“They
come from another planet!”
“I've
read those words on the faces of many of today's parents and church
leaders. And I hear the words, =Many of the youth today don't dress,
eat, and act the way you and I were brought up to act.= That has also
been voiced with frustration by the parents of most every generation,
even before Jesus walked this earth.”
“Let's
begin with prayer asking God to give all of us here, open humble
hearts in the sight of heaven and all that we've been blessed with.”
The youth pastor of Ross and Hope's church led a down deep prayer for
guidance in reaching a starving generation living within sight of
each of us.
The
pastor began, “My heartfelt thanks for inviting me to your Quilters
for Christ fellowship here today. I compliment all of you on your
spirit of outreach to those who will be our leaders in the very near
future. Many folks, with much less silver hair than all of you,
stretch out their hand toward the horizon and proclaim =it's someone
else's job to 'teach them youngin's the error of their ways'=. But
you have taken the first and foremost step that pleases the one true
God and Creator of all who breath.”
“To
make sure we're all on the same page, here, I need someone to define
for us, the meaning of the English word 'ALL'. Simple enough - ALL”
The pastor wrote the word in large letters at the top of a nearby
marker board. Then in the back of the room, Jeanie didn't think the
pastor was looking for some complicated answer, so she just blurted
out, “Nothin' left out!” Pastor Tim liked the answer and wrote it
next to the word ALL.
“I
notice most of you have brought your Bibles. I think that's great.
That tells me while you've come to partner in making quilts, you also
see the need to bring your Bibles with you. I love it! Evidently most
of you have noticed the pair of verses that give the reason and scope
of Heaven's 'How-To' manual. In 2nd Timothy 3:17 we're
promised that scripture throughly furnishes us unto All good work.
Now 'all good work' would certainly refer to communicating with those
who seem to be from another planet. Right?”
With
just a hint of a smile, pastor continued. “Now remember what Jeanie
said about all? Well, the verse in front of verse 17 tells us what
part of scripture is important to us; all scripture; 'Nothin left
out'. So then from our God Who cannot lie, we receive direction and a
guarantee of harvest for reaching out to others. While there are many
promises and directives in scripture, one of my favorites promises me
a harvest if I plant and water the seed properly. It's Psalm 126:6
He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall
doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. I
call your attention to the words 'doubtless' and the word
'rejoicing'. But the my heart cleaves to the word 'weepeth'.”
“If
each of you, in your own heart don't have the proper seed and are
willing to plant it with tears of compassion, you should probably
stay home till you do.”
“Now,
I want to take my few minutes here to tell you about those you think
are from another planet. You know - those leaders of our tomorrows –
our youth. I'll warn you first. I'm about to make a statement you'll
probably find odd. But keep listening to me and the Holy Spirit
speaking to your heart. OK. Are you ready? Here goes.”
“Youth
today, believe the church leaders and adult attenders are from
another planet. (Just as you think they are.) I better repeat that.
Youth today, believe the church leaders and adult attenders are from
another planet. You see, they know you won't listen to them and their
heartaches because you have already prejudged them; you've prejudged
them contrary to the mercy and grace directed in scripture.”
“Now
listen carefully. I haven't said that everything youth do today, is
OK; far from it. But the big difficulty is they are trying to find
their way without any compassionate mature leadership – without
YOUR help. They feel like travelers caught in quicksand with no one
to even passionately listen to their help cries.”
“Further,
youth see churches around them are addicted to presentation and
administration technology almost as much as girls are addicted to
communication technology and the boys to competition (gaming)
technology. To help you see this, ask a teen to give up their
hand-held gadgets for a week and see what they say. Their response
will be exactly the same as if you tell the church to do without
technology for a week – you know, the wireless microphones, music,
audio, video systems and all the office computers... etc. etc.”
“Now
what REALLY puts the church folks on a different planet, in the minds
of youth, is the total absence of messages and lessons that magnify
the Bible's guidelines in technology control; both in the church and
in the hands of youth and their parents. Youth want adults to
understand that while no requirements exist requiring the church to
use technology, by contrast youth cannot achieve passing grades in
school; even in the elementary grades without DAILY technology use.
Do you see the contrast here?”
“All
of our technology, is God's gift to us – from our lifesaving heart
pacemakers, to page magnifiers for the vision challenged, and GPS
when we're lost. But He also gave us scripture to help us honor Him
with technology's use. Instead, we've relinquished our discipling
role in guiding young hearts and minds, even though scripture
commands you and I otherwise. Am I coming through? A boyscout compass
or a satellite GPS system are both God's gifts that were introduced
in different generations for the same purpose. But they both need
faith in God and His laws to best use them.”
“Now
the bottom line to effectively reaching out to youth, is to be able
to take all this technology the schools and society have thrown at
them and see it in light of the same verses you apply to your
quilting efforts. You folks pour many long hours and prayers into
your quilts. Those quilt patterns are as varied as the children in
our town. Set your hearts and vision, in firm unity, on bringing
Jesus' love and warmth to those who maybe don't even know where to
look for it, how to obtain it.”
Pastor
Tim paused for a few seconds and then spoke. “May I make a few
suggestions? One great idea I've already heard a few of you talk
about. Your 'Adopt-a-Teen' is a marvelous way to show love while
you're learning about the many struggles and stress our youth must
deal with, today and their tomorrows. Get to know them. Plant that
precious seed in them with patient cultivation. Do you remember the
tears in our Psalms verse? Let those youth share their heart with you
as you lovingly share Christ's heart with them.”
“I've
put two stacks of take-home handouts on the back table. The blue ones
give some of the many promises God has for those who reach out to
youth. The white ones explain how to begin including Bible verses for
using computers, in safe ways that honor God.”
“Oh
by the way. Don't let the words Twitter and tweets throw you. Your
Bible contains many short statements our youth would call tweets, all
ready for you to savor and share. The book of Proverbs is bursting
with them all ready for you to show others, how up-to-date our Bible
really is.
“Ummm. Wouldn't it be really neat to make a quilt of
kids hearts?”
