As of today, while I write this, there’s an interesting news headline that’s been floating around the internet: In Kansas, school’s have banned teens from wearing hoodies.
Yep, you heard right. Hoodies.
When I first read that, I thought, “Uh-oh... those crazy Kansans.... maybe they were all bringing nunchucks or stun-batons to school, hiding them in their hoodies, and then robbing the cafeteria lady...”
It turns out, nope.
The school administration suspects that teens were texting during class, but aren’t sure because they could be hiding the phones in their hoodies.
Yikes. So no more hoodies if you live in Kansas.
Three months ago someone asked me what I thought it was like to be a teenager today. Let me just clarify something. I’m 26. I haven’t been a teenager in almost 10 years (and we all know that 19 doesn’t count anyway...)
The more I thought about it, the only thing I could say was, “I think it’s hard.”
It seems like everytime I turn around another institution is banning something or someone in the world of teens. Many malls now have policies that teens can’t shop without parents. There’s a restaurant in Welland which bans any teen wearing a school uniform.
Hear me out: I’m not saying that whatever bad behaviour took place to get these “bans” in place was OK. It wasn’t. But it’s hard to have an entire world closed off to you - a sort of “guilt by association” (or “guilt by birth-year”) - because a few people have done some stupid things.
Let’s face it, the world isn’t always very teenager-friendly. If you’re not banned, you’re misunderstood.
So let me be the first to say something very important:
The church needs people like you. I mean that. It’s not just “pastor-talk”. Without teenagers, the church is in a lot of trouble.
I think that there are a lot of teenagers who either disconnect from the church of never even go there in the first place because they don’t feel like they just fit in.
“I’m too loud, too different, too wild. I have too many piercings, I don’t know enough about the bible and the reason that our church has a ‘No Fireworks’ policy is because of something I did. I don’t fit in,” you say.
And if you’re not saying it, your friends are. Feelings like that are as reliable as mid-term exams.
It doesn’t change the bottom-line truth. The church needs teenagers. And Jesus wants you.
In other words, “Jesus likes that you’re wild and dangerous and will make mistakes... he wants you!”
Re-read that last bit over again. It’s important. Jesus likes that you’re wild and dangerous. He wouldn’t have it any other way. After all, who else is going to take on issues like global poverty, disease, injustice and oppression?
If you don’t change the world, who will?
Honestly, do you think it’s going to be people in their 40’s?
There’s a subtle change that seems to happen sometime between graduating from high-school and making a down payment on a mortgage. We get comfortable. We get cozy. We start liking predictability and safety.
It’s bound to happen - we want to raise a family, have a nice life, be nice people and drive a nice car. The only problem is that following Jesus isn’t a lifestyle with it’s own catalog that sits on your coffee table between a copy of “Better Homes & Gardens” and “Banana Republic: Fall Fashions”.
Following Jesus is actually a dangerous adventure that leads us into places that most sane people don’t dare to go.
I was asked last week if I was ready to “grow up and become a real pastor.” I think what they meant by that was “Are you ready to leave youth ministry and being in charge of a whole church?”
I said no.
Because if there’s anything that I’ve learned in youth ministry it’s that teenagers are just crazy enough, just dangerous enough and just scary enough to believe that Jesus wasn’t kidding when he said, “Follow me”... even if they don’t know where he’s going.
Following Jesus requires a sort of dangerous wonder that only comes when we’ve given our entire heart and all of our passions to Him.
Which brings us back to why Jesus wants you in His church.
It’s because His church has always been at its healthiest when it was full of people who didn’t know any better than to follow Jesus with reckless abandon.
It’s because He needs to put a living reminder in front of the people who have already been in His church a while that He has a sense of humour, and that soccer in the sanctuary, jello eating competitions, campouts in front of the church on Sunday mornings, mustard stains on the ceiling and walls of the kitchen after a banquet, people puking AFTER a jello eating competition, loud music, 2-recycle bins full of what looked like beer bottles (but are ACTUALLY just rootbeer bottles) and a mysterious smell coming from the upper hall that just won’t go away... well, they aren’t really the end of the world.
It’s because He needs to connect you with some precious people who have been in His church a little while and have walked through hell on earth, seen answers to prayers that would make the hair on your elbows stand up, and know more about the bible than should be humanly possible... He cares about you, and wants to connect you with people who will show you just how much He does.
It’s because if anyone is going to believe that His church can actually do something about a BIG issue, and then start working to do it, it’s going to be you.
It’s because your willingness to jump in head first, even if it means making a mistake or make a fool out of yourself for Him is something that reminds him of a guy named Peter that he used to hang out with in the bible.
It’s because teenagers are one of the most lonely, lost and hurting people groups in our culture. And if you don’t reach your friends, they’ll never know that Jesus wants them too.
It’s because there are times when you see more clearly what’s really going on or what’s really important, and you’re not afraid to be honest about it: in those times, He wants you to speak the truth to the rest of His church.
It’s because He loves you in a way that is too big for words, and He couldn’t imagine building a family without you.
God has a long history of calling young people. Probably because there were times when they were the only ones crazy enough to listen to Him. Teenagers are a gift to the church, and we need you. So step up, jump in, and follow Paul’s advice:
Don’t let anyone make fun of you, just because you are young. Set an example for other followers by what you say and do, as well as by your love, faith, and purity.
(1 Timothy 4:12, The Message)
Teenagers needed. That means you.