The Naughty Silver Dollar City Kid

I want to share something I read recently with you. Research from a Barna study said that 60% of people say they accepted Jesus before they were 18. (How many of you accepted Christ before your 18th birthday?) 43% say that they accepted Christ by the time they were 13.

You all know that this ministry that we are a part of is important, but sometimes it is easy to get frustrated because we don’t think we’re having the impact that we feel we ought to. I understand this feeling. This weekend we had a trip to Silver Dollar City, and there was one student who, over and over, had to be told to behave. He mocked authority, ignored adults, and generally was acting terribly – and he’s been in church his whole life.

This happens a lot. Kids who know what’s right and what’s expected of them are in the growing stages of life right now.

Junior High is a time when students begin to decide who they are going to be forever (even if they don’t think of it that way). But before they decide, a lot of them like to try and figure out what kind of person they want to be. That’s why you’ll see kids change styles of clothes, groups of friends, and even genders of pants before they figure out who they are going to be forever.

Those of us who know him expect the “naughty-Silver-Dollar-City-kid” to grow into a solid Christian guy. He’s going to be okay – I just know it. We’ve got to remember that Jesus made us all different, and there was some time in your life when you werne’t sure who you would become, but you knew that it would be defined by Jesus.

When we grew up there were people in our lives that affected us in immeasurable ways, even if we don’t remember who they are. I say all of that stuff to say this: You never know whose life you’ll end up changing this week, just by saying something profound, something funny or something dumb. Don’t underestimate yourself, or the power of God to work through a game of catch, a secret handshake or a song on Guitar Hero.