In Acts 2, we read about the image of the Holy Spirit descending on the people, and they begin speaking in their native languages causing so much raucous that other people thought they were drunk. Holy chaos.
After David defeats the Philistines, he enters the temple praising God and dancing with all his might in 2 Samuel 6. Holy chaos.
Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey, and the people shout "Hosanna in the highest," spreading palm branches on the ground and waving them in the air. Holy chaos.
43 Middle School students and 33 High School students scamper around Unity Presbyterian Church's campus, playing games and learning about the body of Christ. Holy...holy...chaos.
It was nearly 90 degrees as we gathered in the hot field on Sunday evening. Students came from all over the region to play games with friends and learn about being a Christian in today's world.
In both groups, we discussed 1 Corinthians 12: the passage about being the body of Christ:
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body - Jews or Greeks, slaves or free - and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body." that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body.
The middle school students focused on this chunk of the chapter (vv. 12-20). We discussed the question, "If we are the body, which body part would you be?" Students selected a body part and answered questions about themselves, including "What are your strengths?" "How might someone describe you in three words" and "What is something that is difficult for you?" We focused on how each of our strengths and weaknesses work together so that together, as a youth group, we can do the work of Jesus in the world. Students were challenged to think about a friend outside of youth group whose strengths might make youth group even better and to invite that person to youth group next week.
As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable...But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
The high school students focused on this chunk of the chapter (vv.20-27). We discussed the question, "If we are the body, who is the appendix? Do we really need that guy?" It can be tempting to strive to be the body part that gets the glory: the brains, the muscles, the hands. It can be tempting to look at one another as dispensable: who really needs an appendix anyway? We looked at pictures of some of the most hated people on television- Kanye West, Donald Trump, Miley Cyrus- and discussed how God has placed even these as members of the body, and we need them, even if we don't want them. I challenged the students to think about that person in their lives that they don't like or care for, and to find their value. As Jeannie so eloquently said in her sermon on Sunday, Mother Theresa believed she was looking into the face of Jesus every time she helped someone who was decrepit and undesirable. We too are called to seek the face of Jesus in the members of the body that are less desirable.
Going Deeper
Middle School
Middle School students are facing a lot of challenges in learning their identity. They are stuck somewhere between being a child and an adult; sometimes they act like children, sometimes they act like adults (sometimes both in one hour). What they are good at, who they hang out with, what they are wearing, how they talk and act - these are things that cause middle school students stress and anxiety. It is our call as Christians to remind our middle schoolers about who they are and whose they are: they are wonderful creations of a living God, creations that God calls "very good." And they are stronger when they work together.
William Blake wrote it well:
"I sought my God, but my God I could not see.
I sought my soul, but my soul eluded me.
I sought my brother, and I found all three."
As middle school students ask the profound questions of, "Who am I?" and "Who is God?" they learn the answers to those questions through their fellowship with one another. We see the evidence of Christ's existence on earth in the work we do together.
This past summer, I took a group of middle school students on a mission trip to Mechanicsburg, PA, where we worked with an organization called CROSS. CROSS owns multiple small houses for adults with mental and physical handicaps. We did some deep cleaning, lawn work, and we cooked and ate dinner with the residents. One day, we received a large donation of produce, and the students and I processed the donation by freezing some of it, making casseroles for freezing, making salads, and making sauces. Some students and leaders had lots of experience helping their parents cook in the kitchen, and were quick to begin chopping cabbage and boiling water. Others had never held a knife or turned on a stove. Together, we taught each other and worked together to freeze 6 casseroles and 8 quarts of vegetables. It was a true representation for me of the Body of Christ at work: each child and adult got to use their gifts to their best potential, and our weaknesses made us stronger, as it forced us to work together.
We can challenge our middle school students to seek the good in their neighbors, to seek their own value and worth, and to seek to serve God by working as a team with others. Here are some conversation starters:
- How is working with a team better than working alone?
- How can we get along with people we don't like? Have you ever done that? How did you overcome your feelings of dislike?
- How can we respect our differences when someone disagrees with us?
- Each person is valuable and special.
- What makes you valuable?
- What makes you unique?
- What makes your friends valuable and unique?
High School
High School students are very set in their ways. They know who they like and who they dislike, where they fit in the social hierarchy at school, and generally have an idea of how they want to be perceived by their peers. In a world where the competition for colleges is fierce, students are striving to be the brain, the muscles, the heart - the body parts that stand out, that excel, that get ahead. It takes a real effort to look around and value the body parts that seem useless and non-essential.
When I was a freshman in high school, I had gym class with a girl named Ariel. Ariel had some mental and social handicaps, and she often did not fit in well at school. Ariel had a lot of trouble with some of our gym activities, and my gym teacher assigned me to help her out and be her buddy. I didn't mind this at all because I liked gym class and I liked to be helpful. But other kids did not like Ariel. They picked on her in the locker room and made fun of her because she had trouble understanding the rules of the games we were playing. One girl even pushed her around and hit her.
Ariel considered me a close friend because I had stood by her, even when the other girls were not kind. I didn't really feel any kind of affection for her, but I didn't dislike her either. One day, Ariel brought me a hand-crafted invitation to her birthday party. It was the first Saturday in May, and she really wanted me to come. I agreed without thinking. Every year in May, my high school had a school trip to the local amusement park, Kennywood. You could get discounted tickets, and it was one of the first weeks of the year that Kennywood was open; it was always a great time. It just so happened that Kennywood day was on the first Saturday in May, same day as Ariel's birthday party. Although I cried, pouted, and complained, my mother would not allow me to turn back on my commitment to attend Ariel's birthday party. As my friends zoomed around on roller coasters and stuffed themselves with funnel cake, I entered Ariel's decrepit house and plopped down on the sofa for what I anticipated to be the worst birthday party ever.
It turns out I was the only person invited outside of Ariel's family. The party consisted of watching TV and eating burgers and cake; it was not especially fun or comfortable. However, I watched as Ariel served cake to her frail mother and cleaned up the kitchen. She calmed down her mentally ill father and cooked the burgers for the family. Ariel was a true servant of her family; she served an incredible value in her home, one that no one got to see or admire.
I pray that each of our kids gets the opportunity to see a new side of someone they otherwise might not value or care for. As you can see, had my mother not put her foot down, I might never have learned this important life lesson. It was my mother's strictness, compassion, and encouragement that empowered me to see a new part of the Body of Christ that I had previously taken for granted.
How will you encourage your high school student to see new priorities? To seek the good in that bully at school or the personality in that geek?
Some discussion starters:
- Who do you know that you dislike? Why do you dislike them?
- Who is God calling you to learn more about? Who is someone you ignore or look past?
- How do you think God sees this person? What gifts does this person have?
- How can we focus on the good things about a person rather than the bad?
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