As we packed up the PAC after our last TeenRock of 2009 this past Sunday, I grabbed a couple of our volunteers, interns, and the band to spend a moment reflecting on the past semester.
We laughed as we shared stories such as "the time when Michael and Weston dressed up as Latvian Cyclists." We cried when we recounted tales of tragedy and trial but still found comfort in the lessons that the Lord taught us through them.
Truth be told, it was a telling moment for me to hear the spectrum of experience from these amazing people, and for the rest of the evening, I found myself reflecting on how far God had brought me and this ministry since this time last year. I could pinpoint a host of things that I never would have anticipated, but the defining element that will mark 2009 will be:
Race
For those reading this who are relatively new to the Student Ministry culture at The Austin Stone Community Church, TeenRock is racially diverse. Our ministry at Reagan High School opened up the doors for this. After taking our leadership through Prodigal God by Tim Keller at the beginning of the year, the Lord stirred my heart and the hearts of our volunteers to be a ministry that could reach any student.
So often that last statement is taken to mean, "contextualize" and "program" in such a way that YOU attract kids. Jesus' parable in Luke 15 about the "prodigals" destroys this view and preaches a view that the Gospel...the Good News of Jesus...runs out to greet the most self-seeking, world-loving, younger brother AND it leaves a party to greet the most self-righteous, rule-loving, older brother.
With this, we began preaching a message of Grace - that the pursuit of Christ is not about performance - but rather it is about being pursued.
The result: unity.
It wasn't our context. It wasn't our program. It was the Gospel.
A memory that is forever embedded in my mind happened at an overnight event for our guys. As they were packing up to leave, 12th grader Layton (from Reagan High School) stopped 8th grader Conner (from the Westlake area) and asked him, "Are you and Devin Garza brothers?" Conner replied, "I guess you can say we are brothers." Layton responded, "Well, any brother of Devin's is a brother of mine." They hugged, and to this day, they talk on a regular basis.