Rise Up Church – for Children and Youth!

EMQ » January–March 2018 » Vol. 54 Issue 1

by Dave Meyers

 

Today’s headlines read, “Africa becomes the new battleground for ISIS and al-Qaeda as they lose ground in Mideast!” “Al-Shabab in East Africa is now stronger in Africa than al-Qaeda is in the Middle East…”¹This should cause great concern for the global church especially as evil forces continue to rape, steal, kill, and destroy children and youth across Africa. In some North African villages all the young girls are missing from their communities. Why? ISIS has a strategy that if they cannot teach their ideology they will breed it across Africa. It is a race for the souls of the youngest and most vulnerable in African society. Heartbreaking!

 

With the rise of the global children and youth demographic, the church should take notice and develop strategies to reach the “least of these” while the opportunity exists. One African leader has said, “If we do not put together effective strategies to reach and disciple the children and youth of Africa, we will miss the majority of the Great Commission!”

 

True community transformation begins in the church, and children are the key for the church’s impact into families and surrounding communities. Pastors and church planters need to be engaged with children and youth, especially among the 4-14 window² globally, and see them as catalysts into families and communities for the Great Commission! Here are seven reasons why children should be our strategic focus when it comes to Great Commission and church planting strategies.

 

1. Children are on the heart of God – Matt. 18:2-6, 10

 

“Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:3 NIV).  Jesus was not saying that only children can enter into the Kingdom, rather He was saying that children are an example to us of what must be present in order for someone to receive the Gospel in faith. God loves the humility, persistence, curiosity, trust, and transparency of children. Jesus desires these faith qualities in all His followers. Children truly are very special in the eyes of God.

 

Besides being exhorted to imitate children, Jesus also teaches His followers how we should treat children: to welcome, protect, and evangelize them. He teaches that those involved in mistreating children are to be dealt with in the strongest of terms. He becomes indignant when His disciples, thinking the children will be a distraction, hinder the children from coming to Jesus to be blessed. He is concerned for their souls, that not “any of these little ones should be lost.” Clearly, Jesus’ message to His followers is that God loves children and holds a special place in His heart for them.

 

2. High probability of responding in faith – Matt. 11:25-26

 

As the present-day church seeks to plant new churches in obedience to the Great Commission, there is a global missions movement that truly stands out and deserves our attention. It is called the 4-14 Window Movement whose aim is to “Reach, Rescue, Root and Release young people all over the world.” It says this: 83% of those who make a decision to follow Jesus do so between the ages of 4 and 14. This statistic holds true across cultures; it is likely not to change over time.

 

According to George Barna, children should be the number one priority of the church. Simple mathematical probability shows us why: a child between the ages of 5 and 13, when encountered with the Gospel, has a 34 percent chance of responding positively. For this person, in a few short years, this season opportunity is closed. Between the ages of 14 and 18, the probability of a positive response to the Gospel drops to only four percent. For adults 19 and older, the number rises slightly to six percent.³

 

As Kingdom builders and ministers of the Gospel, this should give us pause. If for no other reason, thinking purely pragmatically and looking to have maximum impact in terms of soul winning, this is a window of opportunity that deserves our focused energies and resources. Rick Warren says, “The apostle Paul’s strategy was to go through open doors and not waste time banging on closed ones. Likewise, we should not focus our efforts on those who aren’t ready to listen. There are far more people in the world who are ready to receive Christ than there are believers ready to witness to them.”⁴

 

For Jesus’ modern-day disciples, it appears the ripest mission field is among the world’s children and youth. As we innovate and strategize for world evangelism, the 4-14 Window needs to inform the way we plant new churches, as well as, how we minister in our existing churches.

 

3.  It alters the course of a whole life – Prov. 22:6

 

Children and youth have, quite literally, an “opportunity of a lifetime” that unbelieving adults will never have. What is it? They have a chance to build their lives, from the very start, upon solid, God-given truths and principles. Jesus said, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house upon the rock” (Matt 7:24 NIV). If caring Christian adults teach a child how to build his life upon the rock, when he grows up chances are he will not fall away, even when the storms of life come.

