Never Stop Believing

What a day... it was filled with a variety of different activities. Some I would consider encouragements, and a very few that weigh heavily on my heart. They strike to the very core of who I am and make my blood boil at the mere thought.

I preached the message this morning, and it was quite the interesting endeavour. I’ve never used a laptop for the totality of my notes, and it took a little bit of getting used to, but it worked out well in the end. I had the attention of everyone who was there, and despite asking them to reach up a little to some new vocabulary (which I did my best to explain through usage and other synonyms), it was a very practically focussed message. It honed in on discipleship. Each of us are called to be disciple-makers, we all have a different way of making disciples, and we all have a place in the body of Christ and a role to fill. The key, of course, is that we have to be willing to go wherever God takes us.

The frustration came after my message. We had communion today. It was a different way of doing things than I’m used to. The children are dismissed from the service, the youth are asked to sit at the back of the sanctuary and the adults who are going to take communion move to the front three rows of the church. What was a point of contention in my mind was the way the youth are separated from the rest of the congregation. The way it came across was that they were not welcome to participate in communion with the rest of the congregation. To me, it just simply isn’t right.

When I asked Ken and Mary about it after the service, they said any of them were free to participate in communion. I naturally told them how the way it was explained came across to me and a few others, and waited for their response. They said that they never expected the youth to participate in communion! So I asked them if they had tried openly inviting the youth to come forward and participate in communion if they were believers... and then it came out. Mary turned to me and with her finger pointed right into my arm said, “Listen, young man, don’t you tell us how to do ministry here.”

Was that the earth slowing to a crawl? Could it possibly be true that the stories I’d heard were true? Did she actually just say that while poking me in the arm? Was my question really that offensive, when I was just curious on why they did things that way?

As the world sped back up, I decided it would be wiser to walk away from that situation than let my mouth express the many emotions and thoughts that were running through my head. How can you expect the next generation to take hold of your faith if they are treated like second rate citizens? Why can we not believe the best in the people around us and think that maybe, just maybe they can be better than they currently are? If I was treated that way growing up, I’m not so sure that I would want to be a Christian either... if that is who Jesus is, I wonder if I would want any part of Him.

Many questions, few answers. I have a strange feeling this will not be the last of that particular incident, and for that, I am actually quite glad. It is time to put the car into gear and start moving forward. It hasn’t been used in awhile, and it’ll be a difficult shift, but it is a needed one.

Jong and I spent the afternoon and evening travelling to the Outrigger and the Shangri-La. My first touristy afternoon while I’ve been here. Check out the pictures!