Part 2 of 5

What do we want for our students?

2.  Engage with people who think differently than they do
a.  We want our students to be non-judgmental.  It is the job of the Holy Spirit to judge the sins of the world.  When we label people according to their sin, it is impossible for us to see them the way Jesus does.  The world sees us primarily as judgmental and hypocritical.  We want our students to engage in a world that believes differently than they do.  If all the Christian kids hung out together, who would reach the unchurched kids?  But what if our kids become swayed by the un-churched kids?  That is where we come in as parents and student ministry volunteers. We have to partner with our students as they build those relationships to champion their walk with Christ as they walk with others.  They should be careful, cautious and wise, but they should genuinely love and serve people who don't agree with them.

b.  We want our students to include everyone.  Everyone matters to God.  We cannot be exclusive with an exclusive gospel.  Jesus went to tax collectors, prostitutes and all sorts of sinners.  They were not too lost to share the gospel with.  Our world and communities are becoming more and more diverse.  If we do not teach our students how to interact with people that are different then themselves, they will not be able to succeed in life.  It is okay to be friends with, and even learn from, people who are different than us.  If our salvation is the best thing in the world, which it is,   then why are we afraid it won't stack up in a marketplace of other ideas?  

c.  We want our students to be thinkers who wrestle with faith.  Our students need to understand that 

they can never figure God out.  They need to be okay with a paradoxical faith.  They need to be 

engaged in a faith that is bigger than themselves.  They need to fall in love with a God that is mysterious and wondrous.  If we ever get to a place where our students feel that they have heard 

all there is to hear, or know all there is to know, we are in trouble.  We want to give our students 

permission to doubt everything there is to doubt about God, and let God prove Himself to them.  

We want to be there for them in such a way as to help them wrestle.  Our tendency is to resolve 

the tension for them and not allow them to think through big issues of faith on their own.

d.  We want them to follow a risen savior, and not a standard of belief.  We want our students to 

follow Jesus, not a code of ethics or a set of rules.  Jesus + nothing = everything.  This is not 

Jesus + Manners = Everything.  It is not Jesus + Reading Your Bible = Everything.  This is not 

Jesus + (what you think students should be doing) = Everything.  It is Jesus + Nothing = 

Everything.  As much as we hate to think it, Paul writes we are NO LONGER under any law.  

Jesus is the only law.  We are a slave to a master.  We only are responsible to follow the master.  

Some people worry that by telling people we are no longer under the law, that we teach students 

that they can do whatever they want and still be Christians.  Unfortunately that is true, if there 

were no Holy Spirit.  But there is a Holy Spirit at work in the lives of believers.  If my kids never 

talked to me, they would still be my kids.  If my kids said they hated me, they would still be my 

kids.  If my kids broke the man made law and were punished they would still be my kids.  I 

would still love them.  I would still try to work in their lives and guide them and direct them.  I 

would still be there for them when they came to me for help.  Because THEY ARE MY KIDS.  

If they are believers, we have to let the Holy Spirit do it's work in their lives.  It is He and He 

alone that can change hearts on the spiritual level.  This will only happen if they follow Jesus, not 

an artificial means of behavior modification.

   
e.  We want them to love people.  ALL PEOPLE.  There is not a single good reason not to love  people.  We are to love like no other people on earth can love.  Jesus told His disciples that they 

would be known by how they love one another.  We want our students to be able to love 

everyone, everywhere, every time.  It is this love that drives us to share the gospel.  It is this love 

that leads us on mission trips.  It is this love that is irresistible to people who do not have it.

Trevor