A Question

[Grandpa Jim]

In the Middle. A Question.

A teenager moves to Maple Avenue. The house is directly in the center of the corners of West Street and East Street. At the intersection of Maple and West there is a thriving church with an active youth group.
On the other end of Maple at East Street, there is a youth gang who are into drugs.

Members of both the youth group and the gang ask the teen to join them. The teen is reluctant and says "no" to both.
Once the teen is settled in, both groups offer the invitation again. . And again the teen replies," no"

Two questions: 1. Which group will give up on the teen first, the youth group or the gang?
2. Why?

I would appreciate you sharing your thoughts.
Also, you are invited to join our newsletter, Thoughts by the C..Give us a trial run to see if "Thoughts. " is for you.

[Wabco]

for what my answer is worth.....thought I'd start the ball rolling.

I would go with the hunch that the gang ( the teenagers who are into drugs in this story) will give up on him/her first.
Because, if you are into drugs and someone says "no" you might think they are "straight" ie they don't do drugs themselves. That is what they call it here anyway (don't ask how I know, I had some friends that did drugs).
But with the church, changing your mind is more likely. You might decline an offer to go to the youth group (church) as a knee yerk reaction, then after going away and thinking about it, you might (with the help of prayers and the Holy Spirit) change your mind.

[Chuckt]

Neither.

[farouk]

In the Middle. A Question.

A teenager moves to Maple Avenue. The house is directly in the center of the corners of West Street and East Street. At the intersection of Maple and West there is a thriving church with an active youth group.
On the other end of Maple at East Street, there is a youth gang who are into drugs.

Members of both the youth group and the gang ask the teen to join them. The teen is reluctant and says "no" to both.
Once the teen is settled in, both groups offer the invitation again. . And again the teen replies," no"

Two questions: 1. Which group will give up on the teen first, the youth group or the gang?
2. Why?

I would appreciate you sharing your thoughts.
Also, you are invited to join our newsletter, Thoughts by the C..Give us a trial run to see if "Thoughts. " is for you.

Grandpa Jim:

Good question!

But I guess it depends on the teens in question, and especially on who is in a position of leadership in the church.

Keeping the door open for young people is important.

[DeaconDan]

It is not an issue of asking anyone to join. If you want to bring others into your church, first establish a friendship.

Instead of slandering a youth drug gang, consider that the battle for the teenager is not fought between the church and drugs, but between the church and mainstream media + public schools, both of which teach hatred of God.

[farouk]

Joining things is an outward activity. The inward and spiritual comes first, as I'm sure you'll agree.

Often has to do with the regular company that someone keeps, though.