When Tomorrow Never Comes

If you’ve grown up in the church, then as a youth you probably got an earful of the “you’re the church of tomorrow” speech from the older folk. I have to admit, even though I knew it was a bit cliché, as a youth I found a sense of value and empowerment in the idea that one day the torch of faith would be passed on to me. Like the runner who enthusiastically passes the Olympic torch on to the next person in order to reach its final destination, I thought those who ran before me would gladly trust in my ability to carry the torch of faith firmly gripped in my hand. But instead when the time came for me to turn on the afterburners and go, I couldn’t run with ease. Why? Because the previous runner was still holding on to the torch! Yeah…can someone say crash and burn?

Now that I’m a young adult, 30 years old to be exact, I still get the earful of the “you’re the church of tomorrow” speech from the older generation! At this point though, I’m no longer overwhelmed with a sense of value and empowerment, instead it makes me think I’m trapped in the movie Groundhog Day, where the same day plays over and over again. I feel helpless. Plus it makes me question the nature of the relationship between those my age and the faith-giants we’ve looked up to for support and guidance since our youth.

I still remember one night at a church board meeting. The pastor suggested the idea that the church develop a second service program led out by young adults for young adults. While some saw it as an opportunity to encourage the involvement and spur the growth of the young adult population, some of the older members rejected the idea on the basis that they didn’t believe the young adults were able to handle the responsibility. Mind you most, if not all, of the young adults in my church have successful professional careers, are involved in at least one ministry, and have been in church most, if not all, of their lives! Some board members even suggested that we start a service in the gym. By the way, the gym was not aesthetically pleasing in any way and on top of that it was removed from the main church building. My heart sank to the floor. Was this any way to treat the “church of tomorrow” or "today" or whatever...

Now I’d like to think that this is not a common outlook or experience between those my age and the older more traditional generation. But the other day I read that recent Barna Group research found that a majority of American youth raised in the church have left it by age 29 (about the age i found out I was still the "church of tomorrow"). The article attributes this statistic to the failure of churches to pass on (or let go of) the Christian identity for the next generation to carry. But I also think that young people become discouraged in church and in life because “tomorrow” never comes. Their time to shine is overlooked and they get tired of the same old “you’re the church of tomorrow” charade.

I hate to give the older generation a hard time and I know not everyone in the traditional generation has the same mentality. But I know others have had this same experience. To be fair, I can’t totally blame the older generation though. The younger generation does have enough defects to make the hairs on your neck stand up. It may be that the older generation has a hard time passing on that identity because they feel it’s not taken seriously.

The thing is, though, to remember that faith and truth does not belong to one generation. No single generation can lay claim to the absolute truth and think another generation less worthy to understand or use it. God gives each generation the light and wisdom that it needs. Remember that faith and truth belong to all and it comes from God. When the promise of “tomorrow” never comes or we try to hang on to the torch of faith we jeopardize that basic principle that makes the gospel relevant to people’s lives. It loses its beautiful divine attributes and becomes just another political ploy. In the end we have to learn to let go and let faith grow in the hearts of others through the working of God’s spirit, not our own. CCM’s don’t let another generation experience a “tomorrow” that never comes. We can’t afford it.