Guess what grieves my heart more than anything else as a follower of Christ & also as a pastor? When teens finally muster up the courage to come inside these four walls on youth night and none of us reach out to them. It grieves God's heart. John 3:16. 1 Corinthians 13. The WHOLE book of 1 John. Over 30 "one-anothers" stating our command to touch other people in the New Testament.
This last week there was a young lady from one of the local schools that came to our youth night. After talking with her for about 20 minutes doing my best to make sure she knew we were glad she chose to hang out with us that night, I asked her if i could introduce her to a group of 5-6 of our Jr & Sr High girls. Looking at the group, she then informed me that someone had already introduced her to them. This made me sad. You might be asking how? Simple. Why was she back standing by me at the door greeting? Why was she not made to feel so welcome, so valued, that she chose to stay with the group of girls? This is what happens. We are way to comfortable. Do we realize that sometimes "being comfortable" is our idol, in other words, it keeps us from doing what Jesus calls us to do. My heart wanted to shout real loud,
"Please, some teen, some group of teens, come over here and invite her to hang out with you tonight. Invite her to sit with you tonight. Invite her to tell you her story. Invite her to be your friend for the evening. Take her to the cafe and buy her a snack. Keep hanging out with your friends and AT THE SAME TIME invite her to mix it up with you. You don't have to leave your friends, just invite her into the circle with you. Don't you realize? If you invite her into your group of friends, she is going ot feel welcome. Then she will enjoy being with us. Then her heart will be open. Then she will want to know what we are about. Then by feeling your love and acceptance she will be totally ok hearing about Jesus, and in hearing about Him, be 100 times more willing to entertain the idea of giving her heart to Him."
Don't you realize? You opening your heart. You inviting her to hang out with your group on a Tuesday or Wednesday night. You showing kindness could be what UNLOCKS the door of her mind & heart to eventually ask Jesus Christ into your heart. In other words, you accepting her for the night could end with Christ saving her from Hell, from a lifetime of pain, and from a lifetime of living without God's love, God's purpose, & God's hope.
To sum it up, your small act could change her eternity. We are called to love. Read Psalms 34:18. Read Matthew 9:9-13. God's heart runs to the broken. If we will not accept others, then we MUST not dirty the name of Christ by calling ourselves Christians. Open heart. Open groups of friends. No clicks. Just open circles. Say no to being fearful. Say no to being selfish. Say no to being insecure. And be God's pipeline. If you plug into God and do not plug into others, then everything just spills and is wasted. God pours in so you & I can pour out. Step out. Step up. And in your own heart & life and in our youth ministry, refuse & defy in the name of Christ the selfish current of living to yourself and for yourself and only for those close to you. Spill your life as Christ spilled His blood...everyday!
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Hi, BJ-
ReplyDeleteWe're not familiar with RL. What denomination are you most closely affiliated with?
Hey Leslie. We are a nondenominational church. We believe the book of Psalms when it talks about worshiping God with our hands up, hearts open, and dance, instruments of all kinds, etc. We believe the Scriptures to be the absolutele Word of God, no compromise. And we believe that loving people, reaching out to our community, and taking spiritual authority in our county is what Christ gave His life for. Hope this helps. Also hope you will continue to read the blog and refer others. Get some comments going!
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