A few weeks ago I had the television on and came across a program celebrating the 40th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” As I heard the stories of the events that led to that historic walk on the moon I was confronted by a statistic that has captivated my mind and heart.
When I first heard it come over the airwaves I could hardly believe it. Through the miracle of DVR I pushed the replay button two different times to make sure I got it right. The speaker was flight director Gene Kranz, who oversaw a team of engineers whose assignment was to guide the astronauts and their spacecraft to the moon and back. From takeoff to splashdown they were the ones making the critical decisions regarding the direction and safety of the mission.
Did you know that the average age of Kranz’s team was just 26? Here were a bunch of “young bucks” just out of college who were inspired by the mandate of President Kennedy to have a man on the moon by the end of the 60’s. They were driven by a dream and mentored by a group of visionaries who were willing to believe their potential was worth the risk.
Here’s what hit me as I thought about that image—“If God can use a bunch of twentysomethings to get a man on the moon, what can He do with the young people of our day in bringing His kingdom to this earth.”
I’ve got two children who fall into this age group so I’ve been challenged to think about what it is going to take the Church to be involved in taking a “giant leap” in our day. Here’s what I’ve come up with. First of all we’ve got to communicate a compelling vision. Somewhere, through someone, our young must encounter a message that invites them to dream the big dream of God. Second, we’ve got to admit that the church in the U.S. is facing a “new day.” The quicker we come to realize that “we’ve never been here before” the sooner we will realize that all generations are standing on common ground and have something to bring to the table as we seek to fulfill God’s mission. Third, we’ve got to be willing to release upon our young the responsibility needed to make things happen. Today’s church could use a heavy dose of their passion for Jesus finding expression in the world.
I want to be a part of a Church where the desire to reach this world for Christ means taking the risk of turning passionate, but inexperienced young people loose to make a difference.
How can we make that happen?
About J. Scott Shaw
J. Scott Shaw has served for the last 17 years as the pastor of Bremerton, Washington, Church of the Nazarene. He is greatly challenged to experience the coming of God’s kingdom and the living out of His will in today’s world. He and his wife, Vicki, have two grown children, Jeff (newly married to Stephanie) and Katelyn, a student at Northwest Nazarene University. He enjoys reading the sports page, discovering the humorous things of life, and standing on his deck with BBQ tools in hand.
Amen! We need to train and equip our youth, sharing the passion and passing the teachings to them, not storing them up to make us feel good about what we’ve accomplished. Our church, Terre Haute First Church, Terre Haute, In, aspires to equip believers for ministry in the church. We must encourage our young parents, teens, and youth, to not only be in prayer and listen to the Holy Spirit, but live that calling by Faith. As preachers, we must not be afraid to preach holiness and godliness; we must preach messages that are difficult and tricky to touch, not avoid them out of fear of offending somebody or crossing the so-called “p.c.” line. We cannot allow apathy to set-in within our congregation out of fear of being too “preachy” to our parishioners. God bless, keep-up the good fight. Ben