A favorite song of mine these days, don't you know, is Passion's Madly. I like it when we use the song on Friday night at the last worship time together because of the bridge that says, "Let what we do in here fill the streets out there let us dance for you let us dance for you.."
What do we do up in a camp setting that creates such a spark of commitment and desire? Some have said that we spiritually and emotionally manipulate people. My friend, Wolf would say we motivate people. My thinking is that we have to move people out of the place where they stay because of ignorance or fear or hopelessness to a place where they make decisions to allow the Spirit of God to begin a new work. Let the old things pass and become new creations.
This last High School camp I felt the need to not have people respond to a message of stop sinning but to understand and declare the pain that causes behavior which is contrary to the Kingdom life. I don't discuss Calvin's total depravity because it doesn't do anything to set anyone free. Yes we are, but the pain that we have and we mask it out by self medicating with sex, porn, alcohol, drugs, movies, TV, adrenalin pumping experiences, etc., is the issue we need to address. I have dear friends and family members who cut themselves to feel something. It is a real pain that they can control and a sermon on the sinless life isn't going end the pain for them. It will only heap more on their souls. So we address it directly. You are sleeping with a guy so that you will feel something for 10 minutes that you think will fill the hole of pain. Of course it doesn't, in fact it augments the pain by heaping guilt and shame on it.
I asked the students to stand if they had a pain that they try to take away with behaviors of sex, porn, alcohol, drugs, movies, TV... and 80% of the people stood up. These were church kids! This needs to be addressed not only at a week of camp but in relationships on a weekly basis in the meetings at church. We need room for this in our schedules and events of a youth group. Places to talk, places to pray, safe places to heal.
A week of camp is the beginning, but I am afraid that if we continually expose the pain to the "light" but never do anything about it, (camp cannot provide a quick fix - it can only open up the conversation of the youth pastor and the student) the pain will only go deeper and manifest itself in darker behavior than before.
What do you think...
1 comment:
Yes, I agree with you completly! I am a 17yo teen who is quite the student leader. Nonetheless, I too have many problems that I mask with various things. However, the only time I truely find peace is when I actually do the will of God. The only problem is, I am surrounded by sin and sinful lifestyles that it is all too easy to fall into the trap and go completly astray -it's just hard.
I feel that the church needs to be 10 times more active in ways that reach out to their own congregation! I mean, I have been drug to so many churches becuase my parents were hurt by so&so... All I want from a church is a place where I can safely grow in Christ -these days a youth center is like a dating service and everyone's always about the world and not God...
Like I said before, it's just hard.
Matthew Peters
cadetpeters@comcast.net
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