I recently watch Katy Perry accept an award from the LGBT community, and what she said in the the first 30 seconds broke my heart. As one who has served the church for 27 years, I would have loved if Katy was talking about The Church.
There’s no other community that has done more to shape me
The two comments she makes, in the first 30 seconds, are indictments of the Church as a whole and youth ministry specifically.
Let’s begin with the first
There is no other community that has done more to shape my life
Community is supposed to be life changing, for the better. Unfortunately, the Christian community Katy grew up in did not have a positive impact on her. I do not want to point fingers, but someone dropped the ball on what a positive Christian community is supposed to look like.
As a youth worker, I want every young person to have a positive experience with the church community. Every year, my wife puts together a Youth Of The Year Banquet for the Boys and Girls Club. Kids get up and share stories about the positive impact the club has had on them and and many of them credit the organization for turning their life around.
How many of the kids in your youth ministry could say, “this community changed my life for the better?”
Can you imagine Katy Perry saying, to a packed room of youth workers, “This community change my life”? If we can’t imagine it, we should, because maybe if we asked these questions, we’d re-think how we are doing community and what our community is producing.
Our youth ministries are life shaping communities, for good or for ill.
There is no other community I believe in more than you.
Jesus changed my life along with a community called the church. There is no other community I believe in more than the church. This is what someone says when their
community embraces differences
community loves the outcast
community helps rather than hurts
community builds trust for a lifetime.
I don’t want to romanticize youth ministry or the church. It, like many others is flawed. It’s filled with flawed people. Like school bands who haze kids, coaches who value winning above character, companies who value profit over ethics, all communities can have a negative impact, not just the Church; but all those other organizations are not representatives on God incarnate upon the earth.
No other organization did the apostle Paul say of,
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her Ephesians 5:25
The expectations are much higher for a community of people who claim to be the hands and feet of Christ. Sadly, we use these hands to punch and our feet to kick others who are not like us. It’s no shock to me that Katy Perry would have someone else to thank for impacting her life in a positive way.
It’s because I have been deeply impacted by His church, His community, that I became a youth pastor so that I may help others discover this life saving and life altering community called The Church.
I am glad that Katy Perry found a community she could unashamedly thank and testify about. I just wish it could have been the church community. It’s our loss.
Is there anything you need to make your community a life giving community?
Can you imagine kids in your group thanking The Church, or more specifically, your youth ministry for having such a positive impact on their lives?