You know, when I think about youth ministry, my heart and soul settles in on the picture of a group of kids who loved God with everything they have and they "go for it" spiritually for the rest of their lives. Recently I attended a service at a conference in Atlanta where this was once again brought to the forefront of my mind. Ergun Caner, President of Liberty Seminary in Virginia shared from Mark 2:1-8 and focused on those 4 friends of the paralytic.
2:1 And when he entered again into Capernaum after some days, it was noised that he was in the house.
2:2 And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room `for them', no, not even about the door: and he spake the word unto them.
2:3 And they come, bringing unto him a man sick of the palsy, borne of four.
2:4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the crowd, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed whereon the sick of the palsy lay.
2:5 And Jesus seeing their faith saith unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins are forgiven.
2:6 But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,
2:7 Why doth this man thus speak? he blasphemeth: who can forgive sins but one, `even' God?
2:8 And straightway Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, saith unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?
Caner talked about the incredible faith of the 4 friends. Actually, if you look at the verse, it was their faith that saved their friend! Yep, that's right, the faith of these four friends were what caused the paralytic to be saved (The indication here is the paralytic wanted to see Jesus and wanted to be saved and thus the response by his four friends). Caner suggested that these 4 loved Jesus so much they were willing to do whatever it takes to get him to Jesus!
The room was full, the doorway overflowed. The windows, I assume was overflowing too. There was literally no more room. So, did they stop trying to get their friend to Jesus? Nope. They did all they could, eventually going on top of the roof and dug a hole in the clay/thatch roofing and lowered their friend to the feet of Jesus. Notice, their intention was the salvation of their friend. Jesus then also healed the man. He was healed spiritually first and then healed physically. The point of this passage is not the miracle of healing, but the amazing faith of four friends who wanted to see their friend come to Christ.
Caner said there were 2 interesting facts about these four and then connected them to the kids of this generation:
1) They didn't want to be recognized...their names were never told anywhere in the story. But, they didn't care.
2) They wouldn't take "no" for an answer...they looked at every option to get their friend to Jesus. When all the avenues were closed, they pursued out-of-the-box thinking and tore the roof open.
Then I made some notes for myself:
*Kids want a place where they can connect unconditionally (accepted no matter how they look or act).
*Our church needs to create a place where kids can REBEL for God and then RESCUE the perishing.
*Our church members need to have a change in attitude about kids -- they are not just the future church, but they are the PRESENT church. We need to look at them as co-laborers for Christ.
*The only hope this generation have are the kids who are in our youth ministry today. Lost kids won't come to church unless saved kids catch a vision and passion for God and are allowed to be all God wants them to be. Pray this happens!
No more status quo! Our church has a group of kids whom God wants to use to change the world. We need to pray our youth ministry gives kids the chance to be sold out to God and reach their friends for Christ. If it doesn't happen while I am here, you can go ahead and call me a failure as the youth pastor. But, this will take time and patience on the church's part. I pray you will give it to us, God bless you!
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