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Dwight giving the thumbs up.
“By a show of hands, how many of you want to be hated?” Of course no hands go up. “Now, how many of you want to be liked?” Everyone in the classroom had their hands in the air. This is what Dwight ended our lesson with this past Sunday. We are trying to impress upon our youth that if you decide to follow Christ, there are going to be some people who not only look at you funny, but many will hate you. And if they’re on fire for God, they should be prepared to hear the old “Too heavenly minded to be any earthly good” nonsense.
What I love about Dwight’s teaching is that he always brings it around to an issue that our teens are dealing with right now. He keeps them in the present tense–constantly challenging them to go against the lukewarm grain of American Christianity. High school is a battleground, there’s no doubt about it. But if we as parents start teaching them about the cost of following Christ, which sometimes requires them NOT to do everything their friends do, and still be okay with it, we will help them deal with the really tough trials later on in life. Jesus was not worried about being part of the popular clique, and we should not worry about it either. We are supposed to stand out from the crowd. If Jesus were walking around in our world today instead of 2000 years ago, He would not want to try to blend in with the cool kids or hang out at the right table in the cafeteria. He would not care which lunch line He was in, nor would he have a Monster in-hand like everyone else. And He most likely would not be wearing whatever the student section was wearing during Friday Night Lights.
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Our awesome youth group.
Dwight is quite the quipster and he keeps our young people in stitches. Like the time we were planning the new name for the group: D.O. R. M. Some of the titles we (not to mention our Twitter friends) came up with were hilarious. And I will never forget the look on our young people’s faces when he was talking about third world countries and the fact that if you started talking to kids over there about an Apple, they would ask if you had one they could eat, too–not even knowing we’re talking about the latest iPhone or another gadget from the company called Apple. Another time Dwight was joking about his donut cushion in the car (no, he does not really have one!), or the times we start out the class by talking to them about their week and how their sports teams fared. Dwight and I are observant of pop culture, so we can talk about it with our class, but we are not immersed in culture. We have no desire to go back to high school; we’re grown adults. The kids know we are their teachers; we are not trying to relive our youth. This line tends to get blurred a lot in youth groups, but Dwight and I balance it out very well and we remain the leaders, not “one of them.” They know we care, but they also know that we’re relatable and “relevant.” (Ha! Am I the only one who thinks this trendy word is overused?)
If you have not considered working with youth, please reconsider. You may be the only positive adult influence in their lives. You don’t know what word or phrase you will say that could change their course in life. You may not see the fruit of your labor–but we still need to invest in them. Remember, they were not asked if they would like to be born, so we need to give them the strongest Christian foundation we can give them so they’ll be prepared for the long, hard road ahead.
God bless,
Rebecca
“Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12
All Photos Copyright © 2012-2014 Son of a Parson Ministries
Image may be NSFW.
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
