Don’t Take Your Kids to Church

“All right! Let me hear ya! Ah-One! Ah-Two! Ah-Three!”  That’s how Harry Caray, who announced baseball games from 1945 to 1997, led fans in his seventh inning stretch rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” We love going to the ballgame and we love taking our kids to the ballgame.

And somewhere along the way, a lot of us who grew up in the South decided it was a good idea to take our kids to church too. But can I make a suggestion—it’s really more of a plea? Take your kids to the ballgame. Take them to school. Take them to the mall. But don’t take your kids to church. That’s right. No need to adjust your bifocals. I’m a pastor, and I beg you to stop taking your kids to church. Why would I say that?

The Exodus
We have a generation of young adults, known as millennials, who were “raised in church” but now are completely unplugged. We could blame cultural trends that woo them away. Or maybe the church has dropped the ball. Culture trends and church failures are real, but neither explains the exodus of this generation.

The Original Church Boom
The first century church, for example, was surrounded by a culture of government oppression, sexual perversion, and religious pluralism, yet it boomed. And as far as church organization and style go, it was very clumsy at best. Yet people from all walks of life were radically changed by Jesus, and communities of faith called local churches multiplied in every city faster than Subway sandwich shops.

So why are our kids leaving the church? Because very often, rather than living out an authentic faith in the Lord Jesus, we take our kids to church. We drop them off at their class and we pick them up, and we depend on someone else to show and tell them the Gospel.

Authentic Faith
Please don’t miss the point. The local church is Plan A for advancing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But church is not a place. It is not an organization. It is a community of people who have turned from sin and placed their faith in Jesus to follow Him as Lord. That kind of authentic, revolutionary faith is a faith any generation can embrace.

The apostle Paul wrote to his disciple Timothy, “For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well” (2 Timothy 1:5).

Timothy became a passionate Jesus follower because a grandmother and mother lived and shared the Gospel with him. And our kids are more likely follow Jesus when they see and hear real change in our hearts as well.

The Invitation
So instead of taking your kids to church, invite them to follow you as you follow Jesus. And then watch them join you and the church’s mission to multiply hope to a broken world.

As always, I welcome your insights. Just click the “Comment” button below join the conversation.