The message virgin converts need to hear

Those converting to Christianity in adulthood resemble bigfoot - heard about but rarely seen. 

But, the more I think about later converts - especially young adults - the more I’m convinced that the church must share a very counter cultural message.

If you are still a virgin, you are not a loser. You are lucky.

The reason the church needs to declare this message is because it is the exact opposite message they would have heard.

It’s not unusual, if you’re a virgin into your late teens or into your twenties, to heard, think and feel that you have missed out.

You are a loser.

You are unwanted.

No matter if these voices are from the media, from friends or from within, the longer you remain a virgin, the louder they can be. 

But, what if the church reversed this narrative?

What if, without prying into the sex lives of their congregants, the church spreads a positive message around virginity?

Now, to be clear, no one has the value or worth based upon who, if, or how many times someone has had sex.

For, by telling those in young adulthood that retaining their virginity was a good thing, may drastically transform a mindset that has plagued a person for the best part of a decade.

You may not grade on a curve, but you should definitely praise on one

Teachers do a lot of marking.

Lots and lots.

While I’ve been on teacher prac the last few weeks I’ve been doing a lot of written online classwork feedback.

One thing I’ve not been able to do is effectively differentiate effort from results.

The reason?

I don’t know the students really well.

I don’t know the students who can coast along and get the correct answers.

I don’t know the students who will need to put in a heap of effort to achieve a decent standard.

What does this mean?

You praise on a curve.

While marking can be rather black or white, made up of  the correct and incorrect answers, effort is not.

You encourage based upon what they are capable of and what you expect.

A struggling student should receive praise if they exceed your expectations. It may not matter if the only just achieved a pass grade.

For, encouragement is an issue of equity, not equality.

All students can and should deserve praise, but the level to achieve that doesn’t need to be identical.

And I think that church should run in a similar way.

For those who are in the middle of the struggle, you praise their ongoing efforts.

For those who have started a spiritual discipline, you encourage them to continue.

While you uphold the faithful saints, just like you still encourage the capable students, those who feel that they are lower on the spiritual-totem-pole will immensely benefit from being noticed for the effort they are putting in.

The high price of COVID we may not see coming

 COVID has taken a high toll.

People have died.

Others will have long term health consequences.

Businesses have gone under.

Mental health conditions have been exasperated.

Relationships have been strained.

Really, what I post about below may seem somewhat minor compared to the above. In many ways it is.

Nonetheless, the more I think about the cost of COVID on churches, youth ministries and schools, I suspect there is a hidden obstacle just waiting to emerge.

The loss of routine.

People are now used to not attending church services.

Teens are now used to not going to youth group.

Students are now used to not applying themselves at school.

So, attending church will become increasingly optional.

Teens will be more comfortable skipping youth group.

Students will struggle to work in the same way they did two short years ago.

All because of the break in routine.

How will it be overcome?

I’m not sure.

Do we just lower expectations for a while?

Do we just proceed in exactly the same way we did pre-COVID?

Do we employ incentives to draw people back to churches and schools?

For a while, I fear, the hangover from COVID will linger until we find the right balance while routines are re-established. 

But, what do we do with the large chunk of people who never reconnect in the same way?