An Open Letter to Christian Teenagers
Posted on November 20, 2013 1 Comment
Dear Christian teenager,
So you’ve made the decision to follow Christ? Awesome! Even though I may not know you personally, I am legitimately excited for you. Following Jesus is the most important decision you will ever make, even more important than what school you will go to or who you will marry. Those things are huge decisions, to be sure, but nothing affects your eternity the way choosing to worship Jesus will.
Speaking of eternity, have you been thinking much about that lately? The idea of living forever, I mean? My guess is that you probably don’t think about it very much. I’m not judging you – in fact, I’m right there with you! Life always seems so busy and demanding. There’s so much noise in our world that to even stop and think much about anything is rare. School, sports, friends, tv, internet, movies, music…it all keeps our attention so occupied that we just flow from day to day without really thinking much about our lives.
And that’s exactly the way the devil wants it.
But I want you to stop and think about it for a moment. You are going to live forever. Isn’t that weird? Over a million years from now, you’ll still be around. It’s a strange thing to think about, but also very exciting – at least for those of us who know that we will spend that time in heaven with God. Paradise forever doesn’t sound so bad! Thank you Jesus for forgiving our sins!
But what about people who don’t know Jesus? What about those who don’t love him, follow him, or worship him? What about those who reject him? They will live forever too – but not in paradise. Unbelievers, those who don’t put their faith in Jesus to save them, will spend their eternity in hell, a real place where God pours out his wrath on sin.
Nobody likes to think about this. It makes us squirm, so we try to distract ourselves, which plays right into the scheme of the devil. He’s more than happy to keep you entertained. What’s worse is that maybe you and I seem to be just fine with that. It’s easier to just coast, especially knowing that our eternal place in heaven is secure. Why not just ride this life out?
I’ll remind you why: because real people are going to die and go to hell, and you are the chosen one to change that. Yes, you! Being a Christian means so much more than simply going to heaven when you die. It means that God has hand-picked you to be an agent for change in the world. He has commissioned you, as one of his followers, to share the good news of what Jesus has done with the rest of the world. I know you probably already know this. But what I want is for you to take that assignment seriously!
If you are like me, you sometimes imagine a future version of yourself that is more “Christiany” than you are right now. That future you really takes following Jesus seriously. There you are, studying God’s Word, praying every day, giving money, going on a missions trip, telling others about Jesus, pursuing a holy life. But guess what? That future you that you imagine isn’t just going to happen. You get to that place by moving in that direction for a long time. You have to work at it, and by God’s help, the fire inside you gets hotter. Your passion grows, and you increasingly want to live for Jesus.
So, let me ask you this: who are you becoming, right now? Who you are right now is who you will be in 10, 20, or even 50 years…that is, unless you start to make changes. If you realize that you are a lukewarm Christian right now, you will always be one, unless you decide to change the course of your future. Doing that means changing who you are right now. It starts with confession: admitting to God that you are not putting him first and asking for his forgiveness. Then, you move to prayer-powered action: asking God to fill you with his Spirit so that you start to change, as you make daily decisions to obey him.
My big idea is this. You are a useful tool in the hands of God, if you are willing to surrender to him. God has a plan to use you to change the lives of other people (and change your life at the same time). Your calling is more than just “not sinning” and inviting people to church. Those are good, too, but there is so much more than that. God saved you so that he could use you as an instrument to bring hope and healing to others. Remember, people need Jesus! They will perish forever apart from God without him. And God has asked you and me to be the messengers to bring that message.
I don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired of being comfortable. I’m sick and tired of letting the devil have his way with my life. I’m sick and tired of knowing that Jesus wants me to share him with others, while avoiding it at all costs. I’m sick and tired of living as if Jesus wasn’t the most amazing, significant, life-altering, hope-giving, satisfying thing in the universe.
