Church vs. Christ

"I've been so worried about him. He's gotten into the wrong crowd, and he doesn't seem to care about God or salvation at all."

"If I could just get him to church..."

Heard this before? Said this before? Most likely, your answer to one or both of these questions will be yes. Or maybe you've been in or heard of a similar situation. What I'm talking about here is the preoccupation many Christians have with getting unsaved youth to go to church.

So, what's wrong with bringing young people to church? In and of itself, nothing at all. The important thing is how high you have it on your list of evangelistic priorities. If it's a good way down, you're all right. If it's near the top, take a closer look at what's under it. If it's at the top, there's definitely a problem with your approach.

Mind you, I'm not saying anything against churches themselves. But if the first thing you tell an unsaved young person is "you have to go to church", you may lose a lot of ground. Maybe they have a bad relationship with their Christian parents and stubbornly refuse to go to church as a result of it. If so, they'll immediately identify you as being "on their parents' side" and not listen to another word you say. Maybe they've had bad experiences in churches. Maybe they just don't want to go!

In any case, the Bible does not say that the first thing we need to do with unbelievers is make them go to church. Jesus said in Matthew, "For wherever two or three are gathered (drawn together as My followers) in (into) My name, there I AM in the midst of them." I'm a Christian teen, and I don't "go to" a church building on Sunday - I have church services at home with my mother. We listen to sermons, sing praise songs, pray - in other words, we celebrate the Lord's day by worshipping Him and fellowshipping together as Christians, as the Bible commands.

I don't believe that going to a specific building every Sunday is necessary in order to be a Christian. If you disagree, I understand and do not intend to try to change your mind. But please keep in mind that the first thing you need to do when you approach an unbelieving young person - or adult, for that matter - with the gospel is to show them Jesus Christ in your words, your actions, and your love. If you want to invite them to your church, do so, but don't present it as a prerequisite to becoming a Christian.