EXPECTATION

It's no secret that Christianity is going thru a crisis in America today.  Especially among the younger generations.  When asked what has helped their faith grow, 'church' doesn't make the top 10 among Millennials.

Somewhere in the 1900s we realized there were teenagers among us.  Before that we'd thought of people in just two categories:  Children and Adults.  A child reached 12 and he/she was suddenly responsible for helping support the family -- working -- bringing in income -- cooking -- cleaning -- etc.

You were either a child or you were an adult.  In the last 100 years, we've discovered there was another group:  Teenagers.

Entire industries revolve around them:  movies, music, fashion, fast food, online services - their likes, their dislikes, their habits, all scrutinized by ad companies.  Someone once said that 92% of teens would be dead today if Abercrombie decided breathing was uncool.

But of all the things society wants to wring out of teenagers, high expectations isn't one of them.  Or maturity.  Or productivity.  In fact, society has come to expect less and less of them.

The internet is full of material on things associated with teens:
Drugs.
Alcohol.
Sex.
Porn.
Drinking.
Depression.
Suicide.

Those are some low expectations.

I don't know that the Bible is super helpful either.  God doesn't seem to specifically address teenagers.  Instead, Paul writes:  'When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.  But when I became a man, I gave up childish things.'  (I Corinthians 13:11)

Paul doesn't say: 'When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.  But when I became a teen, I sort of looked like an adult and I kind of sounded like an adult, but I still acted like a child.'

He says:  'I became a man and I gave up childish ways.'

Paul writes later to Timothy, an aspiring young pastor, and says:  'Don't let anyone look down on you because you're young, but set an example in speech, in life, in faith and purity.'  (I Timothy 4:12)

Whew!  It doesn't seem God has one standard for young adults and another for old adults.  He has high expectations for all of us.  Where culture and society expect little, God expects great.

This is how I believe we should view our student population who are working out their Jesus salvation -- as awesome and capable of doing great things.  Set the bar high.  They're a significant part of the MOVEMENT God has called us to at Journey Church and beyond.

We can't do this without them.

And be blessed.