I just wanted to drop in and let you guys know that I’m going to be in NYC for about 2 weeks!  I’m really excited about it, and I wanted to blog one last time before I went, so here goes:

Have you ever just looked at the world around you?  Yes, I know you see it all the time.  But I’m not talking just seeing it.  I’m talking really looking at it.  I did that tonight.  I was just making a short little trip, maybe 2 minutes away.  As I drove past our abundant corn and soybean fields here in Indiana, I saw the beauty in them for the first time in a long time.  Something was different about them.  They had a spectacular, enthralling allure.  Simple, green plants.

Over those little green plants stood a massive, fiery orange sun just setting below the horizon.  A veritable symphony of colors from magenta, to cyan, to a majestic yellow, and finally to a royal purple burst across the sky.  It was otherworldly.  It wasn’t that impressive, but it was beautiful.

On the way back home, I passed several people just cruising down the road.  Yet in them, I saw an even greater beauty.  It was the beauty of the very image of God created in them.  They weren’t exceptionally attractive people (especially the one old guy…eeew), but they were God’s people.  They had the visage of an omnipotent, omniscient Creator.

God gave us creation.  All of it.  He told us to appreciate it and take care of it.  God gave us creation for rest, and for our enjoyment.  The next time you’re just driving mindlessly into work thinking about all of the tasks you have to accomplish, just stop.  (Not literally, as that may cause a serious traffic flow issue.)  Stop your thinking and look at the world and the creation around you.  Look at it as if you’d never seen it before.  Find rest in it.  That’s why it’s there.  Don’t neglect it.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.  I’m about to give you one of my church rants.  I’ll feel much better once I’m all done.

You’ve seen them: the dads with their arms crossed, the teenage guy with a girl to text, the grumpy old man.  All standing there during worship time at church doing nothing or even worse, distracting someone else.  They apparently have something better to think about or do than worship.  They’re “too cool” to do that.  The question I must present is, “Why?”

I kind of understand it.  We, as guys, don’t want people seeing us being “emotional”.  We think people might think we’re strange if we stand there with our eyes closed and hands raised up.  I get it.  But it’s not right.  God doesn’t hate emotion.  Jesus got angry–heck, He went on a wild rampage through a church building.  David, a guy known for being “after God’s own heart” and ruddy (that’s Bible-ese for “hot”), danced half-naked through the streets of his city because the presence of the Lord had returned.  If that isn’t emotion, I don’t know what is.

Look at the message of the cross.  The creator of the universe became a human.  He lived with us, in our fallen world, for 33 years.  He was falsely accused and brutally murdered.  But then the amazing thing happened.  He came back.  Not for Him, but for us.  We were sinners, and in His spectacular goodness He chose to give us a pathway out.  Then it’s up to us to accept it.  The crazy thing is that a lot of the guys that stand around and don’t take part in worship are the same guys that are really great at talking about a great Christian life.  I’ve even seen pastors do this.

Christ has done an amazing thing for us.  How can we keep from shouting, singing, and praising His name for what He’s done?  His love is beyond crazy- it’s extravagant.  Over-the-top. How can we just disregard that because “it’s not cool” or “I can’t sing”?  I don’t think you can.  I don’t think you should.  Guys, come on now.  Be willing to admit that God is the coolest thing imaginable- and anything that brings glory to Him is cool simply by association.  Worship your heart out this weekend.  Let it all go.  Bring Him glory.  Let me know what you think in the comments.

I’ve really been inspired to write this post by a couple of things.  First was an interview with Leonard Sweet that is in the November/December issue of K! Magazine.  Second was a response we here at KidzMatter got in response to a question we asked in our newsletter several months ago.  These things have really gotten me thinking: how is children’s ministry going to cope with the future?

We live in a basically postmodern society, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  People in the church tend to cringe at the mention of the word “postmodern”.  It’s come to have a negative connotation to us.  But does it have to?  Postmodernism can only be just touched by these short words describing it: anything is possible, tolerant, diverse, loves options, lack of absolute truth. That last one is where we as Christians get hung up the most.  But why?