Christian teen, it’s time to find some courage and get ready to take a stand. It’s time to stop being complacent and worrying what your friends might think. It’s time to stop thinking that you will follow Jesus more seriously “someday”. It’s time to make your life count. It’s no surprise that the Bible uses the language of war when it comes to Christianity. Christians are “soldiers” who are to “fight the good fight of faith” and “put on the whole armour of God”, and march forward God’s kingdom to the point that “the gates of hell will no prevail against it”. Are you ready for that kind of radical living?
If you are ready to heed the call, I want you to first pray about it to God. Then, I want you to tell your youth pastor or another leader about your commitment. Allow them to start making a plan for you to follow through. I guarantee you will be put outside your comfort zone. It won’t be easy. It will cost you. You will fail, and have to get up and start over again. But in the end, it’s the right thing to do, and you will feel fulfilled as you walk in the path of God’s plan for your life.
Get ready. Big things are coming.
Who Are You When No One is Looking?
Posted on November 14, 2013 Leave a Comment
In one of my favourite books on Christian leadership, Leaders Who Last, author Dave Kraft says that godly, effective leadership requires three things: calling, character and competence. Assuming that you are an individual called to leadership in some form (I have in mind right now volunteer youth leaders), the latter two areas always have room for growth.
Typically, when training leaders and volunteers, we often focus on growing in competence. We teach skills that will help them be effective ministers. We give resources, have classes, download podcasts, read books, and do all kinds of stuff to have the tools to be effective workers in God’s Kingdom. To this I say, amen!
But too often we overlook the importance of character. Character has been defined as “who you are when no one is looking”. This is a convicting way of wording it. All of us appear to be more godly than we are. We can put on a show in public, intentionally or unintentionally. We don’t really talk much about our faults or failures or doubts. We hide the parts of ourselves that we are ashamed of. We disobey God and try to appease our guilty conscience by filling up our lives with ministry related tasks. At least then we can feel better knowing that we are “doing something for the Lord”!
Let’s not fool ourselves. Capable leaders are of no real use if they do not also have character. I’m not talking about being perfect – I’m talking about pursuing a life of holiness and confessing and repenting when we do screw up.
Let me ask, what is the current state of your character? I’m not asking how it was going a few years ago; I mean right now, today, who are you when no one is looking? The strength of your character is defined by what you would do if you knew you would never get caught. If you knew that no one would ever know, would you pray less? Read your Bible less? Allow a favourite sin to hang around? Dip into the church funds? Serve only when people were looking? Live a double life?
Who you are when no one is looking is who you really are.
No one ever likes to take a good, long, hard look at themselves in the mirror. Every time we do, we are reminded of how ugly our own sin actually is. We are more wicked than we dare ever confess. But guess what? Jesus already knows who you are. He knows about the sin you are hiding. He knows about the doubts you hold. He knows your inappropriate thoughts. He’s aware of your selfish motives. And yet, he loves you and died for you anyway.
Friends, let’s not take this lightly. God can use any messed up sinner he wants to – but his desire is that we be holy.
1 Peter 1:15 For just as he who called you is holy, so you also ought to be holy in all that you do.
We will never be perfectly holy or sinless in this lifetime, but we need to seek to live the way Jesus did. That’s the true measure of a leader. Be honest with God about who you really are and bring it to him in prayer. God forgives, and he restores, and he gives power for change. Let’s not forget just how badly we really need his grace.
Finding the Middle Ground With Your Money
Posted on November 12, 2013 Leave a Comment
The Bible says a lot about money. Wether it is proverbs about wealth, stories of rich kings, parables from Jesus, or warnings against greed, the Word of God has a lot to say on this matter. Personally, I have wrestled with how to think about money for several years. I grew up hearing mostly prosperity theology (not in it’s most extreme forms, though) and later in life heard others going to the other extreme with poverty theology. I have desired to embrace life in the middle somewhere, but finding exactly how to get there has been difficult. What is the middle ground when it comes to money, and how do you define it?
This is especially hard as a Western person. Am I supposed to be in the middle ground by Western comparisons, or by global comparisons? In the West, a middle ground person might make something like $30,000 to $50,000 a year, but on a global scale, that could be considered filthy rich.
