Still Figuring It Out
By Jeff Grosskopf | Youth Pastor
One thing I love about Scripture is that Jesus seemed to have a particular fondness for people still figuring things out.
Nathanael was skeptical. Nicodemus was searching for answers. Thomas struggled with doubt. Mary noticed a problem at a wedding and trusted Jesus enough to bring it to Him. Martha was trying to make sense of what Jesus was asking of her.
They all came from different places, carrying different questions, expectations, and experiences. Jesus met each of them as they were, not as the finished versions of themselves.
In other words, Jesus spent a lot of time with people who were not exactly spiritually put together.
This is very relatable in youth ministry.
This year in BCC Youth, we're spending our Wednesday nights looking at some of the people who encountered Jesus face to face. We're calling the series Encounters with Jesus, because we want students to see that following Jesus has never been about having everything figured out before you come to Him.
It's about bringing who you are, where you are, with the questions you have, and discovering what happens when you meet Jesus there.
And here's the part I hope our whole church remembers: our students need us. But we need them, too. They need adults who will listen, encourage, challenge, and believe in them. And we need their questions, their perspective, their energy, and their faith. The church is better when generations aren't simply learning alongside each other, but actually learning from each other.
Sometimes youth ministry looks like a carefully planned Bible study.
Sometimes it looks like a theological conversation.
And sometimes it looks suspiciously like eating snacks while a teenager tells you about their week.
All of it matters.
Thank you for being a church that makes room for teenagers. Thank you to the people who teach, lead, pray, serve, drive, cook, listen, show up, and occasionally question where teenagers put all that food they eat. Every one of those things helps remind our students that they aren't just the future of the church. They are part of the church right now.
Iām grateful for you.
Because just like the people in the Gospels, our students are still figuring things out.
And we get to help them discover that Jesus is willing to meet them right there.