 

Most people in ministry were impacted by someone during their youth whom God used to bring a sensitivity to God’s call on their life. “This means that most of the future leaders of the church are the same ones who fill our Sunday Schools and student ministries today.”⁵ Indeed, eighty percent of our pastors and church leaders trusted Christ by age 15. Ninety percent of those serving as full time cross-cultural missionaries trusted Christ by that same age. As we seek to plant healthy churches that will have Kingdom impact, we must begin with a sharp focus on growing our children into disciples of Christ.

 

Henrietta Mears, wrote, “The winning of a child to Christ is our most important task today.  When we save a child, we not only save a soul, but we gain a life. Children have the right to demand your best leaders, your best materials, your best facilities.”⁶ Do we really believe this? As church planters, we can lead our congregations to rally around our children and invest wholeheartedly in these ones who have all their years of serving Christ ahead of them.

 

4.  Leads to healthy churches – Matt. 19:13-14

 

According to Lifeway Research, more than two-thirds of young adults who attend a Protestant church will walk away from the church within two years after graduating high school. Later in life, often once married and with children, about two-thirds do come back to life in the church at some level.⁷

 

A danger we face as a church is passing along the idea that this is a satisfactory model for the Christian life. Our children are brought up in the church, yet as young adults, are being transformed more by the culture than by the church. They are turning away during the very season God has designed to capture their hearts and begin to use them mightily for His Kingdom. Years later when they do come back, they often do so weighted down by cares of the world and having lost Christ as their first love.

 

For many church leaders, children’s ministry is viewed as the necessary cost of ministering to adults – childcare in order to keep the parents coming. Sadly, children’s programs are under-staffed, under-supported, unimaginative and invisible to the rest of the church. The fallout comes quickly once children become young adults and take steps toward independence and autonomy. Ed Stetzer sums it up aptly, “If your student ministry is a four-year holding tank with pizza, don’t expect young adults to stick around.”⁸

 

Church planters have an opportunity to change this mindset and model. In the springtime of life, while our children’s hearts are shapeable and teachable, what if we put a priority on kid’s programs? What would our churches look like in 10 or 20 years if we gave children our best? What if children were at the center of church life and discipleship, and not on the sidelines? Would the next generation churches still be full of adults returned from their 10-year hiatus from the Christian life? Maybe, instead, our churches would be full of mature and engaged Christian leaders equipped and ready to multiply healthy churches.

 

5. Doing ministry with and for our kids is urgent – Matt. 21:16

 

We must strive to build our children up in the faith or see them swept away by post-Christian worldviews they are encountering at every turn. At a young age, children are already working through complex questions: Where did I come from? What happens when I die? Why is there so much death and suffering? The connections and assumptions being formed in these years will soon interpret everything going on around him, and his worldview will be almost decided by age 13. Yes, we have only 12 years to shape our children’s worldview and make sure it is firmly in place.⁹

 

In the West, the actual amount of time our churches have with our kids is very small. With the busy, scheduled lives of kids these days, it’s only getting smaller. It’s been estimated of the 113,880 hours in a child’s life between birth and 13, the average kid consumes a minimum of 25 hours of media a week, for a total of almost 17,000 hours. In retrospect, even if a kid spends 2 hours a week at church every week, the church still gets less than 1,400 hours.¹⁰

 

In the 1940’s Henrietta Mears said, “Our children are on the auction block being sold to the highest bidder,” and it rings truer than ever today.¹¹ What are we, as the church, going to do with those precious few moments to influence the hearts of our youth? As church planters, we have a chance to establish a philosophy of children’s ministry that will be central to the church’s discipleship strategy. Even before the church is planted, it is imperative to be prayerfully planning, intentional, and relevant that will lead our youth toward knowing, loving, and serving our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

6.  Real model of servant-hood is with children – Matt. 10:42

 

When churches invest in children and value souls, no matter what the age, it models the servant heart of Jesus. Ryan Frank, the CEO of KidzMatter said it like this, “When a ministry is gospel-centered, children and youth are valued. Children are not viewed as a nuisance. They aren’t put in the back to be taken care of while the adults do the important stuff. Instead they become a priority, starting with the pastor and church leadership, and working its way all the way down.”¹²

 

The world teaches us to cater to the best and the brightest, expecting the benefits to be reciprocated.  Jesus, however, warned against preferring the high and mighty, and demonstrated serving the unlovable, people with disabilities, and those who are marginal to the needs of our society.  In the disciples’ eyes, the children were a distraction as they discussed more “important” issues. Jesus’ disapproval of this thinking was clear when he instructed them to, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them.” (Matt. 19:14)

When we minister to kids – getting to know who they really are, entering into their world, listening to them, and bringing joy to their lives – we model the same posture of our Savior, who came down to us, emptied Himself, and in humility took on the form of a servant in order to demonstrate His love in ways we could understand.

