Sunday.....Christianity.....Conversations With Young People

While walking through a craft show with my wife the other day, we stopped and talked to a young boy (15 years old) from the neighborhood, and his friend. Pleasantries were exchanged and I asked the other young man his name and then said Do you have a plan for what you want to be? Asking a question like this is easy and natural for me. I'm confident when talking to young people because I have my early life so emblazoned on my mind and I see the pitfalls so clearly that I want to leave them with a thought or two. I really don't care if they think I'm asking a question that Gramps might ask. Our youth need challenged and I believe that many will respond to intellectual questions. In fact, I often see a spark in their eyes when they see that someone cares about them and respects the fact that they can indeed embark upon a journey filled with challenges and excitement. I know that many teachers, are teachers, for just this reason and my son had some that made a significant effect on him. I also know that you can go through school and, for one reason or another, be left out of this mentoring. I try to present myself as confident and garner some respect for my comments. You probably know the challenge that I face in this but I look to Christ to blur their vision if only for a few minutes. I want them to walk away looking for something to read. I want them to feel their mind exercised, not necessarily in the way that being called to the chalkboard (do they still use them?) might do, but in a way that makes them feel like an adult with a mind that matters. I want to name the name of Christ and see if their eyes remain focused on mine or if they wander off in the distance. If it's the latter, I want them to at least acknowledge so to themselves. I hope that as the conversation ends, they might, ever so slightly, feel like a soldier that just underwent an inspection....successfully, for they will shortly be needed as responsible citizens . I may want these things for them because I did not have them when I was young and I did not have the maturity to overcome the situation. With Christian young people, I want to do what the church often fails to do and that is place doctrinal issues before them to meditate on, give them a taste of the history of the church, its heroes, its conflicts and its tremendous successes as the Lord wills them. Most of all, I want to leave them with a challenge. They are needed in this time of distress. God will provide the faith, intellect and determination. It won't be easy but the fulfilment will be infinitely greater even than that sweet Pittsburgh Penguin Stanley Cup accomplishment. I often recommend reading The Pilgrim's Progress for no book that I know of so clearly presents the journey of a Christian. This young man from the craft show wants to go to an excellent Christian college or one of the military academies. His parents instilled this way of thinking into him. Others are not as fortunate.