Today’s a Monday. For a Young Life leader, it is one is one of the busiest days of the week but, it is also our favorite day of the week. Today, us young life leaders will rush out of our last college class to change into high school dress code. We'll walk into high school lunches and try to talk to kids. Some will be excited to see us, some will get up and leave when we sit down at their table, and some will simply not say a word to us the entire time we are there. “Get comfortable being uncomfortable.” This is the YoungLife saying, and boy it’s true. At 5 p.m. we will setup for YoungLife club, we'll pray, have club pick up and then drop off kids, and clean up club. When it is all said and done, we will have about half the tank of gas we started with and it will be 11 p.m.
But, this is only Monday for a YoungLife leader. The rest of the week will have us going to lunches again and driving to see our kids at sporting events, buying them ice cream, playing frisbee, or anything else you could possibly think of. Whatever it is, it doesn’t really matter, what matters is that you get to go into their world instead of them having to come into yours.
You see, I don’t know your religion or church background, but let me ask you this… Have you ever walked into a room and felt judged? Have you ever walked into a room and felt like you just don’t belong? Well for a lot of people this is how they have felt every time they have stepped foot in a church. This experience leaves them thinking:
- I’m not perfect so Jesus can’t love me.
- This whole Christian thing is way out of my element, and just not for me.
This is simply not the case. Jesus loves everyone and believe or not following him can actually be a whole lot of fun. If you don’t believe me just check out any of the verses below:
Romans 5:8
John 3:16
Proverbs 8:17
If you have ever gone to a YoungLife club it probably flipped your idea of a youth group upside down. You walked in, sang some songs you had heard before on the radio, watched leaders drink a glass of gross, blended food, then they talked about Jesus for 10 minutes, and you left. If you were a Christian you probably would say it was very “surface level” but, if you weren’t a Christian it probably had you leaving thinking, “Maybe this whole Jesus thing could be really fun after all…”
So, what I’m saying is that sometimes Young Life get’s a bad reputation because we do not always attract the kids that have it all together. I get that, and I am so thankful for that. Because thank the Lord there is a ministry out there trying to allow people who have never heard about Jesus, or in some cases don’t want Jesus right now, feel welcomed with Jesus. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that churches aren’t important. Churches are so important. I go to church, I love church, church is important, kids need church and trust me us young life leaders will try to get them there too!
But as Christians can’t we all be so thankful that there are young life leaders out there going to jail to pick up their YoungLife kids, getting phone calls to drive drunk students home safely, having leaders listen to problems without students having to feel judged? As Christians can’t we be thankful that students are getting loved exactly where they are at, just like Jesus would do. Because I thank God every day for the vehicle of YoungLife, I thank God every day there is this amazing thing able to help us love people exactly where they are!
