Jesus endorses candidate for president!

At lunch today I decided to enter in to the dangerous arena of politics with some awesome sixth graders. I posed the question to them: If you could vote... who would you vote for? And why? I got a variety of answers and I was quite surprised at how perceptive and informed they were. They talk and think deeply about politics even in sixth grade!

If you are like me you are probably ready to move past this election season. But I see a great opportunity to teach something quite profound to youth. It isn't a certain political view or stance but instead it is something much deeper. Regardless of our political views we all teach our youth a way of communicating by our tone, our actions, our rhetoric especially when we talk about those on the other side of our political belief system.

I have discovered that there are three distinct ways we communicate with each other especially in the area of politics.

1. Opposing views are seen as obstacles. By far the most popular...others views are seen as illegitimate. It is usually a posture of belittling and putting one down. This puts the opposing person in a position of defensiveness. Maybe you have been on one side or the other of this scenario. I find in these conversations that nothing of substance ever takes place.

Whenever I have this experience I feel many times like I am talking to a wall. We say the same things yet never truly listening to each other.

2. Shut down. For some people politics makes their blood boil so much so a conversation can't even begin to take place because it is to stressful. The other side is seen as an enemy and one can't even begin to understand where another person comes from or that they are even worth their time.

3.  The way of compassion and empathy. Rarely do I meet folks that embrace this way. Some might call this the weak way. A dangerous place no doubt. It doesn't mean to "agree to disagree." Or to merely coexist. It is much deeper than that... two words that literally mean walking in another person's shoes. To feel what they feel.

This means that we have to take the uncomfortable posture of listening to words that we might think are illegitimate. The craziest part of living a life like this is that we have to be open to the reality that walking in other people's shoes could possibly change us. We might actually learn something about each other when our defenses aren't up.

So some pastor's out there want to tell their congregation which presidential candidate, political party or political views Jesus' endorses. I could never play in that arena. But what I can say is that Jesus endorses without a doubt the third way. All sorts of people were attracted to Jesus because they knew his compassion was real and true.

We have an incredible opportunity in this election season to teach not a narrative of divisiveness but of hope that we can live together in harmony. We can actually live together with a variety of belief systems without breaking each other down. We can live together in a community that embraces each other and learns from each other.

Not only can we engage in a conversation with youth about what they think about politics but we can also teach them deep character on how we treat others that see the world differently. How we are better people when we choose to walk in the way of compassion and empathy.

Why should I pray if God doesn't answer my prayers?

Last night our question was: is it possible to be a Christian and not go to church? And by church I mean actively meeting with a body of believers and worshiping together on a weekly basis. We took a vote at the beginning of youth and overwhelmingly everyone believed that you could be a Christian and not attend church. In a few words the church wasn't that integral. The importance was in as long as you believe in "Jesus" you are a Christian. This is a snap shot of Western Christianity. It is all about the "self" and not about the community. But if you read scripture the community is integral in the life of the Christian. Community is the playground of the Christian faith.

We need the community to be Christ for us. A community that encourages us. A community that prays for us. A community that embraces us for who we are. And so with that said it is hard to be a Christian without the presence of the community.

Coming up this week we will be talking about praying even when God doesn't answer the prayers we pray. I know for me there have been many moments in my life where I have prayed for people and God didn't answer my prayers. So we will work through this, this coming week.

Can I be a Christian and not go to church?

Youth are asking some great questions and I have been so enlightened by their curiosity. Curiosity for most of us was put on the shelf to collect dust a long time ago. We have become cynics to most of our questions. Who wrote the bible? People did. Enough said. But the more we dig the more I believe we find a richness that in someways was lost before. Who wrote the bible? People that cared. People that wanted to tell a story. People that wanted a story to give us substance, a God-breathed identity.