As part of one of the first truly postmodern generations in America, I can kind of speak from experience.  The modernists before my generation said that there was an answer for everything, that everything could be known, it was just a matter of time.  Everything was answerable.  Postmodernism refutes that, saying that everything is questionable.  Postmodernism in the church has taken what the generation before them did, and totally flipped it.  The postmodern church values tradition, yet loves new approaches; wants stability, yet flexibility; needs morality, but doesn’t want to force it; sees a faith with a horrible image portrayed to the world, and wants to change it.  Some scholars find this moment in Christianity so important they’re calling it the second Reformation.  That’s where we have to find balance.  We have to admit that there are basic truths in Christianity: God is head, the 5 solas of the First Reformation, and the basic truths.  But we have to be willing to admit that there are some things we can’t answer such as the exact future of the world and some of the more debatable doctrines of the Bible.  Striking that balance between the two is where our ministries have to head.  So what can we do to prepare our children for this future?

1. Teach them God’s basic truths. We have to firmly plant in the kids we reach every week the basic truths of God’s Word.  These are the final truths.  God has given us a basic set of beliefs, and we need to stick to them.
2. Allow them to probe and question. I thank God that I grew up in a home where I was allowed to question my beliefs, and figure out why I believed what I did.  During the early years of my teen life, I questioned a lot of what I knew.  I changed some of what I believed, and kept some of it them same.  I wasn’t just believing these things because my parents or church taught me them, I believed them because I felt they were mine to believe and I had a reason of my own.  Your kids have to be allowed to do the same.  It may not be easy, but you have to let them explore a little.
3. Don’t pretend to have all the answers. EVAN PET PEEVE VENTING ALERT: This is one of my biggest pet peeves with Christians- the ones who “have it all figured out”.  They have every answer to every thing, and bless God, you’re not gonna change it.  I HATE that.  There are some things we just can’t know in our Christian walks!  Don’t pretend like you know everything, and don’t be afraid to tell a kid “I don’t know.”
4. Give them choices. Don’t just lay down the law 100% of the time.  Give kids the opportunity to choose what they want to do.  Postmoderns value choice, and they need to feel involved and cared about.
5. Love them unconditionally. Let’s face it, kids are human too.  Sometimes they’ll do really stupid stuff.  Sometimes, they’re just a little quirky.  (Some more than others, amen?)  They’re never going to attach to you as their children’s leader if you can’t love them in spite of who they are.  If you’ve got a child from the inner city in your church who may smell a little funny, love them.  If you’ve got a kid with special needs, love them.  If you’ve got a kid from a broken home, love them. If you’ve got that kid that absolutely drives you nuts, love them. If you’ve got just an average joe kid, with a happy family and no real problems to speak of, love them just as much.  Jesus didn’t decide which people to love more, so why should we?

Evan at Graduation

In case you didn’t know, I graduated high school last Saturday.  I had a great time with all of my family and friends that were there, and I even got my diploma!  Today, we were picking up a vehicle from some friends and they congratulated me on my graduation.  My mom said, “Yep, he’s all growed up now.”  (She normally doesn’t talk like that.)  That got me thinking about something.

We have a tendency to associate major events with maturity.  Graduation, age, driving, first job, etc.  Many times, those things do indicate (and should) a greater degree of maturity.  Unfortunately, that’s not always true.  I know some people who are 15 that are more mature than some 30 year olds I know.  I know some 15 year olds that are more mature than some senior citizens I know too!  Age ≠ maturity.  Just because I’m graduated doesn’t mean I’m mature.  (Some days that’s more true than others!)  We have to mark that difference in our minds.

This matters in ministry too.  Many children’s ministries reject teenage workers because they’re afraid of immaturity, when in reality many of those teens may be more mature than some of your adults.  You can’t completely base that decision off of age- it needs to look at both personal and spiritual maturity.  I wouldn’t be writing this post today had someone not looked past my age to what I could contribute.  That’s not to say I’ve always been perfect, but both I and my church have benefited from my volunteering.  I appreciate that someone took the time to do that.  Who can you welcome in, to grow both them and you?  Who do you need to say goodbye to?  It’s an intriguing thought.

So, I took a quiz about what font I am.  It told me I was Helvetica.  It’s pretty accurate, but it’s a bit like a horoscope: so broad, it could fit anybody.  ;)  I am quite fond of Helvetica though, so regardless, I like the result.  What font are you?

You are Helvetica

You fit in well to most situations. You’re not flashy, and prefer clarity to knocking people over with your style. A tad quiet perhaps, but not stuffy, and you’ve got very strong opinions under there somewhere. When you get drunk, you start looking more like Impact.

Take the quiz on BuzzFeed.com