On top of that, what constitutes middle ground for a pastor? As a man who makes my living from the gospel, should I err on the side of caution, or should I expect the “double-honour” rule of 1 Timothy 5:17 to mean I should make above-average money?
I know that the real issue when it comes to money is where my heart is at, not how much of it I make. Wether I am rich or poor, I still need to live in contentment and generosity. I need to worship God and not money. I get that, but it still hasn’t helped me find satisfactory answers to the questions above.
The other day I read a passage out of Proverbs, one that I have read before but has never really leaped off the page like it did for me this last time.
Proverbs 30:8-9
[8] Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
[9] lest I be full and deny you
and say, “Who is the LORD?”
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God.
These words seem to express what I have been feeling but unable to articulate for a while. My prayer is that I would not be in dire need, and therefore put in precarious positions to provide for myself and my family. But I also pray that I would not become so wealthy that I slip away from depending on God. I highly doubt that I will ever become a wealthy person by Western standards, but if I ever did, I believe I would give as much of the excess away as I could. I would try to live on what I need and be generous with the rest.
I don’t know where you are at, but this middle ground seems to be the right place for me, both in my mind and in my heart. I don’t want to be destitute, and I don’t want to be a hoarder either. I want to have what I need and be content with it. I will try, as best as I can, to take care of my needs and be a generous person as God blesses me over and above what I need. I know that this does not guarantee that I will handle my money properly, or that I won’t become less dependant on God, or that I won’t continue to covet things, but at the very least, I feel that it is a mindset that helps guard against those things.
How Should Christians Think About Halloween?
Posted on October 31, 2013 Leave a Comment
Well, it’s that time of year again! Halloween is probably the most debated holiday among Christians, and understandably so. Believers fall from one end of the extreme to the other on how to think about Halloween – some seeing it as pure evil and locking themselves inside, and others dressing up and going door to door for treats – and everything else in between. There is the popular “harvest party” and “trunk-or-treat” alternatives. What’s all the excitement about, and how should we respond?
Halloween has origins as old as 2000 years. The day has morphed over the centuries and has even been mish-mashed with other holidays. The elements of Halloween come from various time periods and traditions. For example, dressing up in scary costumes was a way to ward off evil spirits who were believed to walk the earth one day a year. The tradition of going door to door started in England where poor children would seek food, and the saying “trick or treat” meant that if you don’t give me something to eat, I’ll prank you later as punishment. For a while, Christians adopted the day as a celebration of deceased saints. On the reverse side, it also became a favourite day for those associated with the occult.
So what’s the deal? Is Halloween Christian, or pagan, or demonic, or non-spiritual, or all of the above? The answers are not as clear as some might suggest. As I see it, here are a few things to think about:
1. Satan doesn’t have more power for one day a year. I think this is the biggest point I’d like to drive home. Satan is active and powerful all year round. What makes this day seem especially dangerous? Don’t let the painted on blood and false vampire teeth make you think that somehow Satan gets to roam free on Halloween, and that his power is somehow boosted on this night. He is still under the sovereign rule of God. And besides, Satan likes to work in disguise – he is far more effective in destroying the world through weak churches, lazy Christians, quick tempers, lousy parents, bitterness, gossip, and a whole host of other “normal” sins that are easily more demonic than some kid dressed up like a witch.
2. Elements of Halloween can be redeemed. In 1 Corinthians 8, the Bible hits a similar issue. There, Christians are wondering if they are allowed to eat meat that has come from sacrifices to idols. An interesting dilemma, isn’t it? Some farmer chops up his ram to his fake god, but then sells the meat in the marketplace. Can a Christian eat it? The answer was that Christians could eat it as long as (1) they weren’t participating in the sacrifice or eating the meat in pagan temples (2) they believe that there is actually only One True God and that he is the giver of that meat, even if others don’t acknowledge it and (3) eating the meat didn’t cause other Christians to stumble.
