Teens – and adults – are being swallowed up and spit out by a secular humanist, morally relativist culture. People have forgotten a fundamental truth about sin: namely, that God did not give Adam and Eve the right to decide what was good and evil (subjective); in His mercy, He gave them the right to choose between good and evil (objective).
Most importantly, I believe in a God who believes in me. I kneel before a Savior – your Savior – Jesus Christ who died for me, who looked through my unworthiness and declared worth. And I follow a Spirit who, daily, sets before me a steep, treacherous and often unpopular path of virtue. Most days I fail; some days I don’t.
What keeps me walking and ascending the spiritual mountain is not only my love for Christ but my spiritual brothers who don’t let me settle for less than I am designed to be. I need accountability. I need guys who are willing to kick me in the butt when I’m lazy in my prayer, my exercise, my marriage, or my fatherhood.
The truth is that while my wife sits beside me and cheers for Rocky along with me, as a man I take something different from his story. It’s in Rocky’s internal strength, his refusal to stay down, his unyielding will and resilience to keep moving forward – against all odds and against far superior opponents – that I relate most to him not only as a man, but as a Christian, as a husband and father.
By now, anyone who has, or who works closely with teens has undoubtedly heard about the “Why I hate religion but love Jesus” video that has gone viral on YouTube. Forgive me for not linking to it… my Mom taught me to keep gasoline away from matches (after my brothers and I almost launched our riding mower into outer space in 1982). Incidentally, my mother also taught me not to use the word “hate,” but that’s a different story for another day.
What are your hopes for youth ministry?
I want to help change the perspective of teenagers. When teenagers get involved in their faith in a youth group or when they come to an event like this, they think that they’re seeking God. They think they’re going out of their way for God, but very seldom do they pause to realize that God is already at work. God is seeking them. What God desires from them is that encounter, that sacramental encounter, which really is rooted in intimacy.
I’m not the smartest guy on the block. God, in His mercy, is constantly reminding me of how little I know. He does this through marriage, parenthood, ministry, and, well, just about every facet of my life. I do know movies, however – at least I thought I did. So imagine my surprise several years back when I plopped down on our sofa for our “Family Movie Night” and ten minutes into the Disney classic Bambi I come to find out that Bambi is male.
My already bad day had immediately gotten worse. It was just “one of those weeks” in ministry where everything I did was wrong in someone’s eyes; I had a stack of annoyed emails to prove it. As if that weren’t enough, it was also the week that everything in our house broke almost simultaneously: dishwasher, garage door…even the coffee maker. Forget Murphy’s Law, this was straight up lunacy with a heavy side of spiritual attack.