damaged goods

“I’m damaged goods.”

Recently I had the joy of sitting down at Starbucks with three of my former students.  Each of them has been through difficult journeys on their road to embracing their identity in Christ.  Through this process they have become three of my favorite young women. 

Wanting to make the most of our time together, I got right to it.  “How are your hearts?” I asked them.  Two of the three were quick to respond, “Great!”  Each explained that though it has been a difficult road to getting healthy, they feel encouraged by what they see God doing in their lives.  One of the ladies shared that counseling is helping her to understand and address some past hurts and lies that continue to impact her.  This is a painful process, yet necessary and fruitful.  Another described how her deepening connection to Christ is opening doors for healthy relationships with men.  It is a little nerve racking, but also exciting as she seeks to honor God in a dating context.

When I turned to the third young lady I noticed that she had tears in her eyes.  “How ‘bout you?  How is your heart these days?”  The weight of that question crested over her like a thirty-foot wave on the North Shore of Oahu.  Catching her breath she said, “It’s good.”  Then taking a beat to think about it she replied, “I feel like I’m damaged goods.”  Ouch.  Hearing her say that was like getting a round house Mike Tyson to the solar plexus.

There are few things more destructive than self-identifying with our mistakes.  When our self worth becomes mired in the muck of our sin, everything begins to unravel.  What an amazing win this is for Satan.  Believing this lie is to hand Satan the keys to the kingdom of our souls.  The cure to this epidemic of negative self-worth is an injection of Truth from scripture.

Jeremiah 31:3 I have loved you . . . with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.

“Damaged goods.“  After taking a moment to collect myself I looked around at the ladies and asked, “What word do they call someone who is a daughter of a king?”  Blank stares.  Slowly they began leaning into the realization of what I was saying.  “A princess?” “That’s right.” I said.  “Once you have put your life and faith in Jesus’ hands He declares you to be sons and daughters of the most high God.”  Galatians 3:26 tells us that we, “are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”  If God is the King, and we are his children, that makes us princes and princesses.  Now go and live accordingly.  We are not damaged goods.  The King has declared us holy and righteous.  As adopted sons and daughters we need to live in the reality of our royal heritage.  That means taking captive those thoughts that degrade our self image and distract us from the eternal reality of our identities in Christ.

The three legged stool

After more than 15 years of youth ministry I found myself wondering if any lives were really changed.  I knew how to draw kids in.  I understood how to lead students into a greater understanding of biblical truth.  I knew how to contextualize the Gospel for teenage culture.  And there were certainly successes along the way.  Kids met Jesus and were baptized.  But I was still plagued by the idea that transformation was not happening to the degree that Christ desired.

As I poured over scripture I began to see a pattern in the way Jesus developed others.  When I looked at the methods Christ used to spiritually form the disciples three elements continued to rise to the surface.

First, He called them in to Community.  Most of these twelve men didn’t know each other before Christ’s calling.  They were busy pursuing their own lives when Jesus stepped in and called them to form a new community.  Twelve diverse men of varying ages, socio-economic status and cultural backgrounds drawn together around the unifying principles of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Second, He reproduced His vision, values and beliefs as He Mentored each of them.  Jesus did not merely stand on a mountain side and declare all that the disciples needed to know.  Rather, he invested His life in each of them.  He walked with them.  He made sure that the Gospel message was not a seminar to attend, but rather a fresh and beautiful way of living.

Third, He sent them on Mission.  Specifically in Luke 9:1-6 Jesus sends them out to preach the Gospel and to heal the sick.  This diverse intergenerational group of men were to go out and meet people’s spiritual needs and their immediate physical needs.  As I read the Gospel accounts, serving others began to jump out at me as the catalyzing agent of true spiritual transformation.  Jesus understood that to solidify the values of community and mentoring He needed to send the twelve out on mission.

This third idea began to radically alter my approach to youth ministry.  For many years I had succeeded in creating Community.  I had even done a solid job of Mentoring teenage students and adult volunteers.  What I had not done very well, was to expose and challenge young people to go on Mission.

Its now years since those initial revelations, and they remain as true today as they ever were.  When I began leaning into the service and mission imperatives of following Jesus, lives began changing in transformative ways.  When serving others together became a foundational principle for me, I saw students (and leaders) own their faith in fresh and life long ways.

Today I am sold out to these three ideas of: Community, Mentoring and Mission.  When lived out in an intergenerational context they form a three legged stool that supports a biblical vision for the Kingdom of Heaven.