Subscribe to the NetworkGUEST POST: Teens are Like Mobile Phone Batteries
I remember when I got my first mobile phone. I was told it was really important to charge it all the way up to the maximum, and then run it down until it was completely flat, and then charge it all the way up again. If you didn’t, your battery wouldn’t have its upper and lower limits properly established. It would learn that it’s ok to only give 80%, and that it’s ok to give up early. It would never operate at its full potential.
I wonder if the same thing applies to youth ministry?
Filling up to the max – Are your young people confronted with the rich, deep, passionate prayer lives of people who walk intimately with Jesus? Are they thrown in to environments of extended, humbling worship? Are they exposed to others who flow in the supernatural and who can testify to real-life miracles?
Running completely flat – Have your young people actually witnessed injustice (as opposed to just hearing about it)? Do they regularly find themselves in situations where they are completely out of their depth and need to rely fully on the Holy Spirit? Do they know what it feels like to sit with someone in need and feel powerless to do anything to help?
The consequences for getting this wrong with a mobile phone are reduced potential and decreased effectiveness. Are they any different for a young Christian?
(My fear is this: We get this wrong, and the result is Christian adults who are cynical of the supernatural, apathetic for justice, and lazy in their relationship with Jesus.)
Jarrod Newton is a regular contributor at The Salvation Army’s Youth Leadership Blog.
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