One critical thing your church must do to guarantee its survival

Take a moment and think about your church. You have families and friends who gather together on a weekly basis to connect with each other and God. Church is good. People are good. God is good.

But sometimes when a leader starts focusing on reaching young adults, it can inadvertently send a message that the current community isn't good enough.

“What's wrong with things as they are?”

“Why is the pastor so obsessed with the next generation?”

“Don't older members matter?”

Leaders must be crystal-clear about their motives for reaching younger generation because it can alienate older congregation members. I've seen it. You've seen it. So what can we do about it?

A few months ago, our senior pastor spoke to our staff and reminded us why it's important that our church reaches younger generations:

“I love this church. But if the average age continues to be my age, in 20 years this church will be full of 70 year olds.”

It's a simple concept.

We age.

Every person on this planet gets older one day at a time. If we do nothing for one day, we still grow one day older. If we do nothing for a year, we grow one year older. This is not philosophy or the opinion column in your favorite newspaper. This is just how it is. God has designed us to age.

So your church is great. The families and friends who gather together are great too! But if these people stay the same, your church will age one year at a time. It's not personal, its biology.

This is why every church on our planet has to have a focus on younger generations. It's not that they're better. It's not because it's a cool thing to do, or trendy to reach millennials (because they will age, too).

It's because God has designed one generation to reach behind to the next.

So when you or your leader focuses on younger generations, it’s because this is what has to happen. If we continue to make it about us, someday no one will be left. So when it comes to helping your church reach the next generation, it's not because this generation isn't enough.

It’s because your church isn’t just for you.