MySpace Evangelizes Teens
MySpace exemplifies Christ more than the church.
I know I might be going out on a limb with this statement, but Web sites like MySpace exemplify Christ to teens more than most churches.
Myspace is open for teens to interact with one another 24/7.
Teens interact with Christ-like people at church on Sunday and maybe during midweek service. But how many people can honestly say they call a teen sometime during the week and that they have made themselves available to a teen 24/7?
MySpace encourages relationship building through its many search engines. It helps teens find old and new friends. On each MySpace page there is a running count of how many friends a person has and I have heard teens bragging about their 200 or 300 friends.
| “Teens will start building a relationship with Christ when the church starts building a relationship with teens.” |
In church we lecture teens for an hour about having a relationship with Jesus but rarely do we provide constructive outlets for them to find friends within the church and learn how to correctly build those relationships.
MySpace has created a community for teens where they can be honest and open about their lives.
MySpace has given teens communication tools such as blogs, in which teens share the most intimate details of their lives, and in which they learn that communication is the best way to build relationships. As an added bonus, teens feel comfortable communicating on MySpace.
At church we usually don’t make our teens feel as if they are part of a community. We normally make them feel as if they are outcasts.
The church corners the market on taboo subjects we won’t discuss topics like sex or homosexuality with our teens? Many times teens feel as if they can’t talk about the things they are dealing with.
MySpace gives teens an avenue where they can talk very candidly about sex and homosexuality and a lot more than that.
The Web site spends more time building relationships with our teens than we do.
I thought Christ came so that we could once again have a relationship with the Father. Shouldn’t we “Christians” be the main pushers of relationship? Shouldn’t we be providing teens with the tools they need to build relationships?
Nah! We’d rather leave that up to a multimillion-dollar corporation.
Teens will start building a relationship with Christ when the church starts building a relationship with teens. We must start calling them throughout the week just to talk, and we must be transparent with them.
A word to the wise-- this generation has seen a lot of hypocrisy in the church. They need to know that you are a real person still struggling with real issues. Why not stop this fake “perfect Christian” act. You know you are not perfect. Stop trying to make people believe you are. Plus a teen can sniff you out a mile away.
I know that some people feel as if teens don’t want to speak to adults or won’t listen or just have way too much attitude. But we have to look pass the hard, outer shell.
Teens want to know that someone cares. They want to be accepted and heard.
And, believe me, they have a lot to say. Just pull up their MySpace page. They are talking to someone. Why not let it be someone who can point them toward Christ.
If we all found one teen in the church, called them and really built an ongoing relationship with them, then we would see a drastic change in the younger generation.
They are on MySpace crying out for love and attention. When will the church start listening?
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