Time to step it up

Being a Christ-follower involves more than just attending a church each week, absorbing what is shared with us and then going home to our "regular" lives. I firmly believe that we should be doing several things. We should be active in sharing our faith through any way that we can, with our friends, with our neighbors, to those that don't know Jesus. We should also be active in volunteering in our church. It drives me absolutely nuts when people attend week after week yet refuse to see how God can use them in the church they claim to be a part of.

David McCaman, high school pastor at First Baptist, shared some interesting statistics this weekend in his message (a MUST hear if you have time).

Statistics on generational believers:

World War 2 generation – 65% adults claim to be believers

Baby boomers – 35% of adults claim to be believers

Generation X – 16% of adults claim to be believers

Millennial generation (Seniors graduating, high school) 4% claim to be believers!!!

In America, 15 & 16 year olds (10 million) – 1 million more than any other 2 ages combined.

85% of students who don’t accept Christ before they leave high school, never will

2/3rds of believing adults in America came to Christ before they were 18 years old.

Why such a drastic drop in the % of people claiming to be believers???? Do you see those numbers???? If you are a believer, especially one with children, they should scare you!

What kills me hear is that the area of the church that is the hardest to find volunteers? Nursery, preschool, children, middle school & high school!!!! No wonder the numbers are dropping, no one wants to invest in the CHILDREN - it's always someone else's job.

Wrong. It's OUR job. If you are a believer and are attending a church then you NEED to invest in that church. You NEED to share your faith with the younger generations. Don't look at volunteering in the nursery, children's or high school ministry as a nuisance. You are the face of Jesus to these kids. That's exciting. That's needed. It's not a nuisance.

That said, I want to clarify that I think you need to make sure your heart is in things and that you are where God wants you to be. As a mom to three preschoolers, I have many times felt the unspoken assumption that I must volunteer in the nursery & preschool ministry because of my kids. At my former church, I did volunteer in that area and I have to tell you, I didn't do it joyfully, I did it because they needed someone to step up and not many would. If they asked me to volunteer, I never even thought about saying no.

I have to tell you, about a week ago I was asked if I would consider volunteering to work in the preschool area every other week. I said "no" and tried to explain why. I have three preschoolers and honestly, I need a break from that age group and that's okay. I said "no" because my heart would not have been in it and that would have been a disservice to those kids and to the Lord. And, thankfully, the person who asked me said that she understood.

Tonight I got to get a taste of another ministry in our church that I think I'd really like to be a part of - the high school ministry, Crave. I have to tell you, I am a bit intimidated thinking about this. I haven't been around high schoolers for any length of time, well, since I was one and that was quite a while ago. When thinking about where I should volunteer, I immediately thought of the high school ministry and then thought better of it because it just made me uncomfortable. I started thinking about what it meant to me when I accepted Christ the summer before my senior year of high school and my Wed. night youth group was an amazing thing to be a part of my first year as a Christian. So, maybe going and helping where I feel uncomfortable and inadequate is right where God wants me to be. He can be my strength where I definitely feel weak. After going tonight, I am REALLY excited to see what God does through this. I am EXCITED to share my faith with a group of high school girls and maybe, just maybe, teach them how to take their faith beyond the church walls.

If you haven't stepped up and been active in your church - DO IT NOW. Don't wait for someone else to do it. Look at those numbers again and then STEP UP.