Don’t Let Your Family Drift This Spring
Spring has a funny way of testing our priorities.
The weather improves. Sports ramp up. School events multiply. Vacations get scheduled. Before long, church can slowly slide from “non-negotiable” to “if we can make it.” No one intends for it to happen. It just does. It’s a drift that we don’t see as an issue because there are no immediate consequences (or so it seems).
Here’s what I’ve learned over the last couple of decades in student ministry. At first, that 1% drift doesn’t yield any immediate consequences. But over time, the distance grows from inches to miles. And here’s what I want to say as your Student Minister: this season matters more than you think it does. Your teenager is being discipled every single day. By friends, coaches, culture, algorithms, teachers, and the rest of the world. The question isn’t whether they’re being formed. The question is, "Who is forming them most?"
When church becomes optional, the message is subtle but powerful: church is important…as long as something else isn’t going on.
That may sound strong, but I say it because I love your family and I know how formative these years are. I promise I’m not trying to heap on the guilt or be legalistic. I just want to give us a gentle nudge back toward the commitments we once made.
Hebrews 10:24-25 reminds us to, "consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."
Here are a few practical ways that Scripture can play out with your kids:
Put church on the calendar before everything else. Prioritizing church means Sundays are vital. Our calendars prove that we mean it.
Talk about church like it matters. If the church has positively impacted you, share it with your kids. Show them it matters to you, too.
Protect consistency in student ministry. Relationships are key to students' growth.
Debrief after church. Ask one simple question on the drive home: “What stood out to you today?” It communicates that what happened in that room matters in real life.
There will always be another reason to skip. But there will never be another version of your child at this exact age, in this exact season, with this exact openness to spiritual formation. Let’s grab hold of that steering wheel again. Our kids are worth it!
Keep going!
mc