Hey, I would appreciate some advice guys. My 17yo son has played in our churches worship band for 4 years. He spends alot of time with the other band members, all adults, and has developed good friendships with all of them. Over the last 6 months he has been spending alot more time with 2 other band members, going to lunch n dinner together. Lately the threesome has become a twosome, my son and a 26yo lady. I asked him today and he admitted they were dating but insisted they were not intimate and that God was in the center of their relationship. I'm in shock and am not sure how to respond. I'm concerned that a 26yo would want to have a relationship with a 17yo. No one at church knows, and I'm not sure if I want to talk to my pastor about it.
Maybe have a word with the lady and your son together and explain you are
concerned due to how young your son is. You don’t mind them being friends
but are concerned about it being more than that and you don’t think it’s appropriate.
To be honest I think I would be concerned about a 17 year old dating a 26
year old. If he was a “grown up” and there was a 9 year age gap it wouldn’t be
a problem but at 17 he is still becoming a man.
If it was the other way around a 17 year old girl dating a 26 year old man, it
would be seen to be wrong by everyone. They would assume the man was
taking advantage.
The other thing you could do if they won’t listen, is to have a word with the worship
team leader, assuming they are in a leadership role in the church, rather than just
leader in name only. A good worship team leader will be one who wants to keep
good relations in the group but who is also concerned about the spiritual growth
of their team and will want to nurture the young people in the team.
I was in the worship team of my church for 10 years and played the saxophone.
One young man who was almost 20 years younger than me, in his early 20s,
took a bit of a shine to me and started sending me valentines cards. I knew it
was him but I just kept things friendly and causal and ignored anything else,
for both our sakes and the good repute of the worship team.
Eventually the shine wore off and he found a young lady his own age! Lol
When you are up their on that platform leading the church in worship,
you have to be worthy of that role and not bring the church or team into
bad repute.
Incidentally we have a youth church and a youth worship team which caters
for their needs. The younger people are not allowed to join the main adult worship
team until they are at least 18 and have reached a certain level of both physical
and spiritual maturity. In the meantime the youth worship team allows them
to grow in both.
concerned due to how young your son is. You don’t mind them being friends
but are concerned about it being more than that and you don’t think it’s appropriate.
To be honest I think I would be concerned about a 17 year old dating a 26
year old. If he was a “grown up” and there was a 9 year age gap it wouldn’t be
a problem but at 17 he is still becoming a man.
If it was the other way around a 17 year old girl dating a 26 year old man, it
would be seen to be wrong by everyone. They would assume the man was
taking advantage.
The other thing you could do if they won’t listen, is to have a word with the worship
team leader, assuming they are in a leadership role in the church, rather than just
leader in name only. A good worship team leader will be one who wants to keep
good relations in the group but who is also concerned about the spiritual growth
of their team and will want to nurture the young people in the team.
I was in the worship team of my church for 10 years and played the saxophone.
One young man who was almost 20 years younger than me, in his early 20s,
took a bit of a shine to me and started sending me valentines cards. I knew it
was him but I just kept things friendly and causal and ignored anything else,
for both our sakes and the good repute of the worship team.
Eventually the shine wore off and he found a young lady his own age! Lol
When you are up their on that platform leading the church in worship,
you have to be worthy of that role and not bring the church or team into
bad repute.
Incidentally we have a youth church and a youth worship team which caters
for their needs. The younger people are not allowed to join the main adult worship
team until they are at least 18 and have reached a certain level of both physical
and spiritual maturity. In the meantime the youth worship team allows them
to grow in both.