Don't underestimate the Holy Spirit or your students ability to hear it.
Last night I taught a message to all of our 6th and 7th graders about Jesus being a healer. In a bizarre, extremely God-ordained series of events, the blog that I previously wrote about dragging our friends to the feet of Jesus just happened to miraculously tie in to what I was teaching and I felt that familiar little tug on my heart to take that message to them. I honestly questioned how they would receive it...how they would understand it...if it would really challenge them or if they could make the words that I spoke fit into what they already do and they could walk away not feeling any need to make a change...and if they were challenged, what that would even look like in their lives.
When we started last night in the big group, we walked through the story in Mark 10 of a blind beggar and how he responds to Jesus, the way his faith makes him completely abandon any concern what others think of him. After we talked through that story, I asked the girls if Jesus is still able to heal that way today, if a blind man today could receive sight by the power of Jesus. The responses were mixed. Some of them clearly wanted to believe that is true, but simply couldn't figure out how it would be possible. Some said it was possible, but it would have to come through a doctor or some modern medicine. None of them were confident that it could just "happen."
After that we talked about different kinds of healing and the different kinds of healing we might need in our own lives. I read them a story from my World Vision magazine about a family from Burundi, Africa and we talked about all the different kinds of healing they need and the ways Jesus could possibly meet those needs.
We broke up into small groups and I was excited to have only 4 girls last night, a great size to really discuss and I had a good mix of personalities.
We read through Mark 2 together, talking about the men who carried their paralyzed friend and dropped him through a roof to get him to Jesus and be healed. We first talked about who we related to most in the story.
Were we the paralyzed man, broken and in need of help, needing Jesus, needing faith. Were we one of the four friends, strong in faith and trusting that our obedience would be blessed with healing, and able to carry our friends to Jesus. Or were we one of the people in the room, followers of the law who criticized Jesus and would have criticized the four for doing something so irrational and ridiculous.
Then I asked, "So...are you willing to drag your friends to Jesus? Do you have friends who would drag you to Him?"
Everybody looked at me for a second and Barbara said the inevitable, "I really don't know what that means since Jesus isn't here anymore. How do we do that if we can't actually take someone to see Him?"
This is a good sign...they're paying attention and thinking. This is not always a given. :)
So, we came up with an example. Let's say that you have a friend who gets in a big fight with her best friend. She comes to you and starts telling you everything that happened and how horrible her friend is and just generally "venting." What would it look like if we responded by taking that girl to Jesus?
"Well...I guess it would be just listening but then reminding her of why they're best friends and encouraging her to forgive her friend."
"Yeah, I think it would be just helping her and her friend work things out and reminding her of all the good things about her friend."
WHOA.
My hope was that they'd respond by telling me that they would listen, but also encourage their friend to not talk bad about anyone. That they wouldn't continue to gossip about it. That they would give this girl a place to sit if she felt lonely.
Because that response from them would mean that at least we've nailed the moralism part. The "right thing to do."
What I did not expect was what I got. A heart change. A recognition that it's not just about their friend, but about her best friend too. About the importance of restoring that relationship. About helping them work through and rebuild. That's HUGE when in middle school one person hating their best friend means one more friend for you when she comes running to you.
After that I asked if they could think of any examples in their own life, and one of my girls, who rarely goes very "deep" but has a wonderful and bright sense of humor shared that when she was 7 her parents decided to move. She was so angry at them and had a sleepover with a couple of her friends. She told them she was moving across the country and that she hated her parents and couldn't believe that they would do this to her. They responded in agreement with her. They told her her parents were stupid. They told her she should be mad at them. They told her they couldn't believe her parents were going to take her away from her friends.
They were 7...
But at 13, looking back on that situation, this was her response...
"You know, even now, I really wish they would have told me that this could be a really good experience. That my parents weren't stupid and cared about me. That I would make new friends and that they would never forget about me. That's what I really wanted them to say. And it would have made me feel really good if they would have prayed with me."
And that's what it looks like to take your friends to Jesus when you're in 7th grade in 2010.
Never underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit to teach your kids what He wants them to know.
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