As we get older, we lose our ability to dream about being a hero.
I think that at some point, almost every little boy and girl wants to be a superhero. Kids love the heroes. Our two oldest chirldren regularly run around the house pretending to be one superhero or another. Right now, Brayden's favorite hero is Buzz Light Year. He received several different pieces to complete his outfit on his birhtday earlier this month. Upon putting it on, he immediately began flying around the house performing stunts that he thought were.......super! We had to explain to him that he is, in fact, not invincble in his Buzz suit. It is an incredible dream that we could accomplish great things using a special power, isn't it?
As we get older and life happens, it seems that most of us lose our ability to dream about being a hero. Too many times, our focus is narrowed down to our daily responsibilities and the stress and pressure of life. Life teaches us that we are all far from being superheroes.
This morning, as we discuss how to love youth, we are going to discover some truths about how we can live out our dreams of being heroes. So how can we become superheroes by loving the youth? What does that look like in real life?
Walk in love.
Ephesians 5:1-2 (ESV) gives us a picture of what I think is the first thing that we can do. This passage says, "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."
Anyone who has been around children for any period of time knows that imitation is what many of them do best. I can clearly picture what is being instructed in this passage as I frequently see my children imitate me. It can be cute and flattering when it is something nice, like holding the door open for other people or greeting them with a smile. It is not so flattering when they imitate the things you say when you are not modeling Christ.
For example, when Brayden says, "Uggggh! I am so tired of your right now." Or "Fine, just do whatever you want!", I'm not so proud then! Where do they hear this stuff? They imitate Christen, they imitate me, and they imitate Buzz Light Year. But in the same way, we are instructed to imitate God.
We are to walk in love and live sacrificial lives.
One characteristic that makes superheroes so special is that most of them are willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of others. For us to demonstrate a sacrificial love that is the same as Christ's love, we are communicating that we believe that the youth are important, have value, and are worth our investment.
You can give of your time by serving in one of the countless programs, teaching, or setting up and tearing down. You can invest by making time in your schedule for your children to be active in the programming for the youth. This afternoon, we will be trasforming this place for VBS Mission X, and can use additional help as we turn this place into an outer space adventure for the week.
Another way we can invest is through our finances. By giving faithfully to the work of the church or by partnering with a student who wants to attend one of our summer programs, we are helping make it possible for students to experience life changing events. Most of these "mountain top" events could never happen without the generosity of God's people.
We can also give sacrificially thorough relationship. My kids could often say that when I get home from work, I am a dud. I'm a boring, no fun, worn out grump. I know that when I return home after a long day that I need to have something to offer my family if I truly want to communicate to them just how much I love them. By proioritizing my time, my schedule reflects that I value the relationship.
Making an investment in the youth in your own home and in the church works the same way. We need to have something to give to the relationships with them so that they understand how valuable they are to us and to the Lord.
The whole armor of God.
Before Bruce Wayne hits the streets as Batman, he puts on his suit of armor. Before Spiderman swings through the city, he equips himself with his skin tight, swinging from webs, superhero outfit. We too need to be prepared. Ephesians 6:10-18 (ESV) tells us to put on the whole armor of God.
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication."
The reality is that we are at war with the spiritual forces of evil for the souls of our youth. We must draw our strength in the Lord. We know the power of the Lord and that he is with us. Therefore, we draw our confidence and strength to stand up to evil from knowing we are with him. Like little children facing a fear, they can do it because they are squeezing tihgtly onto their daddy's hand.
Fortunately for us, putting on our superhero armor does not require that we wear tights! What it does mean, though, is that we must be prepared and be willing to be spiritual heroes. If we do not prepare ourselves for this battle, and if we are not willing to step up and be the spirtual heroes for our youth, then darkness will likely prevail because the evil one is hard at work trying to steal them away from the light.
Steps to encourage our youth.
1. We must love and speak the truth to them. Truth means knowledge. Truth is found in God's word.
2. We must live right lives, according to the truth. We can't be compromised with hypocrisy.
3. We must be prepared mentally and physically for the battle that rages for our youth.
4. We must trust with complete faith that God's word is true and will prevail. This will prevent the evil one's lies from reaching us.
5. We must know the word of God because that is the Holy Spirit's sword that will be used to penetrate and dismantle the enemy.
6. We must pray without ceasing. As the Spirit of God lives in us and guides us, we need to have an ongoing conversation with him as to how we would proceed.
7. We must teach them to put on the armor of God so that they are pepared to defend and to fight for their faith.
I recently watched part of a nature show about bears. They named and followed dozens of bears around in order to document their behavior. There was a mother bear and her cub that were shown frequently. The baby cub learned everything it needed to know about how to survive and thrive from the mother bear. It was the mother's instinct and duty to prepare him for the moment that he would set out on his own. She fought tooth and nail against other bears to provide for and to protect her son.
To take any other action than to daily put on the full armor of God and passionately live by the Spirit's leading is failing to prepare our youth to survive and thrive in this battle in the heavenly realm.
Neither being a Christian nor loving our youth are spectator sports.
This past week, I was privileged enough to spend the week with a team of people who passionately pursued the lost, broken, hurting, and abused. I was part of a team of people who daily put on the armor of God and marched boldly into the battle that is waging in the heavenly realm. They put on their armor because they know what is at stake.
I was amazed by the team as they tirelessly poured into the campers that were a part of the week. They truly were spiritual superheroes to the campers this week as they sacrificed their time, comfort, sleep, friends, jobs, and famiilies in order to walk by the Spirit and be the hands and feet of Jesus.
We had high school students leading incoming freshmen into a relationship with Jesus. We saw the Spirit lead us into conversations that will have an eternal impact. Some of the youth were a little challenging to love, but love was poured out on them. The gospel was shared over and over throughout the week.
By the end of the week, 5 campers made decisions for Christ. 8 campers rededicated their lives to making disciples for Jesus. 1 camper committed to full time ministry. It was a powerful week. God was working in transformative ways in the lives of the campers, through the faculty team.
Do you have what it takes to be a spiritual superhero?
We need spiritual superheroes on our team here at Lakeside. We need to be a community of believers that is willing to sacrifice for the sake of our youth. We need to equip ourselves and march boldly into the battle that wages for the lives of our youth. Whether you are married, single, or divorced; old, young, or somewhere in between; mature in your faith or brand new; parent, grandparent, or never been a parent; we need you to be willing to be the hands and feet of Jesus. We need you to love the youth the way that Jesus loved us, sacrificing himself so that we might be saved.
When you consider what is really at stake, the spiritual well being of the next generation, it seems clear to me that we should all tap into the power of the Holy Spirit and accomplish great things through his power.
We all dream about being a superhero. If the same Spirit dwells in us that worked thorugh the disciples in the book of Acts, then imagine what will happen in each household. If we were to each choose to daily put on the armor and do tha work of the Spirit, our youth might just change the world. Imagine if we lived knowing we are with him and his power.
Let's be the church that teaches our cubs to thrive. Let's be the body of believers that God uses to shape nations thorugh our youth. Let's be a body of ordinary people who choose to arm ourselves and show our youth how to love the way Jesus did. If we lived like that, our youth wouldn't need Superman, Spiderman, Batman, or Buzz Light Year. They would see us modeling how to live as a spiritual superheroes!