I've been thinking a lot lately. I’ve been thinking about what it takes to make disciples. Disciples like we see in Scripture.
The demoniac, the woman at the well, Zaccheus, blind Bartimaeus, Peter, Andrew, James, John, Paul, the list goes on and on. These people experienced Jesus and their lives were radically changed forever. There was immediate evidence of a regenerate heart. They took off l ike a n E lon Musk rocket saying, “To infinity and beyond!”
We don’t see much of that any more, do we? Why not? A radical death by our Savior on a cross requires a radical life change after a radical conversion experience. Think about the parable of the treasure in a field (Matthew 13). The idea is when you meet Jesus you abandon your life because Jesus has become your life (Galatians 2:20) Some Sunday nights I get to hang out with about a dozen teenagers and talk about Jesus. It’s one of the best things I do but it concerns me. When I was a kid, I did not enjoy what we call church that much. I had friends that all told me they went to church but I’m not sure they did and for the most part those same friends are not in church today. There were some other kids at school that did go to church regularly, but they were not the cool kids if you know what I mean.
If older me could tell younger me anything it would be, “Don’t worry about being cool, worry about following Jesus.” What I’m saying is if I had a do over, I would work on following Jesus, hanging out more with those Christian nerds and encouraging them to be strong and courageous while trying to convert those cultural Christians that said they went to church but didn’t. I hope all of that made sense.
I’m sad because I see young people (old people as well) fail to put Jesus first consistently in their life. Some may attend church when their parents force them or when it’s maybe convenient for them. I’m not really sure what the random worship attendance is all about but I see these kids graduate and then they drop out altogether.
People that study the data on teenage discipleship share that back in the day we “had” these kids until they were 18 but now at 16 they tend to drop out. The parents no doubt play a role in this.
If I sound critical, please forgive me. I’m sharing my pastor’s heart, and I desperately want to make a difference in the lives of young people. They are not the church of tomorrow; they are a part of the church today. I feel a great responsibility to make disciples out of those God has put in my path. Does everyone feel like that or just me? I wonder if we all share the same compassion? Our community does not need a skating rink or a community center (whatever that is) we need Jesus. I’m praying. Will you join me?
He told me to tell you that.
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