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I’ve been on this obsessive rant of late. It all began after reading an article titled “More teens becoming fake Christians” on CNN.com. In the article professor Kenda Creasy Dean of Princeton Theological Seminary and author of “Almost Christian,” notes that parents and pastors alike are teaching a “self-serving” strain of Christianity to our young people. Unfortunately I could not disagree. It’s an irritating reality and true nonetheless. But here’s what really set me off. Dean later observes, “If teenagers lack an articulate faith, it may be because the faith we show them is too spineless to merit much in the way of conversation.”
Spineless?! Sadly she’s right. I am not only embarrassed but ashamed that we’ve become such cowards; so complacent. What happened to being Christ-like? Jesus was a rebel to the cultural norms of his day, countercultural, a revolutionary. Come on folks, Jesus went on a rampage in the temple courts. Yes, on a rampage. He was offended by what the temple of God had become and did something about it. He flipped over the tables belonging to the moneychangers, scattered their coins and tossed the benches belonging to those selling sheep, cattle and doves. This wasn’t a yelling fit; Jesus actually made a whip out of chords to drive out those in the temple (John 2:14-16). Jesus was ticked!
But here we are parents and pastors alike allowing pop culture to shape our student’s worldview and not doing something about it like a bunch of spineless Christians! We fold at the glimpse of confrontation. What! Are we afraid of a little controversy? I’m afraid we are raising a generation without a backbone. A generation easily influenced, unable to defend their faith or stand for a holy and righteous God.
I’m not questioning your faith but your integrity.
While you sit and watch our culture influence our students away from Christ by the millions I’ll be flipping over some tables. Why don’t you make a whip and join me?
“Run Cocoa run, save yourself…” screams my daughter as I chase after my dog in a fit of rage. I was angry, angry enough where my daughter noticed my facial expressions, frustration and tone. I had all the “right” to be angry. I have a super hyper overly intelligent Cockapoo and she… I was angry for… well, no good reason. After playing it all back in my head I had absolutely no good reason for going bananas.
Do you?
We all get angry. Most of us have said things we regret in anger. A lot of us have even done things we regret in anger. Its such a raw and powerful emotion that typically gets the best of us; usually over silly things, selfish mostly and hold little to no value in the greater scheme of things.
Jesus too, got angry. He looked at the Pharisees in “anger” and was “deeply distressed” because they too missed the bigger picture. “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill,” Jesus asked. See, his anger was selfless; it was righteous. He wanted to restore a man with a “shriveled hand” but the Pharisees were concerned about upholding the Sabbath. (Mark 3:1-6).
What concerns you to the point of anger? What makes you angry?
The fact that their are homeless people in our communities, children that are molested, domestic violence on our streets, drug dealers on our blocks, walking dead people that we do life with whom have yet to know Christ personally?
No. We get angry because there’s no toilet paper in the bathroom, because no one took the garbage out or washed the dishes or because our children are not listening.
What about the fact that there are millions of people in dire need of physical and spiritual restoration?
We truly need a new perspective.
My four-year-old daughter enters her bedroom as she pushes a giant creaking door open. She looks around into the darkness in all her innocence and begins to whisper as she sees the frightening shadows of her toys and furniture. Her whisper gets louder and louder with every subtle step. My wife starts to make out the words coming from the lips of my brave little girl. “I am not scared because God is with me where ever I go.”
With a child like faith her words are declaring her dependence on the God of the universe. It’s humbling, simply amazing, a God moment to say the least.
We can learn so much from Children. No wonder Jesus illustrates this point in the Gospels as he speaks to a gathering of people including his disciples and Pharisees, “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” (Mark 10:15). I am sure most of us understand the point Jesus is making but living it, now that’s challenging.
As adults, total dependency… I mean TOTAL dependency on our Creator can be a wavering task. Becoming vulnerable can be extremely difficult since it requires total surrender of self. It means letting go and letting God. That means I need to loosen up my grip and give up my control of things. It means putting my faith in God and dying to self.
Ouch! I’m not sure I can do that in the midst of turbulent times, a weak economy plagued with high unemployment, a corrupt government and a culture closer to hell than heaven. See there I go again depending on my two senses.
God is faithful.
“I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (Matt 6:25-27)
I need to, WE need to push that giant creaking door open, look into the darkness; be strong and courageous; not terrified or discouraged; for the LORD our God will be with us wherever we go.
What words of wisdom! Did I say she was four?
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)
I learned something while teaching. It’s really amazing how God can whisper convicting truths to your own heart when communicating God’s word to a wild pack of teenagers. Actually, I must brag a bit, my teens are incredible young men and women but that’s a different post. At the Warehouse we are in the middle of a 3 part series titled PAUSE. I am hoping to communicate the urgent need for our students to unplug and PAUSE despite the busyness and media overload. I am encouraging them to be still just long enough for them to see God’s wonder; His handiwork; to see God moments that often pass right by us.
As a group we took about 50 students and leaders to the beach for some fun, BBQ, worship but most importantly for some quite time as the sun set. It was amazing! Mind blowing actually! I witnessed a God moment right there and then. Seeing dozens of students sitting in the sand, staring out at the horizon as the waves crashed, in a moment of intimate silence while in the presence of an omnipresent God. It was an awe-inspiring moment.
Ironically, that was the moment God whispered in my heart to be still and know that HE is GOD (Psalm 46:10). See I suffer from that busyness that seems to plaque many of us in leadership roles. Actually my hands begin to shake if I am still too long. I also suffer from media overload, so much so, that I am rarely still long enough to know that I stand in the midst of an infinite GOD that desires to spend a quite moment with me.
Let me encourage you to join me in unplugging from our phones, the internet, TV, twitter, facebook, email, from our to do lists, etc. for a moment and stand still long enough to see GOD moments; be still long enough to know that HE is GOD!
“Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
Welcome to my journey. I am Eddie Cortes -- an average dude who loves God, a husband, father and the student guy at Cornerstone Church in St. Cloud, FL. Sure, I do a few other things on the side but none of which are as important... continue.
