When we step outside the doors of our church buildings and into the world of community youth work, the things we see may be appalling to our morals, however we have to have the same attitude as Christ.
If you’ve chosen to step outside the comfort zone of your church office and into the world of community youth work, I’d wager the life of the average teen to be:
Appalling;
Disturbing;
Sad; and
Unbelievable.
I had heard the stories and read the news reports; but once I looked into the faces of those behind the stories, it became a lot harder to cope with what I saw. Here are some highlights:
An 11-year-old who was struggling with sexual identity calling himself gay.
A 16-year-old who was facing the fact that her younger brother had been murdered in a gang fight.
A 14-year-old kid who started working as an escort.
Watching two teen girls start making out at a Christian youth event.
A group of teens I know that beat a man to within an inch of his life when he refused to buy them booze from the liquor store.
It was hard enough to hear the stories, but harder yet to know what to do with them once they made their way into my heart. I would start with despair for the situations, move to disgust over the behaviors and end up heaping judgment on any I thought deserved the blame:
The parents
The media
The church
The whole of western society.
It was very draining and emotional experience. I began reading the gospels and watching Jesus interact with the outcasts of His society. I didn’t see those same reactive feelings in Him that I saw in myself. He spoke with a caring compassion that attracted ugly, hurting, dirty people. I realized that to hear the dark stories of these young people was actually an honor as they felt safe to share the reality of their lives with me. It was a chance–like Jesus–to guide them toward truth with gentleness and respect instead of with fear and trepidation.
Danny Ferguson is just a normal guy. He likes to ride motorcycles, watch movies and discuss philosophy. He also happens to be a youth worker. Follow his blog, or connect with him on Twitter and Facebook.
