After watching the opening worship live via the internet I posted on my Facebook some concerns. One of my old seminary friends asked if I was putting the best construction on everything. Yielding to his rebuke, I stopped commenting real time on Facebook (always likely a wise idea). So after sitting on this for a while, I did want to comment on the NYG. So what is my best construction? There is no doubt those who planned the gathering sought to get the attention of the youth. The production value was high (kudos technologically Phil Grimpo and crew). They tried to incorporate new media in various forms to reach the kids in the ways they receive information.
And yet, what I saw, and admittedly it was from afar (internet stream) and intermittent (as my schedule allowed), was an emergent church youth gathering with the dressings of Lutheranism. And I should not be surprised since the keynote speaker at a recent LCMS youth leader’s conference was one of the emergent church pioneers (who by no means shares our confession). And I should be clear, I have read some emergent stuff, and some of it is helpful to consider. But above all else, it is very much directed at creating memorable experiences. Liturgical rites are welcomed and even encouraged, but primarily as awesome experiences to have which are meant in a broad sense to inspire. It seems to me that what the youth left New Orleans with was a set of awesome experiences tied loosely to the genuine Christian faith.
It seemed to me that so much effort was put into production, that little thought or attention was given to what these experiences might teach or in some cases not teach. The music used and the messages I heard were very generic religious messages presented by various generic people (other than at the communion service, I am not sure who were the pastors and who were not).
The best construction? Surely the production got the youth’s attention. I know it captured mine. I just wish we would have used that moment to teach them boldly about the Gospel given them in word and sacrament each week so they might go home excited to receive such at their local churches rather than sending them home wondering why their churches can’t produce such powerful experiences each week as they had at the gathering.  If all the youth can say is that it was awesome, we have missed something. That is my best construction. Thoughts?
“I felt very close to God when…” The inherent danger of course, is, what happens when I DON’T feel close to God? The adrenaline of an “event” can quickly fade, and we can again find ourselves “wearied by the changes and chances of life.” – Service of Compline – How does one find rest in the Lord during such times? Satan and the world would give us the simple advise of “mind over matter.” Somehow I am supposed to will myself back to feeling close to God, or maybe seek a new experience. Yet it is in my weakness that I can most see the strength of God. Christ already overcame the world for me so that “I can sleep in peace and dwell in saftey” Psalm 4:8.
Experiences, good and bad, come and go in this fallen world. God’s Word and God’s grace is a constant. Fashion, friends, even family can be fickle and dissapoint us. As one Theology professor once said, “God is omnipresent, so how can He be closer now than he was yesterday?” Indeed, he forsook His own Son on the cross so that He would not have to forsake me. That foundation of faith is firmer than any experience, old or new.