Today I read an article from The Red Bull Gospel | LeadershipJournal.net at www.christianitytoday.com titled "It takes more than Pizza and video games to give young people a faith that endures". It was about how youth groups that have only "fun" time are successful at entertaining teenagers but don't give those same people the tools they need to endure in their faith so after the teen years the teens are leaving the church in mass exodus. I identified with the article in an interesting way.
A lot of the people the article talked about were people who had left the faith but had a blast at youth group. This is not me. In fact it's the exact opposite of me. I was the girl interested in the bible, confused by it, so I went to youth group to learn about it. But when I found out 75% of the time we played dodge ball and the other 25% was somewhat scripture based somewhat a broken record of "please pay attention" I was so discouraged youth group became a secondary priority to watching TV. And I felt guilty about that because I thought it made my faith not a priority, which isn't really how I felt. I did go to church Sundays, even during college, but most of the time that was because my parents gave me a ride and I felt like I was letting down God if I didn't go.
Thankfully I don’t feel that way anymore. I now know not going to a group where one isn't getting the spiritual food they need does not mean I am letting down God or that faith isn't a priority. And through my perseverance in going to Church, despite my frustrations, I've learned that like most things in life at church you get what you give. There were times I was so frustrated with church I didn't want to open myself up to the possibility it could do anything for me, but that's changed. During my frustration I had the chance to concentrate on my personal relationship with God and he's patiently, he needed a lot of it, guided me and taught me how I can be a part of Christ's body in the church.
Prayer is huge. I find myself enjoying Los Angeles traffic because it's a great time to pray and when you pray during traffic the more you get stuck in it the better the day seems to go. I know it's counter intuitive but true. And prayer doesn't have to be elaborate, like I say in my novel, if you really hope for something you say a prayer. And contrary to what some believe, what I used to believe, prayers don't have to be selfless. Listing off a wish for every item in Tiffany's is not a good prayer but asking for a successful career, keeping in mind success is sometimes relative, isn't bad at all. And I tend to boil things down to my needs instead of desires. I want my career to take off now, probably will come with the response "not yet, patience young grasshopper" (God does have a sense of humor). So instead I say, "give me patience and the strength to endure" which often means God presents opportunities I don't really want to take in order to acquire those skills so I have to have a little faith.
Also, prayers don't have to be elaborate. Sometimes I just talk to myself during traffic (yes I am the weird girl talking to herself in her car). I tell God about my dreams and my stories, which I hope, with his help will make sense and mean something.
Other than prayer, volunteering is a big thing. Vacation Bible School, church office work, teaching children are all ways I've gotten involved. It's lead to good things, relationships with people who are good friends, a good relationship with the church staff, work for me as a babysitter where I've learned patience and gotten a great deal of validation for my efforts, which is really great nourishment for my spirit. And just recently I was installed as a deacon, where I get to learn a lot about how the church works and help make it work better where things aren't working.
Sunday worship is also important, giving us the tools for life and for the week. The first few Sunday's getting that can opener, pick ax, umbrella you have no idea what to do with is frustrating. But when you have to open a can of worms, climb a mountain, weather a storm they come in handy. And after awhile I find I'm like a fish. I had fish as a kid, many people have. Do you remember putting in those flakes of food and the fish just gobbled them up? I am those fish, sermons, classes, literature, are those flakes. I gobble them up but eating too much makes me sick (I get confused) so unlike a fish, at least my fat fish, I pace myself.
Finally, I wanted to mention David Bisbee my youth group leader, he was great, it's a hard crowd to work with while they are going through a hard time of life. I do remember one scriptural lesson he gave about belief being enough, which compared biblical characters to a specific instance of war heroism and a football player that was both entertaining and educational, and I don't like football (it just doesn't make sense to me).
The point of this post is there are teens who want to learn about the bible and there is a way to entertain and give spiritual food/tools. I know there is and I'm working on a Christian sitcom to prove it. And I want to thank the article for giving me an idea, which will help me with the sitcom.
