I strive to be a Biblical Christian. I am committed to the orthodox Christian faith: the deity of Christ; the substitutionary atonement; the virgin birth; the authority, inspiration, infallibility and innerancy of Scripture; the resurrection and the imminent return of Christ. I hold firmly to the Solas of the Reformation. I am committed to the Gospel and Gospel-centered life and ministry. And I am a huge proponent of age-integrated, multigenerational life and ministry.
And I find myself yearning for the balanced church. One that doesn't go to either extreme of full age-segregation or full age-integration; one that can handle the balance of both. We are bound to go to extremes and the whole arena of 'how to do church' is not immune. I am convinced that a multigenerational vision of life and ministry is Biblical. Yet I find myself at philosophical odds with people on both sides of the spectrum. I can co-exist with the tension of the balance but it seems many would rather go to their respective corners and duke it out. Some say everything must be age-segregated, others that it must all be age-integrated. The straw-man arguments of both sides leaves me baffled.
That's what has me yearning for the balanced church this time around. I read current books on age-integration (written by those who have not been doing it all that long) and you'd think the only Biblical model is complete age-integration; read something from the other perspective and it's the other way around. Compelling arguments can be made for both. But I am just as concerned with the 'how' as the 'why'. So I am pining for the balanced church - one where we are committed to Jesus, the Gospel and one-another. One where preference doesn't override participation.
A good friend of mine has said to me twice recently - where is the balance that the 'balanced church' will get to? One man's balance is another man's imbalance. One man's age-integration is far too segregated for another. I understand. God is big enough to handle the discrepancies. We need to be big enough to handle the pain that comes from wading into the conversation as well as practicing wherever we land in our homes and assemblies.
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Yes, I agree--we do need to be 'big enough', i.e. 'man enough' to handle the Age Integration within the body of believers. First we must take the step up to the plate --in passing the baton of faith towards the next generation. We must be serious, with a sense of urgency towards the effort.
ReplyDeleteIn Age Integrating, we would hope the adults would take their role and their own faith-walk most seriously, so that they are modeling and exemplifyling their own faith. How can or will the youth find a seriousness in serving God/Jesus, if Mom, Dad, Gma, Gpa are not modeling, as the Jews were reminded in Deuteronomy 4:9 "Be careful and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them."
Just as a family should sup around the table together--sharing, praying, fellowshipping---whereas the younger are being trained towards manners, love, and forming intergrity into their lives. This is done in order that the baton of the ONE true faith be passed on from one generation to the next, as prescribed and commanded, also in Deuteronomy 6:5-9 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These comandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your homes and on your gates".
Yes sir, Pastor Mike--I stand in agreement with you.