PROMISCUOUS SEX. Out-of-control drug use.
Astronomical teen-age pregnancy rates. Dysfunctional families. These aren't
exceptions for modern teens--they're the norm.
"Father Knows Best" has become "Father's Not Here Anymore" and "Leave it to
Beaver" is now "Leave It All Behind and Try Someone Else." "Married with
Children" and "The Simpsons" are more like documentaries than sitcoms.
When it comes to spiritual beliefs, most of today's young people have been
taught that all religions are equal--as is no religion at all--and that to try
to convert others to your own way of thinking is the greatest evil of an
open-minded world. If their parents' world still recognized the colors of black
and white, their world has combined those two into an all-encompassing
gray-tone.
But piercing into that gray-tone are a growing number of young Christians
who are committed to taking a stand for their beliefs. A stunned nation
witnessed such commitment in December 1997 after a horrific shooting that took
the lives of three students. Fourteen-year-old Michael Carneal fired 12 shots
into a group of Christian students gathered for a before-school prayer time at
Heath High School in Paducah, Kentucky. Just two days after the tragedy,
members of the prayer group were back at the school offering forgiveness to the
assailant and ready to continue standing for their beliefs.
Ben Strong, leader of the student prayer group, used media coverage of the
event to share his faith. Asked by CNN's Larry King how he was able to forgive
the shooter, Strong said, "The way I look at it, God forgave me for my sins and
through what Jesus Christ did for me, I am able to forgive Mike."
Strong is just one of the Christian young people showing adults and youth
alike what it means to be on mission with God in a changing world. Instead of
cowering behind the troubles that make taking a stand for Christ difficult,
many of today's teens are not only taking stands, but also steps forward in
developing on mission lifestyles.
Many young people have a bigger desire than ever to become hands-on in their
world. Whether that means designing Christian Internet sites or building a
house in inner-city Tupelo or Toronto, the results are the same. Teens of the
'90s want--as the saying goes--to get their hands dirty. And that's just what
many of them are doing. On Mission spoke to several students who shared their
stories.
At Dorman High School in Spartanburg, South Carolina, 17-year-old Ann Hodges
helped organize a True Love Waits event. Throughout the week-long program,
participants collected cards pledging sexual abstinence from 260 students (out
of 2,500 in the school) and displayed them on a banner.
"We had a few students come to us and say, 'What's the point of this? Why
would you want to stay sexually pure?' " said Hodges. "We finally realized that
there are always people who aren't going to agree with our beliefs," she added.
"We just had to sit down with them and explain why we believe what we do about
saving sex for marriage. That gave us a chance to tell them about our
relationships with Jesus."
Originally launched in April 1993 by the Sunday School Board of the Southern
Baptist Convention, True Love Waits has received major media coverage and has
grown to include 42 denominations and Christian student organizations.
In Cookeville, Tennessee, 15-year-old Jason Fuller participated in an event
similar to that of Hodges. "It goes both ways," he says about the reactions he
received from fellow Cookeville High students. "Some people still make jokes,
but other people are more receptive to it. I've been able to talk to a few
people about it, and I've even been able to talk to one of my teachers about
it. She sounded pretty interested, so I got to tell her why it's important to
me to stay in the will of God."
Other Christian students are leaving comfortable homes and surroundings to
serve those in need and make an impact for eternity. Last year alone, more than
500 church youth groups from across North America packed up in crowded buses or
cramped vans and traveled as far as another state or country, or as close as
their own communities, to reach out with the love of Christ through hands-on
ministry.
For Tim Johnson of Ellicott City, Maryland, ministry meant teaching Vacation
Bible School sessions to Choctaw children in McAlester, Oklahoma. Rather than
taking the easy way out and returning each night to the comfort of an
air-conditioned hotel room, Johnson and the rest of his ministry team lived in
tents for the week, making themselves more accessible to those they were trying
to reach.
"We were always right there," says Johnson, "and we had some kids who would
come back at night and talk with us. They would just show up, and we would get
to share about the Bible and Christ even more with them at night."
Johnson said the trip broadened his perspective of what on mission
involvement really is.
"After the 26-hour bus ride there and back and roughing it for a week, it
opened my eyes," he said. "If I can get on a bus and do that, I can walk out my
front door and do it." Since returning from his trip, Johnson has become more
deliberate about talking to friends and those around him about Christ. He now
goes regularly with a group of students to Baltimore Harbor to do street
witnessing, and has taken up a mentoring role with the youth group--providing
them an example of on mission Christianity in action.
Christian students in Florida have found a creative way to share their
faith. More than 400 teen-age Acteen members have participated in Cross-Walk
events. While some members of the all-female group gain attention by carrying a
wooden cross, others distribute water and soft drinks to parched tourists and
beachgoers. Along with liquid refreshment, the young people share information
about living water that will cause them never to thirst again.
The cross vividly represents what the teens believe in. Tracts and verbal
information tell onlookers how they too can have a life-changing relationship
with Christ.
Eighteen-year-old Natasha Powell, of Port St. Joe, Florida, helped carry the
cross along the beach in Panama City.
"Being so public about our stand for Christ made us extra careful of
everything we did and said," said Powell. "We knew we were representing Christ.
CrossWalk made me more aware of the position we are in all the time as
Christians. People are watching us. We should be very careful of our example
and look for ways to tell people about Him."
Thirteen-year-old Krystie Hudgins of Calvary Baptist passed out tracts to
passersby in downtown St. Augustine. "It doesn't matter what people think about
you when you're taking a stand for Jesus," she said after learning the
importance of personal evangelism. "What matters is that we're serving the
Lord."
Sean Taylor is associate editor of On Mission.