Purpose and Growth
I spoke at the City Life Center earlier this week. The topic given to me was "Purpose." Some business people had come in to volunteer that night by serving the food. I overhead them explaining to teens why they should purpose to become better people. However, their reasoning was starkly empty. Bad people (all people) aren't motivated to change "just because." Furthermore, bad people (all people) an unable to change who they are from core of their being (Jeremiah 17:9). I have heard enough "pull yourself of by the bootstraps" sermons/motivational speeches. "The gospel is why; the Spirit is how" should be in every sermon.
One of our teens seriously wronged another teen this week. She had no remorse and pushed the blame on everyone but herself. This is because she has neither embraced the gospel nor heard the Spirit. The only reason why one should fundamental change his or her purpose and grow is because Jesus died in their place and rose from the dead, proving He is God. Meanwhile, on the other end on the other end of that situation, I saw a teen who resisted the urge to shut down or run away. We talked, we prayed, we hugged, and we dealt with it because Jesus resisted the urge to shut down or run away. When that kind of growth shows up every once in a while, I am delighted. Church ministry is not well-intentioned, moralistic behavior modification. Jesus has commissioned the believer to gospel-regenerated, Spirit-motivated heart change which leads to better behavioral change.
Yesterday was Man Time. That is an awesome ministry where we train boys to become men. This involves basketball, freestyle rap battles, and sometimes wrestling. Eventually, we get to the "man talk" part of the afternoon. I take the middle school guys aside while Jesse works with high schoolers. One young man who has impressed me of late is Chris. Amid the roaring chatter of a dozen jabbering middle schoolers, Chris interjected "Be quiet. I want to hear what Caleb is saying." Ironically, this week's subject was about how a man should be able to control his own body. Jesus was awesome at this on many occasion, but our boys are the worst. The silver lining? Chris just recently started being discipled and is clearly stepping out and seeing the light of purpose and growth. Pray for Chris because he is fighting an uphill battle with a rough home life. When it comes to the only purpose and growth that is going to last... The gospel is why; the Spirit is how.
One of our teens seriously wronged another teen this week. She had no remorse and pushed the blame on everyone but herself. This is because she has neither embraced the gospel nor heard the Spirit. The only reason why one should fundamental change his or her purpose and grow is because Jesus died in their place and rose from the dead, proving He is God. Meanwhile, on the other end on the other end of that situation, I saw a teen who resisted the urge to shut down or run away. We talked, we prayed, we hugged, and we dealt with it because Jesus resisted the urge to shut down or run away. When that kind of growth shows up every once in a while, I am delighted. Church ministry is not well-intentioned, moralistic behavior modification. Jesus has commissioned the believer to gospel-regenerated, Spirit-motivated heart change which leads to better behavioral change.
Yesterday was Man Time. That is an awesome ministry where we train boys to become men. This involves basketball, freestyle rap battles, and sometimes wrestling. Eventually, we get to the "man talk" part of the afternoon. I take the middle school guys aside while Jesse works with high schoolers. One young man who has impressed me of late is Chris. Amid the roaring chatter of a dozen jabbering middle schoolers, Chris interjected "Be quiet. I want to hear what Caleb is saying." Ironically, this week's subject was about how a man should be able to control his own body. Jesus was awesome at this on many occasion, but our boys are the worst. The silver lining? Chris just recently started being discipled and is clearly stepping out and seeing the light of purpose and growth. Pray for Chris because he is fighting an uphill battle with a rough home life. When it comes to the only purpose and growth that is going to last... The gospel is why; the Spirit is how.
Comments
Post a Comment