![\"church\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/561\/2015\/10\/church.jpg\")
<\/a>\r\n<\/pre>\nThe year is 1980. High school dropout rates are epidemic. I\u2019ve got a solution I think will work. Let\u2019s make school fun so that maybe we can reach these kids that are leaving and never coming back.<\/p>\n
These kids are just bored. It\u2019s our fault, really.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s stop requiring that they learn anything they don\u2019t want to learn.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s put one of those weird Taco Bell\/KFC combos in the cafeteria. Yes, they might get fat, but at least they\u2019ll be happy. Happiness is better than health, that\u2019s what I always say.<\/p>\n
No more PE. They might decide all the running and climbing and lifting takes too much effort and decide to stay home.<\/p>\n
No more fine arts. Who needs fine arts? They have their own art, anyway. It\u2019s on their cassette tapes\u00a0and it\u2019s hanging on the walls of their rooms. Michael Jackson is really the Mozart\u00a0of their day, anyway. We just don\u2019t understand it\u00a0because we\u2019re old. They know better! Get with the times.<\/p>\n
Math sucks.<\/p>\n
Biology\u00a0lab sucks.<\/p>\n
Discipline sucks.<\/p>\n
Dress codes suck.<\/p>\n
Being silent sucks.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s let them read\u00a0Sports Illustrated and Cosmo, instead of\u00a0Things Fall Apart\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0The Odyssey<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0The Catcher in the Rye<\/em>. Tough concepts might scare them off. They need to read things they\u00a0can understand at face value.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s stop teaching them how to think critically.\u00a0Let\u2019s lop off the upper levels of the good old Bloom\u2019s Taxonomy. Nobody needs to be able to evaluate. It\u2019s all just preference, anyway. No more abstractions.\u00a0Only feelings.<\/p>\n You know, emotions at their age are hard enough to deal with. They don\u2019t need to worry about\u00a0interpreting and understanding them.<\/p>\n Oh, and let\u2019s set every lesson to the tune of a current Top 40 song.<\/p>\n Maybe this will attract them.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s stop pushing them to be the best they can. They\u2019re just fine as they are. What matters is that they\u2019re in the building. Their butts are in the seats\u2026<\/p>\n Let\u2019s do these things, and check back in, say, 35 years to see how this generation is contributing to society.<\/p>\n Well, church, how\u2019s it working for you?<\/p>\n Because that\u2019s what many of you have done, and are still trying to do.<\/strong><\/p>\n Check out this comment from a recent post.<\/p>\n I really don\u2019t know what the point of your article is, but I do want you to know this, if we don\u2019t attract the kids to church when they are young they will NOT come when they are older. Until the churched (religious) people understand that it is NOT about the music (no matter which style you like), it\u2019s about worshiping the one who made us, and saved us. Whatever it takes to get the youth to that point is exactly what we should be doing. If you look out in your crowd and everyone has blue hair, you are doing something wrong. If that means bringing in a new method of music, what would Jesus do? He met people where they were at, we better do that too or the \u201cchurch\u201d will die! Literally! \u2013 Tim<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Another Patheos Evangelical blogger wrote this week that the key to getting millennial butts in the seats was to change our \u201cSunday morning worship experience\u201d into something that they\u2019d actually want to come to.<\/p>\n So, in other words, we just need to make worship in their own image, and they won\u2019t ever want to leave!<\/p>\n That reminds me of a good ol\u2019 classic from that great American hymn-writer, Dewayne Blackwell\u2026<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vEv7SDnSwa0<\/p>\n My guess is that plan didn\u2019t save the guy\u2019s marriage. Just a guess.<\/p>\n Participating in worship is hard sometimes. It takes discipline. It takes work. It takes effort.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s necessary for us to be the church we\u2019re called to be.<\/p>\n Enough with the preferences. Enough with the self-help. Enough with the \u201cworshiptainment.\u201d<\/p>\n Preferential, entertaining worship leads to reactions like this:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t like that kind of worship.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t understand what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat liturgy stuff is boring.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThose songs really speak to me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSilence makes me uncomfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n (These remind me of a few favorite movie quotes.)<\/p>\n