7.  Every child can reach the world and now is the time! – Mk 10:13-16

 

We live at a time of rapid change that some are calling the “Great Transition.” For the first time since the early days, the church is primarily a non-white, non-western and non-wealthy religion.¹³ The speed of change is head-spinning, and trends such as migration, urbanization, and globalization all have huge implications for the church as we consider completing the challenge of the Great Commission. Many countries, especially in less-developed parts of the world, are growing very rapidly. By 2050 the overall population of Africa is expected to double. By the start of the next century, 40 in 100 people will be African. Nigeria, currently Africa’s most populous country, will be within range of passing China in population.¹⁴

 

All this growth means kids, and lots of them! Especially in Africa, where by 2050 ages 15 and younger is expected to swell to over 1 billion.¹⁵ In light of this, we are beginning to understand the key role evangelism and discipleship of children can play in church planting in Africa and beyond. Kids are flocking to hear stories about Jesus, and telling their parents and grandparents the stories they hear. Mission organizations are engaging unreached people groups through children and youth ministry. Awana Kid’s Clubs are expanding at the rate of more than 4,000 a year, and are reaching deep into slums, barrios, and difficult-to-reach areas. In many countries where people are young and getting younger, we cannot fulfill the Great Commission without reaching the children.

 

The battle rages for the souls of men, and children are at the center of the fight. Many are vying for their attention.  Evil has already discovered the value of using children. May God stir the church to be innovative and creative in moving forward with putting a priority on reaching children. The Great Commission can be achieved with no less.

 

___

Dave Meyers is President and CEO of ZimZam Global, a ministry that especially focuses on ministry to children, youth and families. As a founding partner with ZimZam Global, Dave is impassioned with casting vision; creating opportunities for leaders; and helping children, especially those with disabilities, come to know, love and serve Jesus. Visit: http://zimzamglobal.org/

 

Notes

1. USA Today, “Africa becomes the new battleground for ISIS and al-Qaeda as they lose ground in Mideast” (www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/10/25/africa-becomes-new-battleground-isis-and-al-qaeda-they-lose-ground-mideast/796148001/)
2. See http://www.4to14window.com
3. Barna, George, Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions: Why Children Should Be Your Church’s #1 Priority (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 2003, p. 33)
4. Warren, Rick, The Purpose Driven Church: Growth Without Compromising Your Message and Mission (Michigan: Zondervan Books, 2002)
5. DeLilio, Damon, Give Me Jesus: Gospel-Centered Children’s Ministry that Changes Lives.  Ryan Frank, ed.  (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 2013, p. 39)
6. Mears, Henrietta, unpublished archive source
7. Church Dropouts, How Many Leave the Church Between Ages 18-22 and Why?  (Lifeway Research, Spring 2007)
8. Stetzer, Ed, “Dropouts and Disciples: How many students are really leaving the church?” (The Exchange. Web.  May 2014)
9. Barna, George, “Barna Survey Examines Changes in Worldview Among Christians Over the Past 13 Years.” (barna.org. Web. 6 March 2009)
10. Lucas, Donna. Give Me Jesus: Gospel-Centered Children’s Ministry that Changes Lives.  Ryan Frank, ed. (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 2013, p. 55)
11. Mears, Henrietta, unpublished archive source
12. Frank, Ryan, Give Me Jesus: Gospel-Centered Children’s Ministry that Changes Lives (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 2013, p. 27)
13. Borthwick, Paul, Western Christians in Global Mission: What’s the Role of the North American Church? (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012, p. 36)
14. Fisher, Max, “The Amazing, Surprising, Africa-driven demographic future of the earth, in 9 charts.” (washingtonpost.com. Web. 16 July 2013)
15. Unicef Report, Press Release, “Africa will be home to 2 in 5 children by 2050.” (unicef.org. Web. 12 August 2104)