Lock-Ins July 12, 2008

 

6 a.m. Lock-in completed!

Any youth ministers out there ever get the feeling, “I am way too old to be doing this.”?  My title was recently changed at Forsythe from youth minister to family minister.  It gives a little more description to what I actually do at Forsythe as I implement my conflict resolution studies, young adult/middle aged adult ministry/ children’s ministry/ small group ministry/ etc…   

Can I not grow up?  I love all these ministries dearly.  I get excited to see people get that “aha” moment and embrace God’s call for their lives in these vast areas.  However, I get an unmatched zeal for working with the youth.  I’ve never been a cool youth minister!  I’m basically a country boy from the rural areas of West Monroe, LA., who raised sheep and missed school to attend livestock shows from age 4 to 18.  When God put a passion in my heart for ministry at age 15, I thought I would just breeze through the required times of youth ministry and move to the pulpit.  You see these weird kids have been one of the reasons I “can’t grow up”.  They have done something to me.  I walk into a room with them and I feel this weird vibe.  They have many obstacles that break my heart and I want to see them in heaven.  However, I lack the coolness, the lingo, and the ability to create fun gun games for their entertainment. 

They don’t find my jokes near as funny as the adults.  They haven’t told me thank you as much as the adults.  They make me feel young at heart and old all over. So why do I love them so much?  

There is one youth event that makes me feel older than any of the others.  I shudder when they request it and immediately begin thinking, “how long can I handle this?”  Some of my older retired youth minister friends say the event is from hell itself:  ALL-NIGHT LOCK-INS!! 

As I write this I am in the slow process of trying to recover from one that occurred last night!  My body is yelling, “You Big Dummy!!”  My heart is saying, God, thank you for letting a guy like me be a part of their lives.  They grew so close last night.  They verified to each other that there was a God, by showing His love to each other.  One of them wanted to be baptized into Christ last night.  He was ready to trust God with his life. 

So we baptized him.  We celebrated!  Heaven celebrated!!!  I wish you could have seen the look on his face!  It was the 3rd time I’ve met him.  Pray for him, please!  His name is Blake!  Pray for us and his family that we may nurture him in his walk with Christ.

I want to be clear about why I think we saw success last night.  It wasn’t a gifted youth minister or cool games.  I know this may sound simple and cliché.  Here was the blueprint for last night: We begged God to bless our time together and none of us felt qualified to be there.  He showed up, convicted our hearts, and we were richly blessed as a result.

Those kids remind me of how much I hope to see myself as He sees me, nothing more, and nothing less.