Learning

I don't have anything elaborate today.  I'm exhausted from a youth trip to Winterfest this past weekend.  It's one of those good exhausted feelings though.  You know, the type when you know that something has been accomplished and that the time you didn't get to rest wasn't in vain.  That kind of exhausted.

Life is about learning.  It continues everyday because the world is a classroom.  It doesn't stop at graduation.  It never stops.

The youth that we had the honor of going with as leaders were amazing.  Megan and I have been with them for about two months now.  In that time I think I can count on one, possibly two hands, how many students have openly worshiped at any given service.  This weekend I saw something marvelous.

As I saw the marvelous, I also learned.  I sat in front of all the students the first night of the conference and really had to push myself.  I'm not a very engaged worshiper at times.  I'm a musician and I admit that sometimes I get caught up in watching, listening, and processing rather than worshiping.

I put it aside.  I knew that I was in front and if I wasn't going to be free to worship why would they even feel at liberty to do it.  I pushed myself.  When I noticed I wasn't clapping, I began to clap.  When I wasn't lifting my hands, I pressed in so that I would lift my hands as an example.

When I turned around, literally every student in our group was deeply involved in worship.  Not one was sitting.  Not one was talking.  Not one looked bored. Not one was goofing off.  It was amazing.

Now do I think that it was because of me they worshiped openly? Heck no!  There were 25,000 more people there doing it, too.  If I was going to hold their liberty up, we have problems.

What I am saying though is that I had to realize that there was a possibility that I set the tone.  See when we all get back to our churches, who will they look to when they are the smallest group?  They will look to adults and if we aren't at liberty to worship then why should they be?  I pushed myself to set the example that it is okay and that it's actually something important.

I didn't want to worship particularly, but when Christ said take this cup and let it pass from me, I'm sure He was not wanting to die.  If He can do that for me, then why can I not lift my hands for Him.

We have to be the example.  We must create the liberty for the students and children that look on us as adults and leaders in the church so that they know what they are supposed to do.  It doesn't mean they will do it, but it does mean that we will provide an example of what should be done.

So as they learned to worship, I learned to press in.  Not for my sake, but for being a model to a group of people that looks up to those my age.