The Ultimate Enticement

Yesterday in the middle of a conversation I was asked, “So, how do we entice kids to want to go to church.”  The man who asked  is a Priest.  He has offered his life to bring people closer to God.  I can understand and appreciate the depth of his question.  But I will be honest, I am just plain tired of that question and this is why,After taking part in the conversations (which are now going on years) of hammering this out and walking away with very little that is of us I can’t help but think we miss the main point. We jump through hoops, we twist ourselves in knots trying to offer something that will spark the desire to get closer to God.  What about this program or that program? This approach or that approach?  I am guilty of it too! All of it is done with a true purity of heart, a deep desire to be used as the instrument of God’s will.  We are disciples after all. But even the original disciples quite often missed the point.  There are passages where I swear I can see Jesus want to bang their heads together! Sometimes I feel like he would to us if he were here.  My image of Jesus is a very real person, can you tell?Here is what I have noticed.  Kids demand authenticity and they will call you out when they see that you are being hypocritical. The reality is that the kids of this generation, in a way that never happened before, are informed well beyond their years of experience to process it. The reality is that as an institution we talk out of both sides of our mouths.  We talk about living our baptismal call to the fullest but we keep 75% of our baptized from doing just that.  We talk about the freedom that only Christ can give but we bind that up in rules of receiving it. We don’t always own our history, which is a huge error in judgement. The person gaining the most ground in reaching people is Pope Francis and yet look how nervous he makes so many in our church.  But why is he making ground?  Because he is preaching and living the Gospel. Last night President Obama took executive action to move on Immigration Reform.  My Facebook feed went nuts.  Half of the people thrilled and applauding and the other half aghast and quite frankly rude.  This is something that our Social Teaching supports and has pushed for and yet there are so many people who simply do not want to share.  They have been given everything….literally everything and yet they do not want to share. But they are “devout” Catholics. Or self congratulating Christians.    Guess what, I would run as far as I could from such hard-hearted  people too. I almost have on occasion.If we do not back what we claim to believe with a life that shows we mean it then the Gospel message is simply not alive.  If we say one thing but act in another way it negates the value of what we said.  It is not rocket science. So, how do we entice young people to come to church.  Well, stop creating road blocks, stop fretting about the finances or even the building.  If you say you believe in the power of a creative and loving God then trust God.  Trust that maybe the constructs that we have are not the only way to access God’s love.  Trust that it is good that what works for us may not work for everyone.  Trust that our one church is not the entire story of Gods magnificence and creation. “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”That is how we will entice the generation that is coming. If we live in the Spirit of Christ…if we live in the Spirit of God who is the ultimate enticement.