A Rallying Cry For Youth Workers

About a week ago, I bought what has become my new favorite worship album. If you like really acoustic, sort of under-produced praise and worship music, give Will Reagan and United Pursuit's"Live At The Banks House" a listen. You won't be disappointed. There is a particular track that I have been personally drawn to, a kind of raucous anthem entitled, "Help Me Find My Own Flame." The words are as follows:

"I don't want to ride on somebody else's passion. / I don't want to find that I'm just dry bones. / I want to burn with unquenchable fire. / Deep down inside see it coming alive."

So, a great first verse. A passionate plea reflecting an emotion that, at one point or another, I imagine we can all relate to. (I know I can.) But the chorus is what really gets me. For a few days I've been listening to it and really responding to it. Feeling like it was a really impassioned cry for deeper relationship with Christ. And then it hit me: The chorus articulates what I long to see happen in the lives of students.Here's the chorus:

"Help me find my own flame. / Help me find my own fire. / I want the real thing. / I want Your burning desire."

Isn't that a great way to articulate our role as youth workers? Can't we sum up our challenge as helping students "find their own flame"? The flame of their parent's faith won't keep them warm when they need it most. Your passion won't sustain them.In the words of this song, we must equip students to "find their own fire." Our fire, or their parents fire will not work. We must play our role in equipping them to find their own fire of faith. We could spend a lot of time here (and we have in the past) talking about how this is done. But I thought today it might be enough to just ponder this challenge.

So, as you listen to this song, consider what you're doing to help the faith-transition that happens when students find a greater ownership in their faith.