it is absolutely irresponsible for me to be up writing right now. i should be going to sleep to prepare for tomorrow.
but i've spent so much time in my head lately, thinking about the different stories i've collected from this summer of ministry. the reality of life colliding with the beauty of redemption on a daily basis. i have so many things to share, i don't even know where to begin.
so i guess i'll start with brokenness.
i'm an observer to the core. i sit silently more often than not during the summers and just watch people. students having a camp experience are so incredibly interesting. almost predictable at times. and for someone like me who has attended six camps and staffed 24, it is so incredibly easy to become cynical. you cease to be surprised when you see a student raise their hands in worship and then relentlessly tease someone on the rec field that next day. it just becomes par for the course.
so, whenever i saw a brawny, faux-hawked, too-cool-for-school football player 16-year old boy, i quickly placed him in a nice, neat box. he would have a poor attitude. he would think he is too cool. he would not be affected this week. easy call.
i was not surprised when our speaker, sam, asked him to read a passage of scripture from philippians, and he casually read it as if it were no big deal.
then sam asked him to read it again, with more passion and volume.
and again,
and again,
and again,
he read.
for it has been granted to you on behalf of christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him.
as he repeated these words over and over, you could almost visibly see the message sinking in. these words were becoming so much more than type on a page. they were life to him.
he began to sob as he read each word.
for it has been granted to you on behalf of christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him.
this tough 16-year old realized, in front of a crowd of about 500, that his life meant nothing apart from christ. and that to follow christ meant to suffer on his behalf. and that suffering on his behalf was granted to us--oddly enough, it is a privilege. suffering just means that you are doing something right in christ's kingdom.
i realized a few things in this beautiful moment:
i'm a jerk.
suffering is a privilege.
scripture is unbelievably powerful in and of itself.
god moves.
god moves more than i could ever imagine.
i hope that at some point in your life, the lord allows you to witness something like this. it is so humbling and exciting to see students get it; to latch on to the gospel.
it is good news to us.
even in suffering, it is good news to us.
