Teenagers
I have every Saturday night blocked off on my schedule and have had it blocked off for the past 10 years. Why? Because every Saturday night, I hang out with a bunch of teenagers.
I rarely talk about it because it's a subject of great turmoil sometimes. I don't know why I am so committed to a bunch of teenagers. I don't know why out of all time slots, we meet on Saturday nights. I don't know why I've been doing this for the past 10 years (albeit I was still a teenager for some of those years). What I do know is, I love them. Many days I want to pull my hair out. But on some days, I leave with the greatest, most mysterious sense of fulfillment.
Last week, a bunch of us attended a Youth Pastors' Conference at Bethel church. This was my first time in a room full of other grown adults who also choose to hang out with teenagers. Oh, were there stories. Stories of youth pastors pouring all their energy and time into planning a retreat just to have a teenager say "Nah I'm not going, that's dumb." Stories of teens making out in the back while you're trying to preach.
But there were also stories of teenagers coming to church stoned, then encountering the love of God and getting saved. Of teens with messed up backgrounds falling in love with Jesus in their teenage years, and then leave thriving. These are the stories that reminded us all why we're doing what we're doing. To invest in this generation who could not care less most of the time feels like the greatest waste of our time, yet when these young ones are marked by God, they could turn the whole world upside down with the zeal of hearts that have encountered His love. This is why it's worth it.
I rarely talk about it because it's a subject of great turmoil sometimes. I don't know why I am so committed to a bunch of teenagers. I don't know why out of all time slots, we meet on Saturday nights. I don't know why I've been doing this for the past 10 years (albeit I was still a teenager for some of those years). What I do know is, I love them. Many days I want to pull my hair out. But on some days, I leave with the greatest, most mysterious sense of fulfillment.
Last week, a bunch of us attended a Youth Pastors' Conference at Bethel church. This was my first time in a room full of other grown adults who also choose to hang out with teenagers. Oh, were there stories. Stories of youth pastors pouring all their energy and time into planning a retreat just to have a teenager say "Nah I'm not going, that's dumb." Stories of teens making out in the back while you're trying to preach.
But there were also stories of teenagers coming to church stoned, then encountering the love of God and getting saved. Of teens with messed up backgrounds falling in love with Jesus in their teenage years, and then leave thriving. These are the stories that reminded us all why we're doing what we're doing. To invest in this generation who could not care less most of the time feels like the greatest waste of our time, yet when these young ones are marked by God, they could turn the whole world upside down with the zeal of hearts that have encountered His love. This is why it's worth it.
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