Every now and then someone will ask: what can we do to attract our young people? Are our talks catchy enough? Are we providing the right information? What can we do to keep them?
On the one hand, there are some who feel that our kids are spoiled — they can sit for three hours and watch a movie without once getting up, but can’t sit still in the meeting for one hour; so it’s all a matter of discipline. They should know that ‘church’ is important and be expected to discipline themselves.
On the other, some feel that kids should be allowed to make their own decisions. If they are not interested in a religious way of life, then maybe one day, when they are older, they will develop an interest. In the meanwhile we should try and keep them entertained — going to all lengths, even if it means relaxing some of the Scriptural principles.
And not only the kids, but also we adults… do we require various forms of entertainment to keep our attention at the meeting, or to bring us to the meeting in the first place, for that matter? I was thinking of possible reasons that would be acceptable to miss a meeting. Some of the ‘good’ ones are:
‘I have to prepare a talk. After all, it’s a Bible class I have to prepare — so it is okay if I stay home today and get my talk done.’
Or,
‘A cousin is getting married, and she would be very upset if I didn’t go to the wedding.’
In some parts of the world, weddings are still performed on Sundays. And so the reasoning is:
‘Well, since they are only getting married once (So they say!), then I can skip meeting this week.’
Some ‘not so good’ reasons:
‘My non-religious relatives are visiting, and I cannot leave them to go and serve God!’
Or perhaps,
‘I just woke up late and simply cannot make it!’
The young people are watching us! They will emulate what they see. This is what I have seen growing up in the truth. When I think about all the families that I have been around, either at the meeting or in their homes, I see a startling correlation between the spiritual dedication of the female leader in the home and the attitude of the children to ecclesial life.
By no means am I attempting to excuse the male. He could be an excellent brother, studying his Bible, giving good talks. He could even be an arranging brother. However, when he does not have the support of a sister to help him to motivate the children in a spiritual direction, we see less and less of the children. In some cases, the young unmarried girls show up one day with their own children! I know we strongly disapprove of this. However, since boys do not get pregnant, they may be involved in all sorts of improper behavior yet nevertheless escape this particular disapproval.
But back to our mothers. In almost all of the families I have known, where Mom was completely behind the kids, bringing them to the meeting from birth, not distracted by the annual awards event at school, not giving in to the whines about not feeling well today, those who were once little boys and girls are now assisting in nurturing their ecclesias, and are fully supportive of all their activities.
On the other hand, Mom may have been more concerned about whether Sam would get into Harvard, or getting Raj to his extra lessons on Sundays or instead of the mid-week Bible classes, so that he can achieve high marks at his school, or allowing Sandy to miss Sunday school because it’s her grand performance at the Majestic Piano Finale… then that is exactly where the kids are today! Not at the meeting but everywhere else.
Of course, there are exceptions to the rule, and by no means am I trying to lay blame solely on the mother. I am simply pointing out my observations over the years. And I cannot help but notice a strong correlation between these two factors.
Perhaps it’s because children tend to gravitate toward Mom’s feelings more so than toward Dad’s. So, since we live in an age where females are becoming more and more influential, may I suggest that — following the advice of Paul in 1 Timothy 5:14 — our mothers take a more active role in bringing and keeping the future brothers and sisters at our meetings:
“I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One