Reconciled to be a Minister of Reconciliation

Dulce's future is worth fighting for.

2Co 5:14-21 ESV - For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

For many years, I have been involved in youth ministry in some form. In the States I worked both with the kids in my home Church and also with kids from the community at a local Christian youth center. In Guatemala I spent a lot of time at the two schools that we planted and worked at. I got to know lots of kids and spend time with many of them. Over the years I suspect that the number surpassed 1,000 and maybe twice that. One thing that I noticed consistently was the relationship of a kids home life to their success integrating with others. A kid that is secure in their family life seems to do better in other social settings as well.

Security in the family is not just about giving the kid things. This often times leads to just the opposite effect. They get the idea that things, and not people are what is to be valued. It is also not about just affirming them without ever correcting them. This gives them the idea that they are only to be coddled and pacified. There is not security in that. What it does mean is that both parents are actively involved and engaged in the lives of their children. They make room in the family for the development of the interests of the child as well spend time discussing life with them, not lecturing but discussing. Kids need to know that their voice matters but also that not every idea they have is correct or good. Honest dialogue and real time spent and actively engaged with kids is needed for them to grow and develop. Teaching them to sort through their ideas and dreams and then helping them develop a life plan that is theirs and not yours will help your kids become secure adults. Time, affirmation and correction are all part of the needed ingredients to grow kids into secure, mature adults.

Unfortunately, many families today are not like that. Often the parents push kids to participate in the activities that they enjoyed or wanted to be better at. They use sports and other extracurricular activities as a babysitter and the child's interests have little to with their participation. The busyness of the parent's lives and not the interests of the children determines the activities that they are involved in. This is not to say that parents should not push kids to find activities that they want to participate in because they should. Many kids would do nothing if given the opportunity. The need to be encouraged and even pushed to find an interest, to pursue something that they enjoy that also challenges them to grow and excel. Those activities however should not be a replacement for quality time together and meaningful discussion. Kids need both.

The demands of our modern society along with the brokenness of the world we live in has made this seem like a pipe dream. Families are under attack from all sides. Many of the attacks are obvious, like drugs, pornography, blatant sexuality in entertainment, and endemic violence. On the other hand, many of the attacks are subtle and may even seem beneficial to them at the time. These are things like sports that require several hours a day, 7 days a week "so they can excel", or pushing academic success at the cost of social life and family time. Even Church youth groups or other organizations that demand time and participation on an intrusive level that hurts family time. These things might be good in the right context but can be detrimental to kids when they become all consuming and that seems to happen often now. The word commitment is used to guilt people into giving more than is healthy to an organization, sports team or even Church. This leads to young people becoming stressed out adults that cannot manage their time because they cannot say no to any good activity. They feel the need to participate and support everyone all of the time.

Healthy families, strongly rooted in a solid relationship with Jesus and committed to one another is the key to healthy societies. As we have seen these family bonds erode over the last few decades, as divorce and cohabitation are on the rise so are depression, loneliness, suicide, mass shooting and increased mental health issues. We have become a society that does not remember how to produce healthy children. we have replaced time spent with activities. Kids do not feel connected. Most have little sense of family history and without knowing that you came from somewhere, it is hard to believe that you are headed somewhere either. Life is limited to our 80 years here on earth. It leads to nihilism and to fatalism. It is time to turn the ship around.

Secondly, for kids to grow up healthy and secure, we we need to work to leave them a better world that the one that we currently inhabit. Paul tells the Corinthians that they have been reconciled to God through Jesus. In other places he calls them saints, holy ones. The strange thing is that Corinth may have been way more depraved than the western world of today. If you read the things that he corrected them for in the first letter, many of them seem to have persisted in the second. Things like incest and orgies seemed to have infiltrated and been tolerated in the Church. Yet Paul calls them saints. He not only tells them to stop and to live like people that have been reconciled to Jesus but then to go and reconcile others to Him also. Paul did not feel hopeless about the state of the Church. He spoke life and reconciliation to them so that they could then go and minister that same  reconciliation to others. We too have been given this ministry of reconciliation.

The world today seems to be spinning out of control. People are fearful because it seems so bad. I hear all of the time the Bible tells us it is only going to get worse but I think that is just an excuse. We feel overwhelmed and do not know what to do but I think there is a clear Scriptural answer. We are called to walk in the light as Jesus is in the light. We are called to let our light shine. We are called to be ministers of reconciliation. Our kids needs us to reengage society if we do not want theirs to be a lost generation. They need us to take seriously this call we have been given by God to not settle with the world as it seems to be but to be ambassadors of Jesus calling men to be reconciled. If we will do this, there is an amazing promise in Isaiah 60 that I believe is not just for Israel but for all that choose to obey the voice of God in dark and trying times.

Isa 60:1-5 ESV - Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you.

God is wanting to restore society and heal our young people. He is wanting to fill them with hope and help them walk with confidence into the next stage of their lives. That is His plan but it requires something of us. It requires us to invest ourselves in them, not just youth pastors, coaches, teachers and mentors. It requires us all to be involved, to pursue reconciliation for the world and to love people. It requires us to speak hope and work for Godly change. It requires us to invest our lives in Kingdom pursuits. Jesus is at work but His primary way of intervening in the world today is through the activities of His body, the Church. It is not enough to go to Church on Sunday. We have to actively engage society and engage our kids to continually bring the message of hope.

This world is not lost. It is not hopeless. It is not doomed to continually get worse. Jesus is building His kingdom. The gates of Hell will not prevail against it. He is pushing back against the darkness. The only thing that stands in the way of kingdom advancement and a better world is a disengaged Church. We can and should pray but the answer to a transformed world and a future full of hope for our kids is a Church that fully engages society and pursues the purposes of God. I think your kids are worth it. How about you.