Apparently the title of this blog is also a slogan used by a 100 year old bank in Thailand. They define the phrase a little more in their advertisements saying, “Eternal Youth: always being young, never growing old.” They use this slogan when they introduce forward thinking changes to the banking system. One has to assume this is because they are aware that the majority of the population associates innovation and change with youth. Few traits span the wide gap between Eastern and Western culture. Creativity of youth is among that short list. Therefore, it seems natural to both the Western and Eastern mind for a bank to introduce its ideas for innovation and improvement through the portion of the population between childhood and adulthood. Why then does it seem to be so unnatural for those within the church to attach value to the differences in thought patterns between its established leaders and its youth?
Do you look at this photograph and think that your church, organization, or business needs an injection of that kind of innovative thinking? The bank recognized that the normal system of the customer coming to the bank or ATM was not working, at least for this demographic that lives on the river side and travels to and from the market primarily by boat. They noticed the problem and came up with a creative solution; take the bank to them via a small boat and a long stick with a basket on the end. Back to the question though, want to be innovative? Create space for young people to have a voice and real responsibility.
How would a church be different in 5 years if its elders invited two youth to consult for them in their meetings?
How would an organization benefit from having a youth on its board?
Does your youth group tap into the seemingly universal God ordained creativeness of youth?
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