The big idea here in terms of Halloween is that you can participate in the parts of Halloween that are not evil. Dressing up isn’t evil (though it could be depending on what you were wearing). Eating candy isn’t evil. Having family get-togethers isn’t evil. You can do those things as long as in your heart you are not honouring Satan. Doing witchcraft, ouija boards, getting drunk, watching disgusting horror flicks and breaking the law is an entirely different story.
3. Go with your conscience. Romans 14 gives a great description about how Christians should act based on their consciences. This means that even if something is Biblically permissible, it may not be right for every Christian to do it. In the case of Halloween, it is not necessarily a sin to participate. However, it still does not sit well with some Christians, and for them they should go with their conscience. The key however is not to judge other Christians who do not share the same convictions as you. We all have liberty to live according to our own beliefs, so long as they are not explicitly sinful.
4. Halloween has much bigger issues than these. I see some significant issues with Halloween that has little to do with black cats or demonism. For example, I wonder how safe it really is to be taking candy from complete strangers…the very thing we teach our kids NOT to do! I still can’t bring myself to withhold that fun aspect of Halloween from my own kids, but deep down I also don’t feel 100% good about it either.
Another issue with Halloween is how it has morphed from a day for kids into a day for adults. I read some statistics recently that showed how more money is spent on costumes for adults than for kids. I’m torn on this one too. It’s fun to dress up, and though I hardly spend any money on a costume (maybe a prop or two), that is not the case for others. Most costumes that I saw this year were between $40 and $80, and some even more than that! For just one day a year, does that seem a bit crazy? I think it’s pretty hard to justify, especially for people who might already be struggling financially.
Yet another issue is that, at least around these parts, trick-or-treating has become something that a lot of high school kids do. I’m not in support of that at all. It’s one thing to take your little sister out door to door. It’s another to go out as a group and ask adults for free candy. Seriously, let’s grow up people!
I also am concerned at how seemingly every costume for girls is sexually suggestive. As a parent, it isn’t an issue yet (my daughter is 3) but one day it will be. Halloween should be good, clean fun, but girls who try to take that approach are stuck wading through most costumes just to find something that has decent coverage. Not to mention, the costumes for guys are often based on sexual “humour”. How badly I wish things were not this way!
In the end, Halloween is a day that doesn’t have to be seen as evil or sinful. There are ways to participate that are perfectly acceptable as a believer. But that also doesn’t mean we shouldn’t give careful thought to it either. Just because something is permissible doesn’t mean it might be the right thing to do. Take time to think through some of these things, discuss with your spouse (if you are married), and pray over it. And whatever you do, remember that you are not “off duty” as a Jesus follower just because of this holiday. Look for opportunities to bless people, share Christ with them, and shine your light wherever you may be.
Why You Shouldn’t Be Freaking Out That Young People Are Leaving the Church
Posted on October 3, 2013 Leave a Comment
I hear about it and read about it all the time: young people are leaving the church. Usually the language used is meant to create some sort of panic among Christians. It’s said that there is a “mass exodus” and a “sharp decline” among faith in young people. They leave “never to return” and because they “abandon the faith they grew up with”.
Let me just come out and say it: this is nonsense. Is it true that a high percentage of teens stop their involvement with church when they hit the college/university age? Yes. Are they gone forever? Some. Should I lose sleep at night worrying about it? No.
Here’s why: We should expect it. Firstly, a whackload of young people stop going to church when they hit that age because they never wanted to be there in the first place. Their faith was never their own from the start. Parent’s brought them to church, or they had friends in youth group, or it just seemed like the thing to do at the time, but in reality they never followed Jesus for themselves. Most researchers who recognize this put the blame on the churches. It’s assumed that their lack of faith is our fault. Maybe we weren’t accepting enough. Maybe we never gave them a place to belong in the church. Maybe they were spoon-fed Christianity. Those things might be true. But it’s also highly likely that solid, healthy churches are doing most things right and young people are still choosing to walk away.
