Tag: Flourish For All

Young and For All

The Y inspires me by their never-ending quest to be “for all.” They are always looking around the community to see who we are not for yet, and then working with them to see how we can be for them.

In June of 1844 George Williams and 11 of his British Christian friends prayerfully launched the Young Men’s Christian Association. It was a sincere and inspired attempt to be for all the young men they could see coming from the rural regions of England seeking work in urban London.

Young men were being exploited in the factories, Christians were divided by politics, income, and dogma, and the class system of Britain sought to keep people in their place.

From the beginning, the YMCA successfully brought together many different kinds of Christians together from different classes, sects, backgrounds, languages, politics, and countries.

The Y cultivated new opportunities for the poor and marginalized but also leveraged the power and privilege of the wealthy to sustain flourishing for all.

Central to this was the idealism of youth – George and his friends were in their early 20’s when they started the YMCA. Also central was their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The YMCA continues to be at its best when it draws on our faith as well as the energy and idealism of the youth in our association who live out our mission of being “for all.”

The Bible has these encouraging words to say to us about the joy of youth:

Young men, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Young women, do everything you want to do; take it all in.

But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do. So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy.

But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless. Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. [Ecclesiastes 11.9-12.1/NLT]

Christians young and old in the YMCA must continue to draw on the Bible as our guide and inspiration for how to live. But we must be careful that our use of Scripture doesn’t become a grasp for security that impoverishes our neighbors, demeans women and children, or shackles our youth.

We perpetuate injustices amongst us when forget that we have a common bond, when we forget that we are all made in the image of our Creator.

Our amnesia can fuel the meaninglessness of poverty and wealth, driving us to worry about a security that enslaves our spirit, mind and body.

The YMCA can subvert our nation’s addiction to violence and slavery when we empower the youth amongst us to celebrate life, to remember our Creator, and use their energies for a more just society where there is flourishing for all.

Being for all requires us to learn to love our neighbor. This is at the heart of the Christian gospel, it’s what we were created to be, it’s what inspires a meaningful life for young and old.

 

 

The Courage To Be Misunderstood

If you’re a leader, you’ll be misunderstood.

If you care about people, you’ll be misunderstood.

Even if you serve people well, you’ll still be misunderstood.

If you’re like me, it’s terribly frustrating to be misunderstood. I have a deep need to be liked, so I have to fight against the urge to please everyone with my decisions. Whether as a leader, a neighbor, or a family-man, the risk of being misunderstood is constant.

But rather than being afraid of being misunderstood, we ought to accept reality, and face it with courage. Sure, we ought to do our best to keep things in context while being truthful and wise in our explanations. But if it’s laced with fear, you’ll undermine the trust you need to overcome the misunderstanding.

It’s courage, not fear, that overcomes misunderstanding.

That’s what we see in Jesus, as told by Mark in the gospel. After feeding the five thousand, Jesus had sent his disciples across the lake in their fishing boat while he went up into the mountains to pray. Late that night, as they struggled against the wind, Jesus came out to them on the lake. They were terrified by Jesus – how can he walk on water and why does the wind stop when he shows up?

They still did not understand Jesus. But that didn’t stop Jesus from being with them, speaking into their life, and giving them courage.

Jesus risked being misunderstood by his own disciples even as he worked to train them for his mission. It took courage for Jesus to teach them, send them out to preach and heal, to live with them, and then still be misunderstood. Sometimes they were still afraid of him!

“Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

If it was difficult for the disciples to understand Jesus in the first century, imagine the challenges we face in the 21st century. We are separated by two millenniums and six thousand miles. Jesus is still misunderstood in America, even (mostly?) by Christians. That includes me.

So when we see how patient and persistent (and sometimes exasperated) Jesus was with his disciples when he was misunderstood, we can imitate him in regard to those who misunderstand us.

All people have power. Some know it and use it to their advantage, often at the expense of others well-being. A lot of us don’t think too much about the power we have over others. Which means we may not appreciate how we make others afraid of us.

Our desire to be understood could be another attempt to control and exert power over others. We would be wise to pay attention to the power we have (even if we think it is impotent or misunderstood) and how we use it in regard to others.

Jesus used his power to heal, to welcome, to embody the love of God, and to proclaim the forgiveness of sins for those who would repent.

Jesus used his power to transform lives, to set people free from fear in order that they may live a life of courage and trust in the God of Israel. And the whole time he risked being misunderstood. By his family, by his friends, his his disciples, by the religious and political authorities, by his own mother.

As you sense God’s call on your life to serve him in this world, your “yes” to the Lord may result in misunderstanding.

Like all important decisions, the greater the stakes, the greater the risk of misunderstanding. But when Jesus is calling you to follow him, we can hear his words to his disciples in every generation, every nation, every storm: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

What is Jesus calling you to do with your power?

What are the ways that Jesus has been appearing to you, inviting you to trust him with your life?

In what ways does Jesus make you afraid? What are you afraid of losing as you sense Jesus making himself real to you?

What kind of courage is Jesus calling you to exude as he invites you to join him in his work to heal the world for the flourishing of all?