This past week at church, a 13-ish year old girl in front of me spent the entire service texting. I can only assume this will be a growing problem, and I also assume that some churches will publicize a "texting" ban in services.

Why don't we work harder on engaging this girl instead?

Improving our communication styles. Shortening our sermons. Making the information more relevant She's not the only one who gets bored in church. The rest of us are just too scared to publicly show it.

"How old do you think she is?"

Sometimes it's easy to guess. But do you realize why? It's not always wrinkles. For one, it's because hair styles are generational. No teenage girls have the "mom" hair cut. But the single greatest clue we have is clothing.

I recently made the mistake of assuming that a 40-year old man from our church was IN the youth group he was leading. He was shocked at my mistake.

But the dude dresses hip. He dresses like the 16-year old kids he's in charge of. And 99% of 40 year old's don't. For the most part, they give up trying to look 20 around 30. Or perhaps it's simply that what you wear when you're 20 doesn't stay hip through an extra two decades of fashion?

Now, I want to follow this guy's lead. I want to fool people. Because before this, I had no idea how much clothes made the boy. But they really do.