I agree that some churches hurt the faith of young people through fundamentalism, liberalism, hypocrisy, judgmentalism, or whatever. And I am grateful for every healthy church that brings the Kingdom of God to young people in a more accurate way. But at the same time, we can’t deny the fact that the path to life is narrow, and only a few will walk it. I remember some guy saying that somewhere 😉
I’m really being honest here. There are kids that are involved with some of the youth ministries I oversee at my church and in the schools, kids who I know are not following Jesus for themselves. I work with my leaders and other students to pray and strategize and do everything we can to get them into a genuine faith with Christ. Sometimes it works, most of the time it doesn’t. I’m not sure it’s a failure on our part, but simply that the gospel is falling on ears that don’t want to hear it.
This is the reality for many young people. They are not born again, and we can’t force them to be. Church involvement is not the goal. Conversion and discipleship is. And that is a work of God. It’s our job to do everything we can to create an environment where Jesus is lifted up, where the gospel is proclaimed and lived out, but in the end it’s up to God to throw the switch and make someone a follower of Him.
That’s why I get annoyed at this talk of young people bailing on their faith. It’s obvious they never had real faith to begin with. Is that sad? Unbearably so. Should that inspire us to do everything we can to change it? Like crazy! But at the same time, it shouldn’t surprise us.
Think of the parable of the sower in Luke 8:5-8. The man sowing is sharing the gospel with people. Have you ever noticed that three of the four seeds he sowed did not end in real fruit? That’s probably a close figure to what most people suggest about the abandoning of faith by young people: roughly 75% of teens in the church grow up and walk away.
Notice also that two of the seeds started to grow for a while, but later withered or were choked out. That’s 50% of them. I’d roughly estimate that to be true, that nearly half of the people who hear the gospel start to show some signs of fruit that later on in life fades away.
I don’t think Jesus had percentages in mind when he shared this parable, so I know that I’m stretching it. The point is though that the Bible is consistent with it’s message that true followers of Jesus are more rare than common. It’s painful, but it’s true that we should expect a lot of our young people to eventually walk away. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t care. In fact, we should do everything we can to get 100% of our people to really follow after Christ for the rest of their lives. But in reality it won’t happen. Jesus said so.
To me, this issue is to be as faithful as you can, to pray like you mean it, to do everything in your power to point people to Jesus, and in the end leave it to God. I agree that there is a “crisis”, but it’s one that the Bible warned us about ahead of time. We should expect it. So rather than think the Church is going down the drain, let’s just focus on the mission at hand and give God all that we’ve got until we stop breathing or Jesus returns.
Singing For an Audience of One
Posted on September 12, 2013 Leave a Comment
Worship is more than singing on Sunday mornings – it is something you do all day, everyday, in everything you do and every attitude in which you do it. Our whole lives are offerings to God, whether it is in a formal church setting or not. That said, musical worship is still really important stuff. The Bible is full of commands to sing praises to God. Here are just a few:
- Ephesians 5:19 “…addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart…”
- Psalm 100:1-2 “Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! [2] Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!”
- Psalm 95:1-2 “Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! [2] Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!”
- James 5:13 “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.”
These are the Biblical grounds for singing in church. The one thing that is common among them all is that our praise is directed at God. This is obvious, I know, but we should keep it in mind for a few reasons.
Reason 1 – We tend to worry about what others will think of us.
Our worship is hindered when we worry if we look foolish singing or raising our hands. If that’s our thinking, we are not really focused on God. I will say that we should still be considerate of others around us, seeking not to be an unnecessary distraction. But Jesus needs to be where our attention is planted.
Reason 2 – The worship team is usually in sight.
The majority of churches that I have seen have worship leaders up front. These people are obviously not the objects of our worship, but I’ll admit that thinking of Jesus when you may be looking at someone else is a strange thing. A lot of us follow the words on the screen or in the hymnal, but once you have been in church for a long time, you memorize a lot of songs. Eyes wander. I would encourage you to really focus on the meaning of the words you are singing. If you really engage the song, you will be less distracted by the people and visuals around you and are more likely to remember that you are actually singing to Someone.
