Young Radicals

February 1st 2008 I started my first day as the official pastor for youth at Central. The task was daunting but my excitement was coursing through me. I daydreamed about the revolution that was about to occur from the ground up. I thought to myself that if any group could change the tide of the church and ramp up the spiritual temp, it was and is the students. Imagine tapping into all of the energy of redbulls, pop music, and kids who can "mod" an xbox (I don't even know what that means but it sounds cool). Imagine getting that group of young and fearless students on board for a journey of their lifetimes.

Over the course of the past seasons of ministry my excitement has ascended to the heights and came crashing down onto the rocks of brutal reality. There have been times when I've seen incredible potential and also times when I've felt very uncertain. But at the current moment I feel like we are in a time like no other. I have to let you know that this Fall marks one of the most exciting seasons of ministry for CSM. Here are a few reasons why:

First, leadership is transitioning. We are losing some key volunteers and gaining some fresh ones. Just when we were getting comfortable, God decided to mix things up on us. This is a great 'problem' to have. It throws our dependency back on God. It would be a shame to operate on our own strength to the neglect of the Holy Spirit's power. God has not given us that option. Because we are sending off a great volunteer, we are forced to trust in God and not in ourselves.

Second, we've torn down old practices and are ready to rebuild. Over the past couple years we have stripped CSM down to bare bones. We put everything on the table and said to God, "if you want us to keep doing any of these things, let us know or they are getting thrown out." We whittled CSM down to 3 basic things. Worship. Teaching. Community. Even within those elements we strove for minimalism. Worship was simple. No frills. Teaching included a bible and a point. We rarely had a catchy title to a series or showed videos. We didn't even put the verses on the screens so the students would have to look in their own bibles. Community was basic. Community is always organic and difficult to plan. We gave time for small group at Fuel and set up couple different meeting places and times for high school students. That was it. And it worked. So, here we are barreling into a new school year with a blank canvas. We have removed all the distractions and are ready to listen to the leading of Him who loves His Bride. Jesus, what would you love your Beauty dressed in?

Finally, our group is about as rad as it gets. The students have crossed school lines and stereotypes. Seniors hang out with freshmen. Athletes hang out with gamers. Wisconsin hangs with Illinois. We have a real live biblical community! It is actually weird to see, but o' so exciting! Not only that, they are mature Christ followers! They know how to open a bible up and meet with King Jesus. They know how to worship Him when life is brutal. Take away the guitars and drums and just try to shut up their singing. Tell them to stop dreaming about ministry and missions and focus on school work. It won't happen easily. These kids are a revolution! They are an inspiration to young people everywhere and they are an inspiration to me. They are the real deal. They get it. Don't be surprised when they set an example for us in faithfulness and challenge us to really follow Jesus. Things may get messy, but following Jesus never seemed neat and tidy. I'm just trying to keep up with these young radicals.