Wonderments of Gaylen

There are times I sit at my desk and look out my window to the trees, neighborhood and mountain. As I sit there I begin to wonder about things. From these wonderments (I call them) many a sermon has arisen.
I have the privilege of disciplining 8-12 mostly High School young men every Sunday evening in my home. These are exceptional young men who desire God but also struggle with how this all fits with life. They have the same struggles as anyone but their heart is to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord. Recently we have begun a study of a book called “Do Hard Things: A teenage rebellion against low expectations” by Alex & Bret Harris. These twin brothers at the age of 16 began a search of what it means to be a teenager and what should be expected. I asked my guys “how have expectations changed from where you are today to when your father or grandfather were teenagers? They nailed it. They said no one seems to truly respect others today. Things like language, drugs, work ethic were all talked about. But one thing really caught my attention. One person said “I don’t think we really know what we believe about anything and we are afraid of really stating what we believe about something out of fear that we could be wrong or that we might offend someone.” I believe that is not just a teenage issue. Our culture is conditioning us with the message of absolute tolerance and muzzling people of faith with constant examples of bad Christianity and absolut intolerance when we speak our beliefs. My wonderment is how can we speak Truth with conviction yet do it in a winsome way? The Bible tells us that the Gospel message will be an offense to many. I can live with that. It’s not my message that I somehow thought up. It is God’s message that shouldn’t be watered down to be more palatable. However the offensive message of the Gospel is more palatable when it is lived out with humility, love, acceptance and forgiveness. That, my friends, is one of the “do hard things”. The Bible tells us in Romans 12:18:  “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” Sometime I would like to wonder more about this verse but for now I see this verse as a mandate as to how we present the Gospel. Not being argumentative, not getting angry, not accusing, not condemning. Easier said than done but that is the “doing hard things” for the sake of Jesus. Till next time- Gaylen