What If...

You know they say...you can take the man out of youth ministry, but you can't take the youth ministry out of the man. It's really true. I've been out of youth ministry for almost 6 months, but yet find myself thinking about nearly everyday. Not sure why. Regret? Guilt? Meditation? Future planning? Who knows.

One of the things I was thinking about the other day while I was walking the dog (real dog not yo-yo) was events/programming. Worship services vs outreach events and environments of faith vs environments of show.

If we are going to help our students live real, authentic, intentional lives in the real world, I think we need to help them live by faith. Times/places in their lives where they trust God with who they are, what He cares about, and how that intersects to impact people with the gospel.

Faith that pushes them to live in community with deeply caring and committed people who will walk with us in those scary places and during those scary times.

Faith that invites us to know ourselves better: how God has made us to point people to Jesus and what experiences God has allowed to go through in order to share the story of God in our lives (and other's lives).

Faith that causes us to lean into God and love him and others by what we do: inviting others to understand God and his gospel more clearly, share with others our story and God story and how they can experience amazing grace, caring for others by meeting their physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual needs even when we don't think we have the skills, experience, or knowledge how to.

How do we help our students live in faith filled ways? What environments are best suited for helping our students trust God in his kingdom theater? How do we hinder our students/kids from living lives of faith?

Let's commit to helping our kids understand their gifts, wiring, and passions. Let's help our kids use their gifts, wiring, and passions to advance the kingdom in their world. Let's help our students engage their friends, culture, and world in relational ways that tell others about life and love of Jesus. Let's create environments - small/big and/or showy/simple - that helps students join in and see God show up.