Painting the Picture:
It is easy for the students in our ministries to get the wrong idea about Christianity. To be fair, it isn’t their fault; most of our students are connected to our ministries because their parents want them to be. At some point in their parents’ lives, they made a profession of faith and gave their hearts to Jesus. The parents intentionally have chosen to be a part of a church community for their own spiritual growth and development. Part of the decision in choosing a community is finding a place for their children to develop spiritually, as well…which leads us back to our students.
Most of our students are a part of our ministries due to the faith of their parents rather than their own. This is probably part of the reason the faith of many of our church family students seems so dry and weak. At best, they are choosing the religion of their parents; but this religion of their parents is a far cry from the Easter faith that is offered to us by the risen Christ.
If we want our students to move from religious faith to Easter faith we must paint the picture of what that sort of faith looks like. We have to affirm them where they have been and where they are and encourage them to take the next steps. By examining some of the purposes of the Easter story, we can help students identify where they are in their personal faith and what it might look like to move closer to a faith that is alive and full of power.
Substitutional Atonement:
This is a big and fancy phrase for church people, but it is vital to our understanding of Christianity. An explanation of atonement is given in
This purpose of the resurrection is the beggining steps in our Christian faith. We are sinful people separated from God. Christ takes our sin upon Himself and bears our punishment in our place. In exchange, we become righteous, not because of our works, but because of His faithfulness.
It is this understanding that most of our church kids understand and accept. This is an intellectual understanding of faith and the transaction that happens because of the cross. However,if our faith understanding ends here, we are left with a boring and selfish version of Christianity.
The Gift of the Holy Spirit:
The second purpose of the resurrection is that the Jesus we love and follow is not just a sacrificed Savior, but is actually alive. In
The Holy Spirit is the key ingredient to transform a generational faith into a personal one. Without the Holy Spirit, our students are destined simply to be religious people who will be good church folk. When our students actually recognize the Holy Spirit is alive and active and wants to lead and direct their lives, they have an opportunity actually to develop a relationship with a God who is alive.
Conversing with the Holy Spirit is dramatically different than the religious duty of confessing sins, thanking God for our blessings and offering prayer requests. We must help our students realize the Holy Spirit is what separates our faith from simple religion. Access to the Holy Spirit cannot be transferred generation to generation. We only have access by our own confession of faith.
Power over Sin and Death:
“Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin” (
Death and sin are the signatures of this world. We experience grief and heartbreak because of this broken world. People’s horrible choices impact us and crush us. Our choices impact others and crush others. This world is broken!!!
For our church kids and for most of their peers, the world is broken; for them, good works, charity and recycling is the answer. The resurrection is Christ’s answer. Death and sin no longer have the final word. We do not have to be good people trying to make the world better. Rather, in Christ we are new creations. We are being transformed into the image of Christ; we are being healed and made whole.
This process of transformation is not by works but by the work of a Savior who is active and alive. Jesus’ resurrection proves that He has true power over the grave and sin, and 2,000 years of church and world history prove this power is real. Telling your story and the story of people in your own community is vital to help shape the reality of this transformation.
Students aren’t old enough to have the perspective to see the gradual healing the Holy Spirit has done in our lives. This is the testimony we must proclaim. Gutter-to-glory stories aren’t helpful in their development. Jesus is alive and at work in our lives in big and small ways, and we must be faster to point that out and celebrate together.
Ushering in a New Kingdom:
This last purpose of the resurrection is the most exciting and least selfish. So far the beneficiaries of the first three purposes are ours. We are the ones who are forgiven and made right. We are the ones who get direction and comfort from the Holy Spirit. We are the ones who are being transformed and freed from a life dominated by death and sin.
The last purpose, and I think the main purpose is to usher in a brand new kingdom.
The resurrected Lord is now King of a kingdom that is nothing like the kingdom of this world with all its death and destruction. It is an upside down kingdom where the poor, meek and pure in heart are blessed and the pride is taken down. It is a kingdom where there is faith, hope and love.
What is mind-boggling is that the risen Lord invites us to be part of the ushering in. We are the body of Christ, and it is our job as people with a genuine faith in Christ and access to the Holy Spirit to roll up our sleeves and get to work. The mission trips we do, the acts of compassion and mercy we do, the justice work we do are all part of bringing in this new kingdom.
Helping Our Students Get It:
This Easter faith cannot be transferred down from our parents. Our students need us to help them understand where they are genuinely at with their faith. Do they simply have intellectual assent to the work of the cross? Do they have a one-way relationship with the Holy Spirit? Do they know they can be transformed by the work of the Holy Spirit, not by trying harder? Do they know that they are part of God’s solution for healing and life on this planet?
Adolescence is the appropriate season for them to separate from their parents’ identity and faith and figure out a faith of their own. We must not be blind to good church kids who have good theology do good things, yet miss a faith that is connected to the power of Easter. Let’s ask them the hard questions and be praying our for them as they figure this out.
May this Easter faith be just as alive in me and you, too. He has risen.
Some Questions for Reflection:
1) Which purpose of the resurrection do you most identify with and why?
2) How do these purposes manifest itself in your life?
3) What is the purpose after the one you picked, and how can you lean into that more this week?
4) What is your biggest hangup with really living as if you believe in a living God and not a dead religion?
5) What is one thing you can do this week to live into the reality of the resurrection?
