| Cover Stories: | In The Spotlight: |
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| Faith & Practice: A Fresh Look | East Richland: Summer Celebration 2000 |
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So maybe it wasn't quite a mountainous peak (just a cliff in Beaver Creek State Park).... and maybe I wasn't quite the sculpted, free climbing, Tom Cruise from Mission Impossible -- but hey, give me a break -- it was my first time rock climbing. I went with a group of Junior Highers during Yearly Meeting this summer and for some strange reason, even though I had never climbed before, I was chosen to demonstrate rock climbing to the rest of our group.
That was fine by me, because I was anxious to go. I started up the rock and was promptly told by Jack the instructor to slow down so that my spotter could keep the safety rope tight. I grudgingly slowed down, thinking to myself how silly it was to even have a rope since I had no intention of falling down. Now here's where the story takes a turn for the worse.
When I was only about a quarter of the way up, Jack asked me to stop so that he could explain some things to the kids. He began to explain footholds, handholds and safety equipment and then he explained that if I were to fall I would have absolutely nothing to worry about because my spotter would have a strong hold on the safety rope and could safely lower me to the ground. To demonstrate his point Jack asked me to simply fall backwards.
Now I'm a pretty trusting guy and since I was assured that I had the safety rope to catch me, I turned my back to the group and fell backward. I don't know if my spotter thought Jack was kidding, lost her balance, or just flat out didn't like me but as I began to fall and waited for the rope to catch me it soon became apparent that the rope was not even going to slow me down. So I fell down the rock. (Luckily for me a sharp pointy rock broke my fall about a foot before I hit the ground). Needless to say I made sure that I didn't fall when I climbed back up.
As I prepared to speak to those same Junior Highers that night and share God's truth with them, I began to realize that many of them lived life the same way I climbed rocks. Young people today have been lied to their entire lives. They have grown up in a society that teaches that morality and truth are relative, that humanity is the result of naturalistic evolution, and that they must decide for themselves what is right and what is wrong. Many young people have nothing to stand on and no safety rope to catch them.
They are left to climb by themselves , to make their own rules, and fall without a spotter.... there is no moral compass to give them a foothold, no absolute truth to safely hold their place. Is it any wonder then that in the next 24 hours, 1,000 unwed teenage girls will become pregnant, 1,106 teenage girls will get an abortion, 5000 adolescents will begin using drugs, 135,000 will bring a gun or weapon to school, and 6 will commit suicide. In a world where 56% of teenagers believe that there is no such thing as absolute truth they are falling with no rope to catch them.
I am thankful that there is a growing number of young people that refuse to believe these lies, who refuse to believe that morality and truth can be voted on or thrown away, who refuse to believe that they are merely the result of a cosmic accident...who want to know the truth, but there are many more who don't even know what the truth is.
If we as Christ's church are to live up to our calling, we must offer an alternative to the secular worldview that young people have grown up with by offering to our culture a truly biblical worldview. It is essential that we know what our faith means, live out our faith in every aspect and area of life, and share that faith with others.
As our youth groups across the country gear up for their fall and winter outreach programs, let's keep the leaders and youth in our prayers.
written by Rusty Savage,
Youth Pastor, Winona Friends Church
