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I met a guy tonight (Sunday) that shared his story with me. I was not expecting to hear this story, but walked away with a feeling as though I had seen proof with my own eyes...proof that God is still about His ancient work of changing lives. In this story, I heard of a guy who had been rejected by the church (or well meaning and maybe even not-so-well-meaning Christians). To hear him tell it, it was a story that many of us have heard so many times - It spoke of judgement, of hypocrisy, of a perception that we as the church hate to admit is true. God has been speaking to me about a number of things the past few days. If you are one of our youth workers, you have heard this (maybe once too many already), but for those few that haven't, let me know if any of this makes sense.
I have a 7 year old son. He's a minister's kid (only because that's my job and he's my son). I'll be honest, we purposefully haven't pushed "being saved" on him for a reason. We want him to make an authentic decision to follow Christ when he understands what that is. I know kids can understand God and His redeeming story at a young age, but I have a hard time with the idea that kids this young can truly know that they are committing their lives to follow a leader who has is not only giving them life - here and eternally, but asking them to die to an old way of life. I know that they can make this decision and then learn as they grow older, but I just don't think they truly understand. Don't beat me up over this one, I'm talking about my own son and his understanding of who God is, etc. On to my point...I live in a world, where people have the perception that life is (or should be) perfect in a minister's household. It comes with this preconceived idea that my kids have some other-than-supernatural connection to God because they live with me and that they should "get it" at a young age. That may come from the perception that people think ministers only have holy thoughts and only say holy things, so their kids should absorb it and get it early. I'll be a little honest here...my kids have heard me say things I would rather them not have heard, they've witnessed actions that I wish they'd never seen. No, nothing that would disqualify a person from spiritual leadership, only stuff that you never want your kids to hear or see, because they are kids. All of this to say, they get a pretty good dose of reality here at the house. I generally try to be who I am at all times, not the kind of person who acts one way when he's around church people and another way when he's not. It's not hard to tell when I"m in a bad mood, I don't try to hide it all that often. My kids get to see their dad, who is a leader at church, but still has lots of God Stuff that he's dealing with and figuring out. I know too many guys who have what "looks" like a perfect family, but have bitter families because they see one guy at the church and a totally different guy in the house...i'm trying my best not to be that guy...
OK, not finally to the point I"m trying to get to...the past two weeks, I've had a discussion with my son on Sunday mornings related to taking his Bible with him to church. My son is a really good reader and I'm wanting to encourage him to read his Bible without saying "READ YOUR BIBLE". During both of these conversations, we have argued over him taking his Bible. Here are his reasonings for NOT taking his Bible:
- I only take it to get a star on the poster...
- I only take it to get a pizza party
- there are already Bibles there for me to use
- no one else has to take their Bibles
Needless to say, with grumbling and almost a sense of resentment, he tucks it under his arm and heads off to Sunday School. As I think about the conversation, it leads me to think of the conversation we had at our youth worker's retreat a couple of weeks ago. We came up with "the list" of what would make us feel successful in our student ministry. This list included some things that we wanted to see in our students...like a reverence for God, having a quiet time, attending, learning their Bible stories, and BRINGING THEIR BIBLE. I realized that there have been times that "the list" had become more important than the "the list" that Jesus gave us. As I remember, that list wasn't as detailed as my list, in fact it was pretty short and simple. It goes a little something like this:
1. love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength
2. love others
There obviously is more to it along the way of our journey, but that's where it starts...love God, love people. I know that's not a new idea, as we've all heard it often enough to recite it by heart. But is it possible - that our list has taken priority over His? Think about it. Many times I want something out of my children, that I have not taught them myself. I want results without any effort. I want a product without the research.
I want students to "bring their Bible" maybe without an intentional process of teaching students to love the God of the Bible. I want reverence without teaching what it means to respect. I want students to have a quiet time, but have not allowed them time to be quiet...you get the picture?
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Ok, I started this entry on Sunday night and will leave it as is, but this is a developing thought inside of me. Maybe we have raised an entire generation on the do's and do not's of religion and missed the opportunity to SHOW them the relationship of love that we have in Christ. More later...
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