one of the things that so greatly impacted my life back in middle school, was a non-profit organization called YoungLife. it is an international organization that spreads the news of the Gospel to youth by training young adult leaders to learn how to connect with kids in a real way and help them walk through life with a good example beside them. i was led by women who valued me and believed i was someone worth getting to know and worth listening to. as a high school student, that is an incredible gift, to be taken seriously.
going to Michigan State i knew that i wanted to give back to this organization by serving as a leader and allowing God to further transform my life by allowing me to be looked up to and watched closely. it grew me into a confident leader and a teacher. helping girls understand life and really thinking through events together taught me so much as a person and allowed me to watch hearts be softened and growth occur. it was an amazing thing to be a part of.
one of the hard things for people to understand about YoungLife and the Christian life in general, is that we are walking into broken lives. we are proclaiming our faith in Christ, but we are choosing to hang out with the unloved and those who do not believe in that same God.
to some, it came off as fake. as untrustworthy. as creepy. as annoying. it didn't make much sense to kids. people didn't understand how the same kid they saw wasted on Friday night, sleeping with their girlfriend or boyfriend and cussing at their mom - was the same kid that would show up to our clubs on Monday nights and hear the Gospel of Christ and talk about what it meant to them.
it seemed ridiculously hypocritical.
and that is what is so amazing about God. he doesn't make sense, he is always going against popular opinion and loving those who are unlovable. hanging out with people who the world thinks are lost forever and too dirty to be saved.
today, it is uncool if you don't tolerate everything and everyone. if you stand up for something that is against popular opinion, you are considered close-minded, stupid and ignorant.
the times are changing man, get on board or look like a fool. this isn't your grandma's world anymore. we are caught in a culture that is so backwards. being hipster and ironic is cool, but you have to agree with everyone. i am appalled at the way my generation can use their voices. we are gifted with more insane advancements in technology than the world has ever seen. we can reach out to people around the world and be heard by 1 million people in a day. but all we have to say is what everyone wants to hear. and that is weak.
the thing that i learned in YoungLife was that as a believer in God, i am not going to be popular and cool for the reasons the world likes. if i am, it will be fleeting. people who don't understand who my God is will talk about how he is worried with rule keeping, discipline and sins. the thing is- i don't believe in that kind of God either - and if you truly read and studied the Bible that i believe, you would realize that too.
this world is messed up. our bodies are broken. this is not the world that God ever intended. but because he loves us without measure, we are allowed to stretch our puny minds and try to wrap our brains around the incomprehensible love of Christ.
you're worried about justice? don't worry, my God is just.
you're worried about fairness? he is fair - but you probably won't like his definition.
you're worried about mercy? he is rich in mercy.
he is the definition of love.
of redemption.
of life.
he is those qualities. he cannot be separated from them, they are embedded in his very nature.
if you take two minutes to look around you. you cannot deny that there is a higher power at work. you cannot deny that you know only a fraction of what there is to know in the world. so what makes you believe that you will ever have life figured out and what makes you feel you have a right to stop searching and learning? the more i learn of the world, the more i so deeply see that God is trying desperately for us to seek him and to know him.
he doesn't want to be mysterious and unknown. he isn't a brooding, moody guy just waiting for you to piss him off. he doesn't have a tally mark of how many times you screwed up today. don't you see? that is humans you are thinking of. we are the unfair, evil and judgmental ones. but the beauty of it all is that God has come down among us. just as my YoungLife leaders and other Godly influences have come into my mess and my life.
that is the God i know and believe in. one who is so deeply invested in me and who i am and where i am heading. he loves watching me learn and grow. but most of all he loves when i realize more and more each day that the only way i can outlive this life is to further invest it in his kingdom, which goes on forevermore.
