Here are some thoughts from Youth Weekend '11. Part I is from Friday night, and Part II is what I intended to share Saturday night! But God had other plans for us that night. And I sure am glad. It was powerful!!
Several months prior to YW '11, I was speaking to several student leaders about what they thought God might want to speak to us through the event. One thought that kept coming up was "What's the point?" As in, what's really the end of all this? What is it we get in the end? As just about any 4 year old in children's ministry could tell you, and correctly so, the answer is JESUS! Jesus is, and should be, at the end of everything we do.
As I began to think about their question(s) I started to formulate my own. I asked, "Beyond…?" As in, Beyond what? What is that thing that we are wanting to look beyond? I think before we can answer the question "What's the point?" we must first address the question What's the point of what?
I thought I had found the answer in Hebrews, chapter 12, the first verse:
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us…"
That's it – we're running a race. I've been told countless times that we're not running sprints, but a marathon. We're in it for the long haul; hence the word 'perseverance.' The more I thought about the picture of a marathon, and then about needing to address the right question first, I considered if it would be similar to this picture: Looking at and studying the layout of the marathon course, the hills, the turns, even the finish line – without ever knowing where the starting line is! Or, maybe even knowing that it is a marathon that we're running.
What if we were all suited up to play football, in full pads? It would be quite entertaining to watch someone try to run a marathon dressed like that, wouldn't it? Or, what if we've got the wrong sport? And what if each of us thought we knew what "game" we were playing, and thereby knew the rules of the game that needed to be followed? How would we know who was really playing the game correctly? How would we know who won? How is a victory even determined? In some sports the highest score wins, while in other's it's the lowest.
This is how many of us live our lives – especially in regards to faith. We're really not so sure we know how to play the "game" and it just looks and feels like chaos. We only really know how to play according to the "rules" we're familiar with: what we've been taught or heard others talk about; what we've previously experienced; what our upbringing has put into us; and how we've interpreted what we've heard based upon those previous experiences. These "rules" that we've accumulated dictate to us how we're to play the "game". Or to word it correctly – how we're to live our lives. References to "the game" speak about our lives; "the rules" to how we're supposed to live them out.
When you hear someone speak a message, like this one, or read the Bible, or hear people speaking of Jesus, without giving it much thought you take those things and apply them to the "rules" with which you're familiar.
I contend that maybe, just maybe "the game" and "the rules" are all together different than we may think they are. Perhaps just different than we've been trying to live them out up till now. Maybe our approach to God, the things of God, living our lives in the context of God, is something altogether different. Maybe the rules are different than we thought!
Maybe we need to learn new rules. Or maybe, we've been playing the wrong game, using the wrong ball. Instead of a basketball, or a baseball, or a volleyball, or a soccer ball, what if the game was lacrosse? (Who plays lacrosse anyway? lol j/k) It'd be tough to play lacrosse with any of those other balls. Right? Stay with me for a second longer, what if… there was no ball at all!? Or, what if… all our rules were not the correct rules? OR, what if… there were no rules at all?
Thinking about participating in a sporting event where there were no rules would certainly create nothing but chaos. Surely! Why? Because each person would be playing based upon rules built on wrong premises: the premise that their rules are right and everyone else's are not; that there even are rules; that they have to win the game; or even, that the game is theirs to win.
What if… : the outcome had already been determined; that what you do, or don't do, does not change the outcome of the game; that the game was already in the bag? What if…? Watch this video clip of Jason McElwain… Now, I'll ask the questions above again.
Jason, a boy who has a disorder that renders him socially inept, being able to participate in a "team sport"?! Crazy! What affect did the fact that the game was virtually a done deal have on Jason's ability to play the game? Everything! What affect did that have on his teammates when he came on the floor? Everything. If you noticed they were feeding him the ball. They wanted him to not only play in the game, they wanted him to score – and score big! What affect did it have on the audience when Jason entered the game? How did they respond when he scored his first goal? His second? Third? What was their demeanor at the end of the game? But to rush out, storm the floor, and hoist a boy who's not supposed to be able to play the game upon their shoulders as the MVP of the game. It's not "supposed" to be that way. The senior captain who was interviewed was beaming with pride. Isn't HE supposed to be in the limelight? Wasn't it supposed to work out where he was the MVP? Seems a bit like chaos to me… but a wonderful chaos!
Let's start over. "What's the point?" "Beyond…?" Beyond what? What's the point of how we play the game, how we live our lives? Or is the question actually, what's the point of the reality that the game has already been won? It was Jesus who not only changed the rules, but he changed the game. He changed how we get to play the game. He set it up so that we get to play the game. He did so by already winning the victory for us. He has defeated our enemy, the greatest opponent – death. The very worst Satan could do was to kill Christ, but even that was not enough. Because of God loves us so very much, he asked Jesus to suffer the greatest defeat of all time. And it was the power of that love for us that enabled Him to defeat even death, and He rose from the grave. God demonstrated that there is no opponent, no weapon, or even enemy that is strong enough to hold the victory over us.
Believing that this is true for you is called "faith"! (Rom 5:1) It is in believing that victory is not based upon how you live your life (play the game) – it's not based upon a specific "religion" (the right sport) – not by being good enough, smart enough, spiritual enough, etc. (your skill level or talent, even being an athlete or not). But only that Jesus has won the game for us. We get the "win" when we see ourselves like Jason.
