"To listen," is the most common response. "To learn," is the second-most common. And of course, given the way we've structured church for people under 18 (as school), it's not unusual that they'd say that. But when I press, and ask, "What about your job as a Christian?" very few kids can answer, beyond, "to learn about God."
The earliest Christians were doers. They were learners, but the bulk of what distinguished them was their deeds. They stood out for their compassion towards humanity. We have to remember that for about the first 20 years after Jesus, there were no New Testament letters or gospels, and that the canon of scripture didn't coalesce for at least another 100 years.
So what drove them? The Spirit of God and the spirit of the life of Jesus. We have to think that they were so moved by his example, his sacrificial life and death, that they felt obligated to live differently.
What are we doing as Christians? I call these heart and hand experiences, and they are the "H" factor in making kids "R.I.C.H." Serving others changes us, in ways talking about serving others never will:
- Serving empties us, creating a need to be filled.
- Serving makes us reflect on the concept of "lack", both material and spiritual.
- Serving tests our patience and challenges our motivation.
- Serving makes us thankful for all that we have.
- Serving puts us in contact with others who serve, and who know of other needs we weren't aware of.
- Serving stretches us to do things we don't really want to do.
- Serving forces us to set aside time in our schedule that's not about us.
- Serving brings us close up to folks who aren't like us.
- Serving pushes us beyond ourselves.
Years ago, I applied for a middle school ministry position and didn't get the job; I wasn't the person they were looking for, but also, "because it seems like you have a heart for missions." That was a really strange statement to me. Shouldn't all Christians have a heart for missions? Isn't that what we do - whether it's in your family, neighborhood, city, country, or internationally?
The "doing" in Christianity has to do with living our lives on purpose. It's not just existing day to day, and it's not just "being nice". When Christian living is nothing more than "being nice", Christianity is nothing more than a system for training children in virtue. No wonder so many kids outgrow it.
Heart and hands experiences set kids up to live lives on purpose. Short-term missions - even one-day projects - transplant kids to a different environment, where they think about different things and do different tasks than they would ever do on their own...with the hope that the doing will follow them back into everyday life and become part of a daily rhythm.
We have a missions opportunity coming up for kids & parents (kids can be any age, up through high school), to Mexico April 4-8. An interest meeting will be held next Sunday, February 9, at 12:30 in Room B-202.
Even if you can't travel to do missions with your kid, here are a list of ways to help in the community. Pick one (with input from your kid), and make it your "thing":
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·
Host single
Marines for a holiday meal (you can contact Jack & Nina Baugh janiba1@cox.net who run our Military Support Network)
·
Care for an
elderly neighbor (and, see below)
·
Provide a meal
for 40 at Solutions for Change (http://solutionsforchange.org/)
·
Brother Benno’s
(bring up a group) (http://www.brotherbenno.org)
·
Make a quilt or
a craft, donate it to a hospital
·
Bread of Life (http://www.bolrescue.org)
o
serve at a
nightly meal
o
twice a month
they need volunteers to pack food boxes
o
Pick-up once a
week or month from Trader Joe’s (good opportunity for a homeschooling family)
·
Respite care
for someone who’s disabled in your neighborhood (and, see below)
·
Nursing homes
need people to read or play cards (the low-income facilities need more
visitors)
Then watch your kid get R.I.C.H. from the experience of living for something beyond themselves.
