Love them like Jesus

It is not often in youth ministry that you see any kind of fruit. The students you love on are in the stage of life that is between childhood and adulthood. They are growing, whether they like it or not, in many ways. And sometimes you can't tell if their parents taught them something or if they learned it in youth group. You can see if that mature decision was because they are growing up or because they saw you do it. But there are rare moments when a kid tells you that your love actually made a difference. I'm sentimental by nature. I keep almost every single encouraging card ever mailed to me. I save text messages that make my day. I save emails that warm my heart. (And I read them on bad days.) The other day, a student told me that my unconditional listening and understanding was me being exactly like the Jesus I was claiming to follow. I was deeply honored (but I didn't cry! I swear!) Later, I worried that I hadn't said enough. After all, my Jesus loves me, but loves me too much to let me stay the same. Maybe I should have said something more to challenge this student. We were agreeing to disagree on some things, and I was much more interested in listening than talking. Also, he taught me several things, too. My point is that I wonder if he was right. Was I being like Jesus by being loving and accepting? Or would Jesus have been more challenging? I cannot know for sure. I just hope I continue to point in the right direction -- the direction of Jesus. I don't think it's helpful to judge. See Matthew 7:1. But I do think love is both accepting and challenging. See Ephesians 4:15. Like I told this student, I will always believe there is a truth out there. I think it's imperative that I be accepting of everyone no matter where they are in their own understanding of the world. But I pray that I help others go further rather than remain the same. And I hope I point in the direction of Jesus!

Comments

KTElltt said…
Hey Aaron! I don't keep up much anymore now that I don't have my facebook but I try to read blogs here and there. I know this is an old post but I just read it today. I think it's wise to hold your tongue when you don't know what to say. There are so many scriptures about taming the tongue, and sometimes even presenting scripture when the intent is argumentative can do more damage. None of us is perfect, and so we're not going to be exactly like Jesus but you obviously showed Jesus to this kid. Maybe he's never really been listened to before. And I think my favorite part of this blog is where you say he taught you a few things. We can see the image of Jesus in anyone because we're all created in His image, even the nonbelievers. I think we should move away from trying to always think we'll change people and maybe start looking for the image of God that He himself has placed in everyone... (Although I agree that we should challenge lovingly whenever we can!)
8:50 AM
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