Monday, July 26, 2010

Life After the High School - Part 2


Sustaining Spiritual Life After High School

First, it helps to start warning young people of the process of drifting away from God while they are still in senior high. (See article on this process at 18 and On Your Own.) God says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). Any Bible teaching series that will help them see the deception and prepare them to go the right direction is well served at this time. Second, it is vital that we offer spiritual and relational support after high school. Here are a few thoughts:

Challenge parents to stay engaged. A parent’s role changes after high school, but it is no less vital. It becomes more about mentoring and guidance, and it demands a close relationship and a heart connection. I am always ready to meet with the parents of our graduates and challenge them to stay closely connected. I can inform them of the challenges their graduate is going to face, and give them ideas for providing spiritual encouragement and prayer support. Ephesians 6:4 teaches, “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”

Establish an 18–23 year-old student department. We call ours “College and Career,” or "Cross Walk" and it falls under our student ministry organizationally. Currently it is led by me and my wife, and we strive to invest our hearts and prayers into our students after high school. My prayer is that the Lord will raise up someone else to take on this ministry. I’m eager and excited for my own son to be a part of this department as he transitions out of high school next summer. This group is significantly different than a high school youth group but absolutely essential.

Love them through the test of their faith. Every young person experiences some tests and trials during this time of life. Often those tests strike at the core of their faith. This is a time when their faith is proven personally. We must stand with them, pray for them, encourage them, and invest into them.

Be accessible for counseling and encouragement. At a time when the devil tries to distance them from every good relationship, we must be available. We have an open door and an open heart towards any question. At this age, they need biblical logic to answer honest and difficult questions. Jeremiah 3:15 admonishes us, “And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.”

Support them through tough decisions. I must be an unbiased counselor. Many of our young people are not called into the ministry, and they need to be reminded that the will of God for them is just as vital as full-time ministry. Young people attend secular colleges or choose local career paths. Our heart and passion for them is that they would follow God passionately and stay in His perfect will. Seeing our young people stay faithful to God is a great reward.

Be sensitive to their unique needs and challenges. This is a distinct stage of life that requires focused Bible teaching and encouragement. Consider some of these challenges:
~Because of classes and work, they don’t have a lot of extra time. They often work second shift and will not be able to attend a lot of weeknight activities like teenagers can. This doesn’t mean they don’t want and need fellowship. It just means it should be scheduled on Sunday nights after church.
~Because of minimum wage jobs and bills, they don’t have extra money. This means group activities should probably be free and in the form of fellowships or game nights. Nearly all of our College and Career activities are held on Sunday nights and are free or minimal cost.
~Because of the constant peer pressure in classes and on the job, they need to be reassured—it would be good to consider getting this group together frequently to share testimonies and encourage one another with their challenges.
~Because of their schedules, they can be hard to track down—we get emails and cell phone numbers, and we do our best to stay connected with them.
~Because of their culture, they can often be non-committal and easily discouraged—we challenge them not to reconsider their good and biblical decisions and are patient with them through times of uncertainty.
~Because their values are constantly hammered, they have many really good questions and can struggle with doubts—we must constantly strive to understand and answer their questions without getting frustrated that they have them.
~Because of an instant-gratification world, they often struggle with patience and fail to see that God’s best is worth waiting for—we must reinforce God’s principles of patience and fruit bearing, “In His season” (Psalm 1:3).
~Because they see themselves as one small spec in a mass of humanity, they need vision for their lives—we must strive to help them see how significant they are in God’s perfect plan.
~Because they are tired of being viewed as a child, they can often overreact to the perceived overbearing of authority—we strive so make sure they know that we believe in them, and we must not be overbearing! We should tell them that we know they will do the right thing. We must encourage them to get counsel, not because we want to control their lives, but because wise people always build good lives by listening to Biblical advice.
~Finally, because they long for relationships and are highly technical, they look to be accepted and connected in every way possible. We must stay connected, keep up with technology, and show them a godly example through close relationships. We must be available for one on-one-time.
(Adapted)

Friday, July 16, 2010

Fighting Authority


The Lord has placed authority figures in the lives of teenagers to correct, protect, and direct them. Regrettably, many young people bristle at the thought of someone other than themselves knowing what might be best for them, subsequently hardening their hearts to any needful reproof or guidance. And while illustrations of this contempt of authority—whatever authority that may be—abundantly dot the recorded history of man, it seems as if harboring this attitude of disdain and distrust is not only characteristic of twenty-first century society but also fostered. Rather than turning to an authority figure (a godly parent, a pastor, a pastor’s wife, a youth pastor, a youth pastor’s wife, a Sunday school teacher, etc.) for counsel, young people as well as their older contemporaries position themselves against that authority, dispelling or flouting any form of leadership; even instruction received grudgingly is diced and pared until it bears only the slightest trace of original meaning.

In Hebrews 13:7, we read: “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls...” Young people, we are commanded to obey authority, those that “have rule” over us; but perhaps there are some of who genuinely and sincerely wonder why authority should be obeyed and what their purpose is in your lives.

Correction. Much of your success or failure in life depends upon whether or not you allow godly authority to correct you. You have only lived a fraction, Lord willing, of a long life. You are still learning and experiencing that which those in authority have learned and experienced long before you were born. You must allow Biblical authority to correct you in areas where you are weak or need help. Wise you would be to hear and heed their correction and instruction.

Protection. The Biblical authority in your life is not there to harm or hurt you; it is there to help and protect you. For example, think of a field filled with hundreds of sheep. Surrounding those sheep is a chain-link fence which the shepherds have put in place for the protection of the sheep. The shepherds did not put the fence there because they hate the sheep or want them to suffer. On the contrary, they understand that, if the fence were not there, the sheep might wander onto the busy highway and become someone’s lamb chops. The same is true in your lives, young people. Satan desires to destroy you, the world wants you, and your flesh urges you to enjoy the pleasures of sin; God has placed authority in your lives to protect you from these enemies.

Direction. God has placed authority in your lives to point you in the right direction. They have been down the road you are traveling and are much wiser and more experienced than you. Authorities will help you succeed in life if you will allow them to give you direction.

Young people, please understand that authority is not your enemy! Ask yourself, how is your relationship with your authority? If it is not right, then make it right today. If you have had a bad spirit toward the God-given authority in your lives, confess it to the Lord today. Allow the authority in your life to give correction, protection, and direction. This statement has been embedded in my mind since my teenage years and has been true in my own life: “Happy is the man who finds his God-given authority then willingly submits to that authority."
Adapted