Reason 3 – Music leaders aren’t performers, they are orchestra leaders
Being a worship leader is a tough gig. On one hand, you want to worship passionately for yourself and lead by example for others, while trying also not to be a distraction or glory hog. It’s not easy to face a crowd of people, yet not be performing for them. Your job is to lead them into worship, like an orchestra leader directs the performance. Everyone in the room who is singing or playing an instrument is ultimately doing it for an audience of One.
Just some things to keep in mind for this Sunday.
How My 3-Year-Old Showed Me What Faith Is
Posted on September 9, 2013 1 Comment
I had a really cool experience the other day. My wife and I were at the park across the street with our two little ones, swinging and sliding and just having a good time. I guess I’m still a kid at heart too, because I was trying out my new x-zylo, this weird plastic, ring-looking thing that you can trow like a football for hundreds of feet if you have a good arm. If you’ve never seen one of these things, you should google it. Pretty cool.
So within 2 minutes of practicing to throw the x-zylo, I get it stuck almost 20 feet up in a tree. Thankfully, I still have all my tree climbing skills from childhood, so up I go to retrieve my toy. Then Bella, my three-year-old daughter, comes over to see what’s going on. I guess she didn’t see me climb up the tree because she was looking around for me. So I start calling her name out from up in the tree, and killing myself laughing because she’s spinning in circles trying to find me, but just wouldn’t look up.
So after about a minute of doing this, she still hasn’t figured out that I’m up in the tree. So I yell to her, “Bella, come here!” and to my absolute shock, she shouts back “Okay daddy, here I come!” and starts walking to the trunk of the tree.
Now you have to understand, Bella has autism, and her vocabulary is still a big work in progress. To even say a sentence like that is extremely rare and very exciting!
But what was even cooler is the profound example of faith she demonstrated. Even though she couldn’t see her dad, she knew that he was calling her and she simply chose to follow his voice, trusting that somehow it would make sense eventually. I have been thinking since then, isn’t that exactly what the Christian life is like? We can’t see our heavenly Father, but we hear him calling out to us, and we choose to step out in faith and follow his voice, even if it doesn’t all make sense at the time.
That kind of faith doesn’t just happen. The trust gets built over time as a child experiences the love of their father, knowing that he is there and will protect them no matter what. Bella knows that I love her like crazy, and that she can trust me, so she was willing to listen to my call even though she wasn’t really sure what was going on.
I wish I had that kind of faith with my heavenly Father. God, grant me the faith of a three-year-old, the kind that jumps at the sound of your voice, in faith, knowing that eventually it will all make sense.
No Superstars Allowed!
Posted on September 4, 2013 Leave a Comment
What makes someone a great youth leader? How you answer that question will make a great deal of difference in determining how healthy a youth ministry is. One of the most common perceptions of a great youth worker is what I would call the “superstar” mentality. A superstar youth worker is one who has a larger than life personality. Students can’t help but flock to them. A superstar often has a great sense of humour. They are up on the latest in youth culture. They know how to “speak teen”. If a superstar youth worker promotes an event or activity, everyone joins in. The superstar can often cause explosive growth in a youth ministry. They are young, hip, and cool. Most churches are looking for superstars. “If we could just get some dynamic youth leaders” a church might say, “then we could get over the hump.”
But the superstar mentality has some serious flaws. First off, the superstar youth worker usually has huge disadvantages. Superstars tend to be disorganized. Their personality lends to it, as those who thrive on excitement and spontaneity. As a result, they aren’t the best at returning phone calls or planning ahead. They operate where the wind blows, and wherever their current whims take them.
Superstars also tend to be “do-it-yourselfers”. Because they are so naturally gifted, they operate like a one man band. Volunteers aren’t needed for much other than to chaperone. Tasks are rarely delegated and other leaders aren’t trained or raised up as hands-on helpers in the youth ministry.
