Have you ever noticed how much culture calls out and demands our attention? There is always an article to read, a breaking headline, a product you can’t live without, a new habit to “change your life,” and so much more. This is true for every generation in your church but especially the generations of your young adults, teens, and children. Unfortunately, the distractions of the culture are normal to them. Culture is always calling, and it very rarely, if ever, calls anyone closer to Christ.
As the noise of our culture has grown louder, the culture of many churches has been drowned out and even silenced. Churches do not have the luxury of waiting on the culture to be muted for our message to be heard. We must create a culture within our churches where the call of Christ to a life of surrender becomes defining and clear.
When we talk about the culture or environment of the church, it can sometimes be difficult to define. One of the best ways that I have grown to understand this concept has been through the analogy of setting the sails. We are not responsible for the “when” or “where” the winds of Heaven blow, but we can have the sails set and prepared for God to work and call young people to a life of service.
Here are a few ways you can “set the sails” to create a culture of surrender in your church:
Emphasize the personal relationship with God first.
If God is going to call someone to a life of service, He will call those who are already seeking Him. A personal walk with God is not only the foundation for a successful Christian life, but also of a successful ministry life. How many pastors and ministry leaders have failed because the depth of their personal walk with God could not support the breadth of their public ministry to others?
By providing books, accountability, devotional resources, and any other investment into the personal walk with God of young people, you are preparing their hearts for God to call them to a deeper life of service. I firmly believe that a personal walk with God is not the result of a call to ministry, but rather a call to ministry is the result of a personal walk with God.
Provide opportunities to hear the call of Christ.
Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Stillness has become a lost art in society and within many churches. Many churches are geared to thrive on busyness rather than stillness. Not too many kids return home from a theme park with the call of God on their lives. However, God often uses the stillness and silence of camps, retreats, youth conferences, and times of prayer to quiet the call of culture and turn up the volume of the calling of God.
This is not a challenge to cancel fun, but simply to become intentional with prioritizing the moments and events that impact young people for eternity. Busyness may keep them entertained, but stillness gives them opportunities to know who God is.
Stop competing with the culture.
Our church is located about thirty miles from downtown Nashville. The city of Nashville has quickly become the “Vegas of the South.” When I first came on staff, I had a young adult who had visited our church several times tell me the reason he loved our church was because “we gave him something that he couldn’t find in Nashville.”
You will never be able to outperform the culture, but you can display a better culture. What young people are finding in the culture leads to emptiness and brokenness, but following Jesus leads to unimaginable blessings. Exhibit a better way of living. Show something so different than what the world is providing that young people are at least curious. You will never be able to outshine a shiny culture, but Jesus can.
Exemplify the joy of serving Jesus with your life.
If there is anything that will squelch the call of Christ in a young person’s life, it will be the example of the ministry leaders who bemoan the burdens of their calling. Young people need to see that in the midst of the burdens of life and ministry, there is joy in serving Jesus.
The statement God used to begin working in my heart about full-time ministry was “Haven’t you seen enough, heard enough, and been around the ministry long enough that you can’t help but get more involved?” I’m grateful that the ministry I had seen exemplified was one of great joy and not duty. Young people will not respond to a “have to” call to ministry but a “get to” call to ministry.
One of the core values of our church and staff is, “There is joy in serving Jesus.” If a young person does not surrender to a call to ministry, may it not be the result of seeing a lack of joy in those who are serving them.
I’m thankful God allowed me to grow up in a church and home where the sails were set for God to call me into ministry. As a result, I now have the opportunity to serve and “set the sails” of the same church where God called me to serve Him. I have had the chance to serve alongside my dad. I have friends and even family members who I have known all my life who I now get to call “ministry friends” as we serve the Lord together. All of these blessings have taught me that when we are faithful to set the sails, God is faithful to bring the wind of blessings.
If the laborers were few in Jesus’ time in Matthew 9, how much more have they been thinned out in today’s world? Has God stopped calling? We know that He has not. But we must be proactive in praying for laborers and encouraging those we influence to “Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest” (John 4:35).
