516 Youth

In Sr. High Sunday School, we are going through the book Vintage Jesus by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears. This week’s topic was Why Should We Worship Jesus?, and part of the lesson dealt with what worship is and what it is not, including the issue of idolatry. Driscoll and Breshears write,

The opposite of worship is idolatry, or the worshiping of something or someone other than the One True God of the Bible alone. On this point, Christian philosopher Peter Kreeft has said, “The alternative to theism is not atheism but idolatry.”

The Apostle Paul touches on this in the first chapter of his epistle to the Romans, where he writes:

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Dealing with this idea of worshipping created things rather than the Creator, Driscoll notes an experience he had in India, when after seeing various temples and personal shrines erected to false gods, an Indian believer commented on the idolatry prevalent in the United States. Although Driscoll was at first taken aback by such a comment, upon further reflection, he realized it was true.

We picked up on this theme of idol worship in America at youth group on Sunday night by watching the following video that is played before each LSU home football game:

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This is part 3 of a 3-part series on helping the younger and older generations form relationships within the church. For why these relationships are needed and who they should be formed with, read Part 1 and Part 2 of the series.

Forming new relationships can be intimidating, especially for those of us who aren’t very outgoing (I, for one, am extremely introverted). There is always a risk of rejection (or just plain awkwardness) when you put yourself out there. But hopefully these tips for forming relationships between teens/young adults and those who are middle-aged or AARP members will be simple enough to avoid some of that awkwardness. For those of you who are outgoing and have no problem just walking up to someone and starting a relationship, feel free to jump right in and let us know how it goes.

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(Source: pastornoah.com)

In my previous post, I detailed why it is important for young people to form relationships with older believers in the church. Today I want to briefly describe who they should form relationships with. Because of the subject matter, instead of addressing parents, I’d like to directly address those who will be used by God to speak into the lives of our youth.

I suspect that one of the reasons why older people fail to mentor or shepherd the younger generation is because they feel like they don’t have much to offer or that the younger generation wouldn’t be interested in what they have to offer. While this is an understandable fear, the fact remains that whether the older generation wants to mentor the younger one or not, today’s young people need to be mentored (reread part 1 of this series if you need a reminder why). And it doesn’t need to be done by some super saint, corporate CEO, or athletic superstar. It just needs to be done, by anyone who is willing.

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(Source: pastornoah.com)

Earlier today I posted a link to an article in Leadership Journal on how intergenerational connections help young people develop a faith that endures the transition from living at home to going to college or entering the workforce. Because this is something I would love to see characterize our church, I thought it might be helpful for me to elaborate on the subject. So over the next few days, I’m going to write up a 3-part series looking at why we should help our children build these connections, who we should help them connect with, and finally, how we go about initiating those connections.

I know how important connecting with other generations can be because I benefited from those types of relationships when I was a teenager and young adult. I love my parents, and I had (and still have) a good relationship with them, but as important as that relationship was in terms of helping me come to and mature in my faith, my relationships with other adults were also a vital part of that process.

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(Source: pastornoah.com)

I’m not going to rehash the Penn State sexual abuse saga here.

For one thing, I have no desire to do so. Over the past 48 hours, I have read some great articles criticizing all those who refused to look into the allegations against Jerry Sandusky and standing up for those children who were victimized by him. I don’t have anything to add to what has already been written on the subject.

For another, I’m not even sure I could. I can’t remember the last time a story made me this sick to my stomach. I’ve had to lessen my exposure to the news coverage as the story has dragged on because I couldn’t stand to read or hear anymore about what Sandusky is accused of doing. It’s just disgusting.

As awful as the story is, however, I think there are some important things that we as parents and youth workers need to pay attention to, especially as the story pertains to Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno.

Paterno is one of the most legendary and revered figures in college football history, holding his position at Penn State for an astounding 45 years. Even when the team wasn’t having much success on the field and some were calling for him to be fired, no one ever seemed to question the fact that he was a good, moral man who at the very least instilled discipline and values into the young men he coached.

However, all of that went out the window this weekend when the story broke that a graduate assistant had alerted Paterno to Sandusky’s behavior a decade ago. Rather than confront his former employee (and reported good friend) or call the police, Paterno chose to pass the information on to another university official and wash his hands of it, content that, “I did what I was supposed to.”

Paterno has understandably (and rightfully) come under fire for fulfilling the minimal legal requirement without questioning what his greater moral responsibility was, especially since innocent children paid for his failure to do so. Whether this costs him his job or not is yet to be seen (Update, 11/9/11: Paterno has been fired.), but it begs an interesting question for us:

What can we do as parents and youth workers to ensure the safety of children entrusted to our care? How can we protect against passing the buck of responsibility at the cost of a child’s innocence?

Here are a five things I think we can need to do to try and avoid the mistakes Paterno and other Penn State officials made:

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(Source: pastornoah.com)