I just spent a wonderful and exhausting week in Orlando with an amazing group of people. As one of the adults working with this group of senior high youth, I have some things to say.
These teens are ready.
These teens are ready.
They are poised to engage in things that make them (and most of us) uncomfortable.
Things that matter.
They are energetic.
In fact, they are impressively alert at 2 am....
Their sincerity meter functions at full capacity.
They can sniff out hypocrisy, even when the wind is blowing in the opposite direction.
If you aren't going to be authentic with them, maybe don't be anything at all.
They are diverse.
Some of them creatively share scripture on stage in front of thousands of people.
Some of them eat gum balls for breakfast.
They are creative.
They generate inspiring ideas that give this 55 year old a renewed hope for the future of God's church
These young people are inquisitive...asking questions that make me pause.
Where do I fit?
Is this what you call "acceptance?"
And with urgency and a hot pocket in hand..."where is the microwave?"
In the absence of a microwave, they are resourceful.
Some even attempting to pop corn with a hotel iron.
They are hard workers.
Pulling invasive weeds from pond's edge in oppressive humidity and a heat that rivaled a convection oven.
DON'T...even for one second...think they aren't paying attention.
Because they can multitask like nobody's business.
These teens wonder.
Do you see me?
Can you hear me?
Do I matter in your life?
They protect their opinions, their integrity, and their people.
They protect them fiercely.
They are filled with the spirit of adventure.
They are filled with the spirit of God.
They are filled with an enormous capacity for pizza.
Some abruptly run through town fountains.
Some dance so hard they detach the feet from beloved inflatable penguins.
Some choose to spend the day at an amusement park being a surrogate daughter to the oldest pair of sponsors instead of hanging out with friends.
Some use bandaids.
Lots and lots of bandaids....
Some worship and sing praises to their creator with an awe-inspiring passion.
Some have nighttime imaginations so wild, they conjure nonexistent strangers in their hotel bathroom at 1 am.
Some inexplicably launch their glow sticks, not the least bit concerned with all the mothers in the room who assume someone is going to lose an eye.
And some of them...
Some of them lay their hands on the shoulders of their sponsors in support and prayer.
Some of them lay their hands on the shoulders of their sponsors in support and prayer.
These teens generously give love.
And they gently and quietly absorb the love we offer to them.
Some words are hard for them to grasp.
Restraint.
Vegetables.
Curfew.
Some phrases are incomprehensible to them too.
Things like "this is the way it's always been"
or maybe more accurately,
"it's never been done, so it can't be done."
or maybe more accurately,
"it's never been done, so it can't be done."
To borrow their phrase: these people SEND IT
This group of young people is on a journey with Jesus.
It is a certainty that the future church will look different.
But knowing these teens, it is also with certainty I say- the message of Jesus is in very good hands.
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