Jesus, Leadership, Losers
5/7/2010
Teenagers hate to miss out on life. They hate to feel like they've “missed something”—be it an event, party, funny moment, or inside joke. It’s one of the most constant facts I have seen for the last 10 years in youth ministry.
I believe this feeling is one of many reasons that students have a hard time understanding passages when Jesus says "whoever loses his life for me will actually save it" (Luke 9:24).
Or Paul's “I have been crucified with Christ and I NO LONGER LIVE but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20).
Teenagers live in a world of tension where the majority see friends and peers “living however they want to” while they are told to miss out on all that—miss out on being a part of certain conversations; opt out of certain social functions.
In the last few months I have had numerous conversations with students struggling, wrestling, and debating over why they can't be part world and part Christian. Why do they have to feel like they stick out so much? Why can’t I “have fun with my friends now and come back to Jesus later?”
It’s in these conversations that I’ve been continually drawn to challenge students with the following:
What kind of message is your life telling others if you are always following people & never leading?
I want to encourage students to see the depth of life-change that Jesus calls us to. Salvation in Jesus is not just a sin “fix” but also an ongoing chance to be a part of what God is doing in the world. Jesus brings us to new life—a life that we can’t access if we are always living in the past.
For the students that have accepted the challenge to let go of what they want and pursue the life God wants to give them have found a new sense of freedom—freedom to live a NEW NORMAL (1 of 3 core values of our high school ministry). For other students, the wrestling, wondering, and debating continues.
The life Jesus calls us to has always been about surrendering to Him. My hope as a youth pastor is to continually challenge students & lead them to experience what a life fully surrendered to Jesus can be. I don’t want to just tell them ... I want to show them and share in it with them as well.
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