This morning I had the joy of being with a local high school FCA group for See You at the Pole. We worshipped and prayed as all their peers walked into the school. It felt a little awkward, and vaguely familiar to my own days of doing See You at the Pole when I was in high school. I encouraged them to hold fast to the message of the cross, and challenged them to rest on the message of the cross as the center of the Gospel. With the cultural view of “we’re all good people” and “we’re all on our way to heaven” – this is a real need. We then sang an acappella version of “I’ll never know how much it cost, to see my sin upon the cross”, a topic covered in a book I’ve been reading by JI Packer and Mark Dever called “In My Place Condemned He Stood”.
My two prayers for this generation is that they would be a sacrificial people in their worship and living out of the Gospel. Our cultural state is not solely, but somewhat contributed to a version of Christianity in the states that lacks the sacrificial worship we see in nations around the world. Living sacrificially is something God is stirring in me – I’m not sure where it ends, but I’m heading down the path.
The second prayer I prayed over them is they would be a generation obsessed with the Gospel, and saturated with the scriptures. My concern is that the scriptures are playing a smaller and smaller role in the formation of believers, and particularly students that I am aware of. With the added attacks and distortions from the liberal “church” and the confusion of the Emergent church, this is a critical time in history to defend the scriptures – which hold the message of the Gospel. These are two prayers I have been praying over my life too – not just something for them.
It was great being there today, serving a future generation of leaders. I’m not prone to student ministry, but this was so refreshing. As we stood and worshipped and prayed, I was overwhelmed with a sense of HOPE for the future. It brought me to tears as we sang together and placed Jesus at the center of our affections.
I know what the naysayers believe about the future of America, the future of the church, and our youth. But they are wrong. I stood among them today – and there are young people who stand and hold out the life of Christ to a broken generation. The pray more fervently, more passionately – more expressively than many “established” Christians I know. I pray we continually affirm and believe in them.
Getting back in my coffee -soaked Jeep (don’t ask) I asked God to forgive me of some things I had come to expect and believe about the youth of today. I was wrong. I pray the next generation will stand as a shining light in the midst of growing darkness – and we will faithfully model, impart and empower them to champion the Gospel in the next generation.
