Hope for the Next Generation
I was sitting at a restaurant and over heard adults complaining about the current generation of teenagers. They complained about how this generation of teenagers is overly self focused and consumed way more with sex and poor choices more than any other generation.
"Things are just not the way they used to be when I was a kid. Kids these days only care about getting high and getting it on. They don't take responsibility for their actions and they are giving into temptations without a care." I heard a man complain.
I wish I could take this group of adults and all other adults who think and believe this and let them walk in my shoes for a week. If I had the ability to do that, perhaps they would see teenagers in a different light.
As a youth minister, I get to see teenagers who are passionate and excited about their faith and serving others every week. Yes, they are tempted to follow the crowd and get caught up in moments of temptation; and yes sometimes I get frustrated with their attitudes. However, they also constantly blow me away with their passion and servant's heart. I believe God is raising up a generation who longs to be the hands and feet of Christ to everyone around them.
Last Sunday I woke up at 3:00am to take a group of students who willingly woke up in the wee hours of the morning just to serve the homeless breakfast. We served over 500 hundred homeless men downtown at the Nashville Rescue Mission. While I was serving serving food to a few of the last men in line, I looked around and noticed all of the youth were no longer in the kitchen. Frantically looking for them, I started to get frustrated that they were no longer helping or cleaning up the mess. When I walked out into the dining area I saw the most incredible thing. I saw teenagers who boldly stepped up and were spread through out the dining hall sitting with the homeless men and listening to their stories. I saw youth putting themselves aside to provide a listening ear to men who are constantly ignored and looked down upon in the streets. I heard teenagers sharing scripture and exchanging stories with these men, and watched as the love of Christ overflowed in that room because of what God is doing in these young people's lives. It was one of the most beautiful pictures of Christ I have ever seen.
We all know most teenagers hate waking up early. However, Wednesday morning students woke up at 6am and earlier to meet at the flag pole at their schools to pray. I experienced this first hand as I joined about 100 students at Ravenwood High School who simply met to worship and pray. Students lifted up a variety of prayers, but most of them were focused on helping others know the love of Christ and to experience His grace. Prayer after prayer was for revival within the school, the community, and the nation as a whole. One of the prayers went like this...
"Lord, help us bring glory to who you are and not to our own name. Help us to not focus on ourselves and to think about the needs of others" - Prayer from a Ravenwood Student.
This doesn't sound like a generation full of sin and selfishness to me.
1Timothy 4:12 "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity."
I am so proud of the teenagers in this community. Yes they have their struggles and bad attitudes at times. But so does everyone who is human. Please help me spread the good news of who these young people are. Instead of complaining about them, what if everyone helped walk along side them in their life journey to help them grow in their faith? What if we encouraged them and offered unconditional love so that they will lead us out of the overflow of God's love from their hearts. We can learn so much from who God has made them to be.
"Things are just not the way they used to be when I was a kid. Kids these days only care about getting high and getting it on. They don't take responsibility for their actions and they are giving into temptations without a care." I heard a man complain.
I wish I could take this group of adults and all other adults who think and believe this and let them walk in my shoes for a week. If I had the ability to do that, perhaps they would see teenagers in a different light.
As a youth minister, I get to see teenagers who are passionate and excited about their faith and serving others every week. Yes, they are tempted to follow the crowd and get caught up in moments of temptation; and yes sometimes I get frustrated with their attitudes. However, they also constantly blow me away with their passion and servant's heart. I believe God is raising up a generation who longs to be the hands and feet of Christ to everyone around them.
Last Sunday I woke up at 3:00am to take a group of students who willingly woke up in the wee hours of the morning just to serve the homeless breakfast. We served over 500 hundred homeless men downtown at the Nashville Rescue Mission. While I was serving serving food to a few of the last men in line, I looked around and noticed all of the youth were no longer in the kitchen. Frantically looking for them, I started to get frustrated that they were no longer helping or cleaning up the mess. When I walked out into the dining area I saw the most incredible thing. I saw teenagers who boldly stepped up and were spread through out the dining hall sitting with the homeless men and listening to their stories. I saw youth putting themselves aside to provide a listening ear to men who are constantly ignored and looked down upon in the streets. I heard teenagers sharing scripture and exchanging stories with these men, and watched as the love of Christ overflowed in that room because of what God is doing in these young people's lives. It was one of the most beautiful pictures of Christ I have ever seen.
We all know most teenagers hate waking up early. However, Wednesday morning students woke up at 6am and earlier to meet at the flag pole at their schools to pray. I experienced this first hand as I joined about 100 students at Ravenwood High School who simply met to worship and pray. Students lifted up a variety of prayers, but most of them were focused on helping others know the love of Christ and to experience His grace. Prayer after prayer was for revival within the school, the community, and the nation as a whole. One of the prayers went like this...
"Lord, help us bring glory to who you are and not to our own name. Help us to not focus on ourselves and to think about the needs of others" - Prayer from a Ravenwood Student.
This doesn't sound like a generation full of sin and selfishness to me.
1Timothy 4:12 "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity."
I am so proud of the teenagers in this community. Yes they have their struggles and bad attitudes at times. But so does everyone who is human. Please help me spread the good news of who these young people are. Instead of complaining about them, what if everyone helped walk along side them in their life journey to help them grow in their faith? What if we encouraged them and offered unconditional love so that they will lead us out of the overflow of God's love from their hearts. We can learn so much from who God has made them to be.
Awesome!
ReplyDeleteGood blog Sam!
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ReplyDeleteGrandma loves you!
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