“For You are my hope; O Lord God, You are my confidence from my youth.” (Psalms 71:5)
Life is designed to be built on relationships. In fact, a lot can be learnt from the Godhead. One of it is how Jesus acknowledging the triune-ness of the divine, said the Holy Spirit would not to speak words of His own but whatever he hears from the Father (John 16:13) after He had declared oneness with the Father (John 10:30).
It is unfortunate today, that many Pastors think more of what they can get from people than what they can give or offer. Many Pastors today have a long list of what they expect from God and their members, but with no list of what God expects from them and the things their members expect from them.
There are different types of relationships in life. Two of these include:
1. Parasitic Relationship: This is a kind of relationship where one party benefits while the other suffers.
2. Symbiotic Relationship: This is a kind of relationship where every party involved mutually benefits.
As earlier stated, it is unfortunate that many Pastors have become parasitic in their relationship with their church members, without the exception of the youths. Meanwhile, if there is anything Pastors need to understand, it is the fact that many, especially the youths, expect so much from them just as they (Pastors) expect much from the Church. The execution of this helps to maintain a balance in the church and in the world at large.
The youths expect so much from their Pastors. Foremost of these expectations, is speaking their language. They expect their Pastors to understand with them so much that they can communicate through mutually relatable means.
Moreso, it is crystal that the present 21st century has its peculiarities and uniqueness in relations to the nature of the youths.In the next post (next week), we shall examine some of the uniqueness of the 21st century to draw out how Pastors and church leaders can identify the expectations of their youths in church.
To be continued next week...