Because of all this, when a superstar fails or leaves a ministry, a gigantic, gaping hole is left that no one can fill. Kids lose the only adult they really connected with. Churches scramble to find a clone-like replacement. All of the remaining “ordinary” youth workers seem so much older and boring. In short, nothing but a train wrecked youth ministry is left in the wake. Imagine the superstar youth worker like the centre hub of a wheel. When you pull it out, the wheel stops moving and falls apart, because too much was resting on one person.
Don’t get me wrong – some people have natural superstar talents. God has gifted some people with the ability connect with teens easily, communicate God’s Word in amazing ways, and handle a work load that would bury most people. There’s nothing wrong with superstar talents, but what is a killer is a superstar mentality. That is, the mentality that only superstars are useful, or that a thriving youth ministry must have a superstar at the middle of it, or that only a superstar can turn around a floundering youth group.
The superstar mentality is a short-term way of thinking that is shallow and doesn’t give enough credit to the various gifts that God gives his people. Truth is, most effective youth workers are not extraordinarily gifted. They are simply people who love God, love kids, and are teachable and humble. They know their gifts and limitations and make the most of what they have. They are part of a team that compliments each other and works in a unified way. A youth ministry that is built in this way has a healthy, balanced foundation. It can survive the loss of a youth worker because the load is shared by a team. It puts a system, rather than a person, at the centre of the wheel.
Youth ministry friends, no matter if you are a superstar who can get results effortlessly or an “average” person just trying to do your best, please avoid the superstar mentality! Remember that the only superstar that a ministry rests on is Jesus. You are there to be faithful with what God has given you. Remember, God can do amazing things through anyone he wants!
A Few Thoughts for Christian Teens on Going Back to School
Posted on August 31, 2013 1 Comment
Summer is just about over and the new school year is right around the corner. A new school year is a good opportunity to set a few goals and make some life changes. It’s a great time to have some fresh starts in school and other areas of life, too. So here are a few thoughts for the young Jesus-followers out there on going back to school.
Commit to making your faith public, not private. Doing “the Christian thing” around Christian friends is easy (especially at camp all summer long), but living out your faith when you are the minority is hard. Don’t respond to the hostile, high school environment by becoming a closet Christian. Make the decision to follow Jesus and be proud of it. I’m not talking about being arrogant or rude, or shoving it in people’s places. But just like the old song says, don’t hide your light under a bushel.
Don’t get caught up in the drama. High school is a breeding ground for drama. The crazy hormones and often immature behaviour lead to all kinds of drama. Drama is tiring. It’s stupid and annoying. So be the kind of person who doesn’t get tangled up in it. Don’t gossip, and don’t make a big deal out of everything. Just keep your focus on important things and learn to walk away. PS – you don’t always have to say the last word, either! Let it go!
Be considerate to your teachers. They are people too! Teachers have personal lives that aren’t always that great, and they are expected to always keep their cool and have a positive attitude. That can be hard, especially when dealing with some of the more difficult students. Take a moment to thank a teacher for what they do. Be polite and help their classroom have a positive atmosphere.
Do your homework. I know, sometimes there is a lot of it. And sometimes it feels so incredibly pointless. The truth is that the actual homework is not the point – instead, the point is for you to develop habits of hard work and following through. Learning algebra may not make your life better, but being a hardworking and responsible person will.
Serve your school. Everyone knows that high school can be a toxic environment. Rather than just complain about how much your school sucks, make an effort to try and change things. Be a part of student’s council or other student-driven initiatives to make the school better. It will help you build character, leadership skills, and looks good on a resume.
Prioritize. School life is busy! There are tons of competing demands for your time and attention. If you are not careful, your busy life will become so overwhelming that you have no time for family or friends or even worse, Jesus. You will have to say no to things you really want to do. Don’t let your personal time with God get dropped to the bottom of your priority list (it belongs at the top!). And similarly, remember that your main purpose in school (and in life) is to honour God and be his witness – so make an effort to keep going to youth group and participate in on-campus Christian clubs.
Canadian Bible Guy 