Shocker

Those who called in thought that having to wear a bracelet that contained all of one’s personal and flight information and also had the ability to shock them was not only a page out of Orwell’s 1984 but was akin to animal control. The news team reporting this government proposal appeared to agree. Like their callers they decided to push the application of these airport security bracelets to the absurd suggesting that devious flight attendants might take revenge on difficult passengers or just make a game of it shocking at random unsuspecting victims. Here is what I think is the shocker… once again, our social outcry is that we will lose our personal rights and are willing to maintain them at the cost of personal and collective safety.

On this Youth Sunday here’s the shocking concern that I have… we are leaving a legacy for our youth that has displaced common sense, a common good and the rule of law that protects the common welfare of all. That is, we have so elevated personal rights and freedom that ironically we have created less freedom and fostered a paranoia that distrusts most authority and especially government. It is only natural that such suspicion would spill over into the church and the danger is for our youth to see religion and church as a threat to their personal rights. Combine this with the consumer mentality of the masses and you have a recipe for apathy, low commitment and high demand for things to be tailored to the individual. So what can we do?

Well, efforts such as Youth Sunday reaffirm that we believe our youth are not second class citizens of the kingdom of God but active, important, vital contributors to the life of the church. As our youth lead the way in worship, service and reflection we share our common faith in Jesus as Lord. We reiterate that the synergy of the body is founded on such great spiritual platforms as: Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ (Ephesians 5:21). Jesus has shown us that our strength is not in personal rights and freedom but rather in our connection to one another and as ancient wisdom reminds us… A cord of three strands is not quickly broken (Ecclesiastes 4:12b). Thank God for our youth and the fresh eyes they provide for the vision of the church! -DAN