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Something Jesus Never Promised

By Ryan, October 20, 2008

Jesus never promised that the Christian life wouldn’t be stressful. There’s a really good reason for that. Right now, I’m in the middle of a very stressful church transition that only God could have started.

I’ve been attending the same church for the last seven years. I still stay loosely connected to Liberty Church, though, the church I attended when I lived in Tulsa. Back in May, I was invited to Liberty for their graduation service. Their youth minister, despite having never met me, presented me with the book How to Stay Christian in College and wrote some encouraging words in the front page. Last month, I decided to actually read the book. The most important lesson I took from it was not about sex, politics, or apologetics, but rather about me. Now that I have a type of independence I’ve never had before, I can’t rely on Mom and Dad’s relationship with God anymore. I need to pursue my own. For Preston Ridge Baptist Church, that realization was the beginning of the end.

I started paying closer attention to the sermons on Sunday mornings. For the first time, I really tried to get something out of what I was hearing. I would go home thinking “that was interesting.” Then, a couple of weeks ago, I visited Liberty Church again to see my cousin’s baptism. I listened to the message there... and I was blown away! The sermon was thought-provoking and spiritually engaging! Nothing against Preston Ridge, but I just didn’t see that happening there.

The following weekend, I went on a middle school retreat as a small group leader at Preston Ridge. Because the Internet is the wrong place to say anything specific to tear down other members, I will just say that I “somehow” discovered that my church peers were not very good spiritual influences on me.

You’d think it would make sense to just abandon Preston Ridge and start looking around. But if it were that simple, this post wouldn’t be about stress.

As a small group leader, I learned how much influence I have on the kids (in a youth group that is desperate for positive influence). One of the kids in my group was notorious with Sunday School teachers for being disruptive, but by the end of the weekend, I was getting deep spiritual thoughts out of him. Knowing that I am so good with the kids, it would be a sin for me to just get up and leave at a time when I’m needed more than ever.

With most of the stories I’ve posted, this is where you could expect to find the happy ending. But this story does not yet have a “happy” or an ending. I still have so many questions. Do I search for a new church family but continue to volunteer my time in the old youth group? Is there another church that needs me more? Is God really calling me to leave Preston Ridge at all? Unlike my normal posts, I didn’t post this because I have advice, but because I need advice.

Labels: Challenges

{ Posted 4:10 PM | E-Mail Post | Edit Post }

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