Fair warning, i'm going to be pretty open in this post about my summer
This summer i've been learning so much working with the youth group at this church. There are so many of them that are passionate people & are already leaders in the church. I've had some great conversations & many great memories already shared. I love each of the kids so very much already too. Many times though i find myself upset & frustrated with teenagers. I find two main groups in teens who attend a church, 1) They appear to be a zealous person striving to seek God & be more like him or 2) They appear to be stagnant, uncaring or unobservant. This is so hard for me to see because i want to help each one of them learn to pursue God & have a deep relationship with their creator.
Many times in youth ministry we find a gimmick, something that peaks the kids interest so that they will make that extra effort to come to class. We will also plan "fun" events that the kids can come to where we won't even have a devo so that we can keep them entertained. This to me is such a sad situation. How do we get the kids who so desperately need to hear what the Lord is saying through us to come to class?
In Africa i stayed a weekend with a family in the village, they didn't speak much English but were such a great family. The husband was a reformed polygamist who is the preacher of a small church just 3 miles away. Now, 3 miles doesn't sound to bad to us, that's a 5 min drive in town, but in Africa that was an hour walk. We walked 3 miles to church and 3 miles back in the hot African sun during dry season. There are people in Africa who have never heard the name of Jesus & we hear his name every day, even if it is in cussing. Many times i ask myself why i am here helping people who sometimes don't really seem to care when people are dying without God. Is my Jesus so boring that we have to create "fun" activities to get you to church?
I shared this frustration with some of the teens Saturday night & they took it so well. It wasn't condemning nor reproaching, i just let them know how i felt. We had great conversation till 4 in the morning. Even one of the kids woke up early just to come to class because he respected me that much. I was so happy because God had spoken to the kids & that they understood what i was saying, but i found out later that God decided He wanted to take it one step further with me.
That evening i heard a man speak about how passionate God is for us & how all he wants is us. That it's all about love & how we need to seek God so that we can correctly share God's love with His creation. On the way home God told me that the way i was feeling about the kids in the youth group was the way He was feeling about me. He was frustrated with my lack on interest in him. My lack of Bible study, & my lack of time in prayer. Ouch.
What a slap in the face. See, so many times i look at church as what i can get out of it, or how the message moved me. I have to be excited to go to church & the more the church offers, the better. I can quickly change the radio station to a secular station if the Christian station is not offering what i am looking for at that time. I can choose to attend a devo on Sunday nights, but that's not required & i'm tired so i'm not going. This is where my freedom get's the better of me & makes my time with God circumstantial. This is NOT and i repeat NOT how God works nor how He wants to be loved. He wants me to spend time with Him but not because i'm only reading a awesome story in the Bible, you know like David & Goliath, He wants just time with me! Man.
Jeremiah 29:11-13
11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare & not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, & I will hear you. 13 You will seek me & find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
He desires for us to seek Him with all of our heart. Not just on Sunday night or Wednesday night, every night. This food for thought & is something i am still working on, praise Jesus for grace.
