I am fascinated by the housing crises that we are living in today here in New Zealand. For those of you who don’t know, our large cities including the largest one which I happen to call home is overpopulated and underhoused.
Point the finger at whoever you want to (and I have read hundreds of articles doing just that), but the reality is grim. We have more people than we do have houses for them.
No house available
A few years back, we noticed that our neighbours had a van parked out front with its windows permanently covered by towels and sheets. After a couple of days, my father notified our family that there were actually people living in there.
If you are reading this article, it is most likely you are doing so using the Internet and, on your smartphone or laptop. If true, then you are most likely living in a part of the world that is referred to as “the West”, or “the Majority World”. It is to you that I write this article, because it is my belief that for us, following Jesus is harder than ever.
Our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world suffer from very real persecution of their faith threats of death, war, poverty that we simply do not face in such a stark way. However, it is true that we face our own kinds of challenges that I think are far more subtle.
Jesus loved teenagers. How do I know this? Well, his first disciples were teenagers. You’d think that Jesus was intentional about the kind of friendships he made. They were the outcasts, the looked-down-on, and the disregarded in his society.
Young people today fit that category to a tee. In my experience, their voices are often the last heard when it comes to how we
do Church. By and large, we have waited for them to “make it” to adulthood before we allow them space to influence our churches. But why?
I believe that the Church needs to embrace young people. I am sure many others do too. But if I was honest, I would say that outside of the typical youth group programme and events, there isn’t much in the way of young people being included in the life of their churches.