From the Back Row.

This past Sunday I had an interesting experience as Lisa and I attended our normal service at church. Abbie (our daughter) is old enough to go to the nursery now so we headed down for our second experience with a great children's ministry. When we arrived at the room Lisa went in and decided to say with Abbie seeing how this is only her second time there and we really want her impression of the place to be a positive one. I hung out for awhile then headed up stairs as the service began.

After being stopped several times I got to the ministry center late and decided to instead of trying to scope out a seat hang out in the back. One of our leaders was working at the welcome desk so i talked with him briefly and then something interesting struck me. I was surrounded by teenagers. The worship service was in full swing. In the lobby there was a group of middle school girls at a table watching the service on the screen, A second group of guys were sitting on the stairs, another couple of teenagers wandered back and forth from the glass doors to the coffee table. What really struck me was i really didn't know most of these students. ( a few i have a great relationship with to be fair) Most of them had never darkened the door to a small group, a retreat, or even youth group. They just were there floating around the lobby as everyone else attended to their business.

Here's some questions i've been pondering about these "fringe kids"

• Parents? I don't mean this in a negative way at all I just wonder if scripture says faith starts at home then what's up? Why chill in the lobby?
  
• How do I engage these students? Obviously I'm a marked man. They see me as Youth Pastor who is going to invite them to engage but yet they blatantly don't want to engage due to several things I'm sure. - I think the answer to this is time and earning the right for them to hear what i have to say.
  
• If I'm there to worship on a Sunday morning is my the witness of my actions of engaging in worship more powerful then any word i could speak to them?
• Is worship a tool for evangelism?
  

My answer for now is simple I think once a month i'm going to sit in the back row. If anything I can slip out during the service say hi to this overly stereotyped group and simply ask how there life is going. Where are the back row people in your life? Where are the people you have overlooked? I wonder...

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