Current Wave of Disinterest

Interest in this blog seems to come in waves - waves followed by long periods of extreme disinterest. And even in those waves of interest, we only ever hear from certain members. I can always count on Sarah, Melody, and Lauren, and sometimes Ryan. David comes around when he can, and if JD's at Ryan's house, he might get on long enough to post some silly little comment. But that's pretty much it. We have an average of somewhere around 25 people on Wednesday nights, and only five or six of you are active on this blog. Something's wrong with that.

So here's the thing (and I'm starting to run out of ways to put this, so either I'm closing in on the one point that'll get everybody's attention, or it's a hopeless cause): I look at this blog as a sort of gauge of interest in our youth group. People who care about the youth group will care enough to log on and contribute. It's really that simple. Sure, there are some members who don't have access to it. That's understandable. And there are some members who are too shy or who believe they don't have anything worth saying. I can respect that (although I will continue making every effort to discourage that kind of thought).

But I've started to realize that, for the most part, people just don't care. And before you try to tell me otherwise, understand that I know what I'm talking about. I'm a youth worker after all - it's my job to know what's really going on under the surface. And here it is: most members of our youth group have minimal interest in our ministry. They want to come, eat, hang out...and that's about it. They choose not to play an active role.

I know who these people are because they're the ones who make it a point to tell me they visited the blog once before...or that they thought about visiting it. I say something about the blog - they proudly say, "Hey, I've been there!" Congratulations! You've made yourself aware of a ministry that we've been taking on for nearly a year! Want a cookie?

It's sad, really. I'm not talking about the blog; I'm talking about our youth group. Think about it: a youth group is supposed to be something people want to be a part of so that they can grow closer to God in the company of fellow Christians. It should be a place in which a person feels comfortable enough to cry, to laugh, to share, etc. It should be a place where there are no secrets, where people come to open up and deal with all sorts of problems. In our youth group, it seems like we have the exact opposite thing going on...

Again, before you try to make an excuse for us and tell me that I'm blowing things out of proportion, understand that I really do know what I'm talking about! Again, it's my job! We know about the members who are messing around with drugs! We know about the members who are sexually active! We know! We don't know everything, but we do know a lot! We know because it's our job to know. We know more than we could ever share with you guys. You just have to trust me on this: there are members of our youth group that need help!

The point is, knowing all the problems in our youth group, it really saddens me that an opportunity like this blog tends to go wasted. The opportunity to grow and work together only exists when every member is taking advantage of it (make sense?)! But so many members opt to ignore God's will for our youth group...and for their lives. What is wrong with our youth group that we're not providing the kind of atmosphere that motivate these people?

Of course, I'm preaching to the choir here. Well then, in that case, I guess the only choice we have is to make this the choir's responsibility. Go out and recruit new members! Do you have your messenger up right now? See a member that isn't very active on the blog? Tell them to visit and to speak out!