Burger King and the Church Youth Group
It really is remarkable that the fast food chain Burger King has kept its slogan for so long that I could have written this same article 10 or even 20 years ago and it would have made sense. Whether you like Burger King or not (I used to be a fan, but not so much anymore), that is quite an achievement of marketing and consistency.
What is the slogan? “Have it your way.”
In recent years, they have added the little tagline, “You rule” to the end, but the slogan has remained all this time.
And a lot of people love BK for that. They love the idea that, whatever they want on their burger, the restaurant will comply. After all, you get to have it your way.
Enter the comparisons that preachers and youth ministers have been making for at least a couple of decades.
But, today, I want to make specific application to the youth group. That slogan has been part of our thinking for so long as a culture that we now have parents who tell the same slogan to their kids about the youth program. They should get to have it their way.
In my over-20 years of ministry, what I have seen is an expansion of the concept. After all, churches feel like they have to offer more and more “menu items” for the young people, so that just gives them the chance to pick and choose what they want and have it their way. And parents go right along with it.
For example:
If you don’t like one particular Bible class teacher, we won’t “make” our kids go to that Bible class. Instead, they can sit and veg out on their phone in the auditorium class. After all, that makes them more comfortable.
If you know the elders have said no shorts on a youth trip, that doesn’t apply to you, because your comfort and your style are what matters.
If my kid likes “this” event but not “that” one, we won’t ever force him to go to the one he doesn’t like, no matter how hard the youth minister has worked on it, or even if someone else has given all sorts of time to make it happen.
And on and on and on it goes.
And now, after a generation or two of that mindset, churches are reaping the whirlwind. Those kids from the youth group are now deacons, Bible class teachers, and even elders. And what we have are congregations that feel like they have to have an even larger and ever-expanding menu of items, not just to make the kids happy, but to make everyone happy.
Why? Because everyone should get to have it their way.
Yes, churches need to have events. And, it is true, no one can go to everything. That’s all understood.
But we need to go back to our Bibles and see that the goal of the church is not to have people have it their way. The goal of the church is to glorify God and seek to bring others to Him, working together to accomplish that goal. It could be argued, the more we are trying to provide a broad menu for our own members, the less we can accomplish that goal.
Maybe, instead, we should try to have church HIS way. It’s an idea that just might work.
AUTHOR: Adam Faughn
