My youth group and I had an awesome opportunity to
attend/work/serve/have fun/throw marshmallows/whatever at Sports Camp a few
weeks ago. Sports Camp is a souped up VBS pairing the teaching of sports with
the teaching of Jesus. It’s one of those great opportunities to go and serve
others.
The great truth about any mission
trip though is that you get so much more than you bargained for. You go to
serve and teach. You leave with so much more. The Sunday after our return, we
sat down and made a list. The end result is a list of things we, as a group,
learned. Here it goes…
1. We saw a small picture of God’s Kingdom
This
one is mine. I always feel such a longing for God’s Kingdom after being with a
group of fellow believers. So much more than a song, I see the Kingdom in
fellow believers. So much more than words that often relegate God’s Kingdom to
streets of gold or the size of mansions, I see a snapshot of His Kingdom when
sharing in the collective lives of other believers. It’s a place where God’s
presence negates the need for both sun and moon. It’s beautiful.
2. Kids look up to us
Charles
Barkley once infamously touted that he, “was not a role model.” We are role
models. We are real. Many of us can’t do remarkable things with a basketball or a
football, but kids watch us more intently than any sports star on television. We are real and we are tangible.
Plus, we’re taller than they are; they have to look up to us.
3. A good attitude is important
We
possess something that so many others don’t…hope. I Peter 3:15 is not simply
about being ready to argue. It’s a verse that tells us others will come to us
because there is something so different about us. Jesus yields hope. Hope
yields an attitude worthy of the one that starts the process.
4. We are the only Jesus some will see
The
student that brought this one to light prefaced his statement with, “this gets
said all the time.” The phrase is overused for a reason. Broken homes, broken
lives, a broken world and there is only one answer for that. Our encounter with
Christ should move beyond us. Through service and genuine caring that can be
accomplished.
5. There are cool Christians
People
that believe in Jesus aren’t cool. People that profess faith in Christ aren’t
popular. At least that is what the movies and media tell me every day. I think we learned the opposite is true. Even without Tim Tebow, we still found people we could be proud to call friends and fellow believers. Of
course “cool” is never our goal. Still, I don’t have to search the world to
find people to hang with. I don’t have to compartmentalize my life with “church
friends” and “popular kids.”
6. Love the unlovable
One of
the core values of our youth group is to: Love people when they lease deserve
it and when they lease expect it. Like anything in life, this can become a cool
phrase for a t-shirt that we never actually apply in our lives. Sports Camp challenged all of
us to love those kids that didn’t act the way we wanted them to. I was screamed
at, my wife was kicked in the shin and my entire youth group has decided having
children is “just not for them.” That is all right. We were able to overcome
THE greatest obstacle in loving others…us. We had a chance to get past
ourselves and see those that just needed to know they were loved no matter what
or who they are.
7. Patience
This is
pretty self explanatory, but so important to us. Someone had patience with us.
A parent, a mentor, a teacher, a coach, Jesus and that made the difference for
all of us. Patience is not just something we prop up on a pedestal. It is something that has to ooze from us as we deal with others.
8. Being active is important
One of
my youth leaders lost 15 lbs during his week at "boot camp." He was looking for
hidden cameras shooting a new season of Biggest Loser. Teaching kids sports,
playing ultimate Frisbee, lifting weights- all of those things were way more
fun than sitting on the couch eating potato chips. There are so many drums that
get beaten about sins we shouldn’t commit. Gluttony and slothfulness should be
listed somewhere as well.
9. Love kids
We
overlook them. We believe children are the future. They are people that need
love now. Enough said.
10. Be flexible
We are
so rigid in our everyday schedules. My new friend Jackie shared a story with
me. It concerned being late for a meeting because the time he spent with a
broken individual was more important than being on time. So many times I value
time, punctuality, or production over people. Be late for a meeting. Change
your plans in a minute. It can make a difference to someone that needs you and
not your day planner.
11. Heaven is bigger than where we live
It is
so easy to get focused on my church, my town, my house and forget how
wonderfully large and diverse God’s family is.
12. Positive relationships are important
For as
long as there have been camps there have been “camp romances.” Stealing
someone’s heart for our own fulfillment does a disservice to us and others. One
of my youth leaders shared something so telling: “It’s not just about being
physical. Every relationship you have, you give a piece of yourself away.” We
should be careful in giving our hearts away. We should be just as careful with
the hearts we try to capture.
I think
the beauty of all of these lessons is that they didn’t take a sermon series or a
bible study for us to figure out. All it took was taking the things we have
heard over and over and actually doing them. Personally, I can’t wait to see
what we learn next year.
