We are ALL the church!

I have always been passionate about youth...junior high girls in particular.

It all started when I was a student leader my senior year of high school. I was paired with an adult co-leader and thrown into a leadership role for a small group of 7th and 9th grade girls.

I had no idea what I was doing. For the first few weeks I just observed, watching my co-leader guide a time of discussion amongst the girls. I slowly began adding my input, and asking thought-provoking questions of them. A few months into the school year, my co-leader pulled me aside and asked if I wanted to lead the group by myself, as she had administrative things she needed to get done during the small group time. I said yes, not knowing that this decision would spark my passion and love for students and being a leader amongst the next generation.

I went off to college the next year, leaving my beautiful girls behind, but never forgetting all they had taught me and never giving up my time of prayer for them.
With a fire in my heart, I plugged into a church closer to my school. The junior high pastor and female associate immediately welcomed me as a leader into their ministry. I jumped right in. Paired with a senior high co-leader, we led a small group of about 10 girls on Sunday mornings. For the first few weeks I felt lost, I had no idea what to do! But, the girls were patient with me, and helped me along the way.

That summer, God called me to stay in Eden Prairie as an intern at the church under the junior high female associate. My passion continued to grow, and I was excited for the next year of small groups and being able to pour into my group of girls for another year. The female associate discipled me and took me under her wing not just during the summer, but throughout the school year as well as the following summer when I got to intern again!

 As school went on, and ministry happened, my heart grew more and more passionate for this ministry. (And when I say "ministry", I don't mean the programming, I mean pouring my life out for the sake of the next generation)

Junior High Ministry is two-years long, then they are off. This first group of girls that I had are now in high school. I am still able to pour into them, but I also get to invest in a new group of 7th graders!

However, the point of this blog is not to give you a story of where God has taken me physically in ministry, but to show what God has done IN me, spiritually, THROUGH ministry.
Each Wednesday night, I stand amongst a group of about 250 junior high and senior high students as we worship. And each week, I am taken aback by their Love for the Lord, and their Desire to know Him more. This is one of my favorite things about ministry: The encouragement from them in  my own faith journey..

Often times, adults, or even myself as a leader, think that we are "above" these students, and that they are still in the 'process' of growing towards spiritual maturity. And we let them go to Sunday School and Youth Group so that they can reach their prime before we send them out or, in some cases, even allow them into the "big church".
I have a problem with this. A BIG problem.
I recently heard someone say, "Students aren't going to be the church, they ARE the church". And as part of the church, they are part of the body, therefore, we can learn from them, just like we learn from others "our own age". The majority of the spiritual growth in my personal life throughout middle and high school came from those much older than me. There was a group of women that took me into their Bible Study. I was the only student and they were all at least 25 years older than myself. This group changed my life. And I theirs.

I recently had a student talk to me after church service on Sunday about how uneasy they felt with the message, and how it sparked conviction, longing and desire for the Lord. Is this not what we are supposed to do after we hear the Word of God? But yet every week we rush out of the worship center with our minds already set on the next thing we have to do. I am guilty of this, and this student helped me to stop and really think about what God's Word was saying in my life.

So my question is this, to those young and old; Are you going to sit on the sidelines and do what you've always done, receiving what you've always received and move through life in a comatose state? Or will you stop, observe, and welcome those of other generations around you: how they worship, their passion and longing for the Lord, their desire for others to know the Lord, and the cry in their hearts to feel accepted, even amidst their own church family. In doing so, your life will be changed and you will change the lives of those around you.

The church is not about the building, it's not about Sunday morning or Wednesday night, it's certainly not about the programming that happens, or even about the type of music that is played during musical worship.
The church is a body of believers who love the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind and strength, and long to encourage, uplift and spur one another on towards the work of the Kingdom.
Yes, the church of today has lost this vision...but that doesn't mean we have to.
How are you doing your part as the body of Christ, as the church, in your sphere of influence?

Jenna's Journal.