Church Was Like Youth Ministry?

I was re-reading the book Inter-Generational Youth Ministry by my late friend and mentor Mel Walker while also preparing to re-post something this Thursday that Mel wrote a few years ago for a former site of mine.

In both the book and the post, he pointed out that youth ministry can be a model for the whole church.   It got me thinking about some things that would change (or what it would look like) IF THE REST OF THE CHURCH RAN LIKE THE YOUTH MINISTRY.

Here are ten quick thoughts for your Monday. Some ran-dumb, some REAL?  You figure out which is which? 

10. The Senior Pastor would regularly show up at the biggest employers in town to have lunch with his members and their friends to build relationships.

9. Twice a year, the weekend services would shut down, and most of the church would go away for a weekend retreat.

8. One week a summer, the whole church would go away for a week of worship, discipleship, teaching (and fun) at a camp or conference.

7.  Every summer, the bigger majority of the church would spend a week or more serving the poor, doing work projects, and running vacation Bible schools in our country and worldwide.

6. Any major trips or events for discipleship or missions (see # 7,8,,9) would have to be paid for through fundraising, not out of the church budget.

5. Worship music would reflect the current culture of what people actually listen to in their day-to-day lives-out in public, in their workplaces, with their friends, and in current media.

4. Every 8-10 people would have 1-2 older, more mature adults that would meet with them regularly to discuss the sermon, disciple them, keep them accountable, and call them if they missed church (*continuing to caringly call them until they returned)

3. On a regular basis, in service, people would have to do an icebreaker where they would have to ask people their names and one question, forcing them to get to know others around them beyond a quick handshake.

2. There would be an ongoing emphasis on dedicating the rest of your life to Christ and ‘growing up’ in your faith beyond where you are currently at.

1. There would be a defined, specific scope and sequence that would cover at least the next six years of what was being taught, how people were being disciple, and what direction the ministries were going to take. (and why?)