Line in the sand

Since I have been working with youth there is one thing that I have begun to notice not only about youth ministry but about churches and other ministries as a whole and that is we have very low expectations of them. Simply put, we are not challenging people to rise above and make a difference. This is one thing that we noticed this past summer after talking to some of the youth ministers that came to camp. Many of them told us that they merely skimmed over scripture and didn't want to go too deep because they were afraid that the students wouldn't get it. Wow! The reason they aren't maturing already and deeply knowing the scriptures is because we have no confidence in them that they can do it. This is evident in college ministries and some churches as well. The reason Christians of all ages aren't growing and maturing in Christ is because those teaching them have set the bar so low and have left it there since the beginning not allowing them to grow further. What this causes is apathy and it causes many Christians to fall asleep.

Martin Luther described a dream he had about hell in this way: he envisioned Satan sitting on his throne and demons were coming to him and reporting back to him. The first one came to him and said, "some Christians were on this caravan through the desert and I caused some tigers to attack them and kill them." Satan said, "that does nothing for me because their souls are with Jesus." Another demon came up and said, "Satan there were some missionaries on a boat and I caused this great wind and these waves hit the ship and killed all the Christians." Satan said, "Again you don't get it, I'm after their souls!" This wise demon came to Satan and said, "For 10 years I've been trying to lull this guy to sleep, and finally he went to sleep." And with that hell began cheer and applaud because ONE person had fallen asleep.

Don't fall asleep! God is drawing a line in the sand and saying "WAKE UP!!!" It's time for us to wake up to the power and grace of God or else we are going to miss out on it all and miss out on the amazing things that God is doing in our churches and in our cities. If you fall asleep then there is no use for you. Continue to grow and do this, not by joining another Bible study, but do it by serving. Serve in your local church, become committed to it, become a member of their family, and dedicate yourself in every way. Furthermore, serve your community show them the love of Christ that they have been missing because the church has been sleeping. "Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." ~Ephesians 5:14~ Wake up, don't be left behind, raise the bar and offer all that you are. Are you falling asleep?