Do Something Crazy

I preached at a church this past weekend for a youth service and I challenged the congregation to do something non-traditional or crazy in order to reach this present generation. The text that I used in the illustration was from the Gospel according to John, chapter 9, where a man was born blind from birth and the disciples wanted to point blame at either the blind man or his parents. Isn't that just like church folk, to find someone to point a finger at? Well, after the disciples asked Jesus who sinned, Jesus responded by saying neither but that this had come to pass so that God could show Himself strong!

In the midst of a concise and precise piece of exegetical text, Jesus does something crazy and unusual. He spits on the ground. This didn't make sense to me when I read it, and still to this day, it sounds rather abstract and against the norm, but this is what it took to reach the masses, doing something unusual! How many of us are willing to do something unorthodox to reach this generation of young people who are hurting and abandoned? How many are uninhibited with their own personal drama to the point where they can handle the burdens of our youth? Most young people that I talk to on a daily basis across the country look at church as irrelevant because most of what goes on inside the four walls has nothing to do with Monday through Saturday living.

From our choice of music to the style of preaching, our youth are hungry, looking and waiting for people to shed the hype and the drama and the fluff and give them real sincere ministry. The type of ministry that they're looking for is that one-on-one relationship that you only get when you're able to be real and transparent and show them the wounds from your own past and tell how God brought you out. I challenged the congregation to NOT hold the youth to what was done "back in the day" but to encourage them to serve and give God praise in their own way.

In the book of I Samuel, we see where Saul (representing the old school) tried to put his armor on David (representing the new school) so that David could fight Goliath. Well, most of us know the story and David was unable to use King Saul's armor because it was too heavy and it didn't fit him. He had to fight Goliath with his sling shot and with 3 rocks. In other words, he had to fight using what he had because that was what was more comfortable for him. What am I saying? Let young people be themselves and begin understanding where they are coming from before placing judgment.

God said that He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He's the God of the generations, not just in the good times, but in the bad as well. So, this day I challenge you to do something crazy to reach this present generation. Do something that might have the old establishment question your motives or may even get you kicked out of your church, hell, just the other day, one of my young people performed at a club and yours truly went to support. I didn't necessarily care for the joint but it was important to me that the young person saw that I was willing to go where he was in order to reach him. That's all I'm saying, DO SOMETHING THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE TO THE OLD SCHOOL because today is a new day and the message doesn't change but the methods have to if we are going to occupy!

Now that's real talk.