This is one of the many starts of a book I'll never write (or maybe I will write, but I'll now use a new beginning!). The story at the opening is true—something I experienced about half a year ago. This is basically a challenge to other teens to "get their act together and do something." Hope you like it!
I was at the library the other day and I saw a sight I wish I never had to see. As I was browsing through the young adult section I saw three teens sitting around the table, complaining about something. As I drew closer, I found out what.
“I wish that I could go to so-and-so’s house tonight instead of going to youth group,” one of the two guys said.
The other young man looked at him mournfully, saying, “So do I. Although, if I could go to your youth group, it’d be more fun—we could totally cause some trouble. It’d be great.”
The girl, probably a younger sibling by the looks of it, sarcastically said, “But if you don’t go youth group or church, then you know what’ll happen to us, don’t you? Lightning will come down and kill us all!” She chuckled, showing that she didn’t believe a word of it.
“Oh well—my mom’d probably kill me before the lightning could, because she’s, like, so sold out on this “Christian” stuff. I’ve played hooky before and gotten into big trouble—grounded for a week, man!” he shook his head like he didn’t know what was wrong with his mom.
“I guess that it’s our destiny to be trapped in church all the time,” the second boy said, texting furiously with one hand and holding up his head with the other.
After listening to a few more minutes of their complaints and wishes that youth group would be canceled, I left the young adult section. I didn’t understand at the time how deeply I could have been able to help the kids just by going up and talking to them. I also didn’t see their problem—for me, going to church and youth group are good things. I can connect with God and the others around me. Apparently, not all teens feel this way.
What’s the problem here?
Why did I “happen” to come across this in the library? I don’t think that it was a chance situation. I’ve seen kids like these ones before—apparently the library is a pretty good hangout for tweens and teens who want to get away from parents. They can go to the library to do homework, and get it done fast so they can play around with their friends. Unfortunately, some of their play isn’t very quiet. One time the librarian had to threaten to call the police because of a particularly loud and unruly group of teens got overly excited about something. What has our generation come to? Why would a librarian need to threaten to call the police because some kids were “playing around?” That’s not the kind of playing around that my mom would be too happy to see me involved in, and I’m sure that if parents knew that their kids had needed a threat, they wouldn’t have been very happy about it, either.
We need to get our act together… and act. Have you noticed that young adults in their teen years are looked upon as immature, disobedient and wild? Did you realize that adults think of us as uncontrollable and unmanageable and that some younger kids think of us as disruptive and even scary? We need to change that view and get the teens of today back on track.
If you flip through the Old Testament you will find that many of the kings were still in their teen years or early twenties when they became king. Their country needed them, and teens were looked on as responsible adults. They were looked on differently than we are. They were trusted to do things that most moms and dads would probably never even dream of trusting us with.
How can we change?
True change is also known as a revolution or a transformation. True change means giving up the ways of the past for a new way, a better way. We need to exchange our old life for a new one, one that is forgotten in the modern day world. That means that you boys don’t need to show disrespect to get attention! You girls out there, you don’t need to be immodest to be loved! I know where to find love—in fact, I found it nine years ago on my knees in my parent’s bedroom.
We are matches, little sticks that will burn out eventually, but if placed together, could burn down a house with the blaze. We have to make sure that the blaze we are setting is the one that Christ spoke about when he said that we are the light of the world.
Our goal is one of ancient origin—it is to save the world from the clutches of the enemy. We are one in the body of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Through being a part of this body, we are proclaiming that we will revive the world and stir up the love that binds us all together. We will teach and help non-believers, and love them as one would love a sibling. Our God taught us the meaning of sacrifice, and then he taught us that we can sacrifice as well. Many people have sacrificed their time, money, love, family, and even life for the Lord. We, also, must sacrifice.
That way we can show the world that it’s possible to change.
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