I encourage you to grab your youth and watch this video with them. A great, quirky video about how the bible came to be. If the bible is all that we say it is. If it is really "God breathed..." then it must be really good for us to read. Just like an ice cream cone on a hot summer day! Or a pumpkin spice latte on cool, rainy day like today!

I started reading the bible for the first time in my life in 10th grade. I started reading the book of John and it was life giving. In fact it changed my life. As we choose our next right step toward Jesus maybe it is good for us to find some time maybe once a week to sit down and read a chapter of the bible. Maybe to ask each other what we are reading and together explore what it means to follow Jesus.

So this week we are talking about being a Christian and what that means. In particular... Can you be a Christian and not go to church? You can imagine that there are probably a lot of different answers to this question... so we will explore it some this Sunday. Hope your youth and their friends join us!

Why bring a friend?

Jordan, Will, Ryan, Rick, Davis, and
Gavin (Davis' friend) playin' in the
corn. 

Every week I tell the youth "bring a friend!" We would love to have their friends be part of us at UMYF. Every event we do friends are welcome! But why? I believe that we can truly make a difference not only in the lives of youth that already come but in those that come as a result of friendship.

I think of Jordan Anderson. Ian Casker brought him last school year and ever since then Jordan and his family have become a big part of Pleasant Green UMC. Jordan just a few weeks ago was baptized in the Eno River. What began as Ian bringing a friend turned out to be the beginning of a cool narrative in Jordan's life.

I think about my involvement in church. It was my friend Mark when I was in 10th grade who invited me to his church. Just like Jordan I got involved, gave my life to Jesus, and was baptized in the span of that year. It surely changed the trajectory of my life. And I am so grateful that Mark decided to invite me to church.

Sure not everyone's friend is going to keep coming back and that is normal. But it is sure cool when we invite friends and like Jordan this new narrative begins in their life.

The bible says "Go make disciples of ALL nations..." and it is exciting to see youth catch on to this and invite their friends. Hope to see your youth and some of their friends soon!

Questions...

The truth about our society is that we often times want to have "it" whatever "it" is figured out.  We treat faith almost like we treat math. 2 +2=4 meaning that our questions have simple answers.

The reality of our lives is that if we are honest is that we don't have things figured out. Last night we started a little series titled "questions." The first thing we did was come up with questions. I call these cosmic questions. It is questions that everyone has. The temptation though is to seek for easy, mathmatical answers, but none of these questions have easy answers or answers that we can fully know.

So here are some of the questions your youth asked last night... 
1. Was there anything before God?
2. Where is heaven?
3. How was God created?
4. Why do people of different faiths fight each other?
5. Is the bible all real? Who wrote the bible?
6. Can we believe in creationism and evolutionism at the same time?
7. Does going to church save you? What happens to non believers when they die?
8. Does someone like Hitler go to hell?

The temptation is always to answer these questions really fast. But the reality to all these questions is that they are complex. And a lot of what we believe can often times be formulated by what others think and not what the bible says. We will break these questions up the next few weeks and hopefully be enlightened.

I encourage you to ask some of these questions to your youth (They are the ones that came up with them). Ask them what they think. Tell them what you think and why you believe what you believe. Maybe this can lead to deep discussions. I am looking forward to this time!

We are all in this together.

This week we had our second Parent/Youth UMYF Potluck. This night was not an orientation. Instead it was an opportunity to experience God together as a community of people. In my belief the greatest spiritual influence on a child is... drum roll... the parent.  You have a unique opportunity to share and raise your child by words and actions. This reponsibilty is great. And I am so grateful that we can go on this journey together! This is not to say you are the only spiritual influence but you are once of the greatest.

My goal in youth ministry simply is to love, encourage, and inspire your youth. I want them to know that at the end of the day that they are loved by the God of the universe and that they matter.

This is not a simple task in the complicated world of middle school and high school. I want you the parent to come alongside with me. I am so grateful for each and every one of your youth. And grateful for each one of you. And each week I look forward to being apart of their lives.