A friend of mine told me that he used to teach Sunday School. He had long hair and was approached by some of the church elders. They told him that he had to cut his hair if he wanted to continue to teach. He quit going to church as a result of this.
Another young lady had several piercings in her ears. Her own grandmother, who was a very strict old time Baptist, told her that she was going to burn in hell because of her earrings.
I spoke with numerous young people who said that they would like to go to church, but felt that they would be judged by their appearance, their piercings or tattoos. This made me very sad, and I felt a burden for these people that the church had cast aside.
I believed that the church that I belonged to was more contemporary and would accept these people for who they were without judging their appearance. But how could I make them feel like they would be accepted? I came up with the idea to have a concert for these people, with Ex Nihilo performing. If these young people saw Christians who were dressed "far out" then they would feel comfortable coming to church and would feel accepted. I spoke with the pastor and he supported our efforts.
The youth group worked for weeks, practicing our songs and skits and praying for our lost friends. We handed out names of people to the other Sunday School classes so that they could pray for them. The parents got involved, helping with lighting, music and dance routines.
We invited EVERYBODY to this concert, the unchurched, the pagans, the gays. We printed out pamphlets and posted them at the local high school and all over town.
There was much excitement in the air as we prepared for the concert.
