The context of this blog is in no way meant to offend and be directed at the youth staff of TWUMC, its just something I have been needing to get out, and writing it down seemed to be the right approach.
Materialism, Hypocrisy, Idolism. Three of the many problems of the city of Houston and its suburbs.
Over the past year I have come to feel from being one of the most active people and a great leader in my youth group to just another on looker waiting to see the grand show. The past five years of my youth group experience had been devoted to becoming one family of Christian brothers and sisters who come together each sunday and sometimes during the week to worship our Lord and talk about good music, our problems, theology, literature, more music, and whatever the heck we wanted to talk about. This past year the youth group changed from being my family who I can trust in, to THE BIG ATTRACTION! WOW! A brand new place with brand new video games and brand new everythings! And yes, building the new place has suceeded in probably atleast tripling the attendance each week. And I am yet to know more than 25-30 peoples names. (most of these the original people I have grown up with). I could have tried to get to know all these new people, but it is just worthless. The Woodlands is just a bunch of fake people, with stuff, everyone here has a whole lot of stuff, stuff that doesnt matter. The people who like to come to church now dont give a freakin crap who the heck our youth minister is, what our ministry is doing, or what the crap the person on stage is attempting to talk about. What they care about is who is texting them on their cell phone, what they are going to buy next, and beating guitar hero on expert.. (which i must admit is quite a feat). My youth group has turned from being personable to, who is that person? We have reached a point to where all of our stuff is just TOO MUCH. Its idolism really. Its hypocritical to our missions. I do agree that God has blessed us with all the money we have, but that money would have gone to so much more necessary places, such as our missions. Such as tamina, to the AIDS epidimic in Africa, to orphans in Uganda, to orphans in America, to homeless people under a bridge. TO ANYTHING BETTER THAN VIDEO GAMES. A church is a place that represents where God lives. A place free of sin (materialism, idolism, hypocracy). And i know, a place free from sin is impossible, but in all ways we could have tried a little harder.
We are TWUMC, The Woodlands United Methodist Church, not The Woodlands United Methodist Corporation.
This town is already run by a corporation, the church doesnt need to become one... has it already?
And i know that pressure received on our youth groups attendace every sunday was probably one of the main reasons to build the loft, and I understand that it wasnt any of our choice, simply the board of directors who make decesions for our church. Kind of like the Woodlands corporation. People sit around and make decesions for the community, speaking for all of us. But the decesions are based on what will help them make more money, so they can build a bigger mansion, buy a faster car, and use up more of our earth's resources.
A great quote by Donald Miller in his book Through Painted Deserts states something like, "When you have no rivers, mountains, or stars, you get materialism. Thats what happened to the city of Houston and its suburbs."
I cannot wait to find a real town with real people whom i can settle down among and build real freindships. Ya know, have REAL next door neighboors who really care about how I am and how my kids are doing in school and if my house burns down or if a robber breaks in.
A place free from the american dream.
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1 comment:
Nathan,
It has been a long time since we've spoken. After reading your post I kind of wish we could have stayed in contact. Do you still feel the same about the whole thing after posting it?
You are not the only one who feels that way and those who would oppose you are caught up in the whirlwind of it all. There are adults and students like yourself who feel that specifically the TWUMC youth group has become a sort of "disney club" with all the lights and sounds. However, there are still some things which you would still need to investigate. If you still stand behind what you wrote I highly suggest investigating it further. Talk to other parents, youth, board members, and other church leaders; take notes and see what can be done to change the direction of our declining youth group. You are right, we did not need all the space, games, and stuff before we got the new building. Honestly, the youth group did not grow prior to all the money invested in stuff which only proves the only reason the youth group may have apparently grown in recent months is due largely due to the amount of extra STUFF.
Be proactive in your passion to find a solution bro...don't let it stop with words...pray about it and begin your quest for the answer. Peace and blessings be with you!
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