GUEST POST: 9 Cheeseburgers

on August 16th, 2009

We’re standing in line at McDonald’s on the way home from a week away at summer camp. Chris, a 75 pound ball of 6th grade boy is in line in front of me.

“Hey Rob,” he says, “How many double cheeseburgers can I get for ten dollars?”

“Um…nine,” I say.

Chris then turns around and says exactly what we all think he will, “I’ll take 9 double cheeseburgers please.”

Camp is just not a normal experience is it? I think that is exactly what makes it so good.

Summer camp is often the highlight of our students’ summer. It’s a week where they get away from home, stay up late, and have some of that independence they are desperate for. For many it’s a week where they just abuse themselves (and others) with the lack of sleep and horrible food. And at the exact same time it’s a week where they encounter God in a way they might never have before.

This past week at camp I watched our middle school students worship in amazingly authentic ways. I saw them engage with the speaker. I listened to them have deep and insightful conversations during small group times. It was beautiful!

And then the last day of camp came and I started hearing the phrase that always bothers me, “Don’t let camp be just another spiritual high. You can go home and continue to worship God just like you have this week!”

Now don’t get me wrong I totally understand the sentiment here. However, let’s be honest, it’s ok to ride a bit of a spiritual roller coaster. I would even argue that it’s pretty Biblical. Take a stroll through scripture and you’ll find people having amazingly intense experiences with God, crying out to God because they feel abandoned by him and absolutely everything in-between.

So why would we set our students up for failure by pushing them to try and recreate a summer camp experience all year? First, it’s impossible and they are just going to end up disappointed and a little disillusioned with God. Second, I am way more concerned about our students learning how to worship God in all the seasons and situations in their life.

Because really, we can’t order nine cheeseburgers every day.

Rob Bergman is the youth pastor at Windsor Crossing Community Church (www.wcrossing.org) in St. Louis, MO. See inside his world at www.youthcrossing.blogs.com/rob.


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Comment (1)

Oscar at 11:31am August 17

never thought about it that way. I’ve said that in camps. But I see your point and agree. I think that this topic leads to community. Because there is something special when you worship, serve, learn, etc, in community. Camps, for many reasons, help build a feeling of community that is hard to experience outside of camp. Tha same difference is between worship sunday morning with the church and worship alone at home. thanks for sharing your thoghts Rob