed. And as such new strategies that engage kids and students needs to adapt as well.
As I continue to be reinvigorated at this conference and ideas about how to reach the next generation are being presented, I pray that we as a church will answer the call to reach a generation that is the most un-churched population in the history of our country. It will take new ideas, it will take hard work, and may even take us getting out of out comfort zone. But we have an awesome God that continually wants to love on this generation as much as any before it. The numbers should give us pause, but they should not cause us to lose hope. There is nothing that can fully hide God’s love for His children. There was once a day two millenniums ago in which the church was the minority in its community. That did not hinder or slow down the Spirit’s work. Through those faithful churches God’s Spirit changed the entire world. And He can do it again. Let us be about God’s work advancing His Kingdom in our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Amen, and amen!