Deep Breaths

Right now we are flooded with campers....lovely little middle schoolers cavorting through our buildings, banging on our doors for fun, destroying our property and disrespecting the staff and neighbours (like the people who stood outside their church van at 8am this morning in the parking lot blaring Christian worship songs from the speakers). My custodial, a wonderful sweet older lady, was bemoaning the toils of having to clean up after these kids on a daily basis and she said something I will never forget: 'In all that they are teaching these kids about Jesus in their camp sessions, can't they show them how to respect others and their property?' The camp counselors often gather their students in the lobby right outside my office door and I can usually hear their conversations if I am at my desk. The other night I overheard a rather lengthy discussion about drugs and he was advising his young listeners not to smoke pot because there were far greater rewards in their crown in heaven if they avoided such things. Later that night, the same students were not smoking pot but they did keep wiping off my 'do not enter' sign from the whiteboard on our apartment door and then banging on it and running off laughing.

I do not intend to undermine the counselor who gave sound advice to his students to avoid taking drugs, I applaud his care and love for these kids. What does concern me is that I have spent a lot of my time with youth groups saying and focussing on the same kinds of messages 'don't do .... because of.....' instead of pointing out all that we can and should be actually doing. John often has said to me that God asks us to give up something only in the place of something far greater. He offers perfect beauty and intimacy in marriage in place of relationships without full commitment, emotional freedom of grace and forgiveness in the place of bitterness, revenge and hatred, charity and blessings for everyone over personal gain and material objects.

What are we replacing for our students if all we're giving them is a list of don'ts? I am more convinced than ever that we should all be looking at who we are at our core and how we are impacting our world by our choices. Shouldn't we be teaching our students about the character of Christ; about what it means to take up your cross and follow him (which doesn't just mean give up drugs, sex etc but truly lay down our core of selfishness) and how we are to practically love others as ourselves? What should we be doing because of who we are? Maybe the other things wouldn't be such a struggle for our students if they were focusing on all that has to be done and not just what they should be avoiding.