I used to work with Young Life's middle school ministry called Wyldlife. Used to. Only tonight, they needed help with an event, so I said I would do it. Ever seen the Amazing Race? It was kind of like that only less intense and contained to east Wichita. I ended up driving a truck I had never driven before, full of kids I had never met before, to places I had never been before. Well, only one place was new to me, but it made for a really great sentence. I digress. Anyway, I'm "obeying the speed limits" around Wichita, dropping these kids off to do ridiculous things like eat french fries through a giant straw and wrap the Chick-Fil-A cow in toilet paper. We won (obviously). I ignore the fact that one of the stations wasn't functioning, so we got a fast forward.
As I was driving to our last stop (wrapping the cow), one of the kids looked at me and said "Hey, I'm going to take my clothes off if that's alright with you"..........
WHAT DO YOU SAY TO THAT?!?!?!?!?! "Um, how about not, because I don't want to get arrested for pedophilia". Because we are trying to show them that Jesus loves everyone, even the nudists, I simply said "Hey, whatever floats your boat". Please know that I was fully prepared to prevent this child from being naked in the vehicle. He stopped after removing his shirt. He ran around shirtless for the rest of the race, and for a while after that.
Also, I have to tell you about a kid named Carter. Carter and I met last summer at Wyldlife camp, and I absolutely love that kid. I got to see him tonight. He is actually one of the main sources of inspiration for the title of "Shenanigans". He told me once "Sean, if you were a stripper, I'd make it rain". It floored me. Very rarely am I speechless. That was one of those times.
Anyway, once everyone had regrouped, and my victory (okay, fine, "our" victory") had been announced, the area director for Young Life, Shep, gave a talk on John 5: 1-9 which you can read at http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%205&version=NIV. Shep used this passage as a spring board for this idea of "what are we using to block God's love from pouring into us?". For the invalid, it might have been that he had no one to help him get well, as he told Jesus. However, Jesus did not ask him why he wasn't well. Jesus asked him if he wanted to be well. Did he want his life to be different? Jesus is not talking about the physical ailment alone. He is talking about healing of the spiritual nature; healing from sin.
This question then follows: Do we want to be healed? I say yes. And I wish it was as simple as that. But I have to wonder what I am using to block God's love from fully pouring into me. I know a big one is time. Not that I do not have time, but that I do not make time. Let's be honest with ourselves. We all have time. It's just a matter of sacrificing a little and committing it to God. I am beyond horrible at that.
The reason I brought up Carter is this: on the way back from Wyldlife camp, he was sitting next to me on the bus. All of a sudden, he busted out his ancient King James bible, and jumped into Genesis. He sat there amid the madness of a Young Life bus ride, and quietly read the first 8 chapters of Genesis. Talk about a punch to the gut. If a 11 year old can do it in a noise filled bus after one of the more action-packed weeks of his life, I can do it in the peace and quiet of my own home, before or after a long day. But I don't. And that is something I really need to examine.
I think we all have our own struggles. I have many that go beyond a simple time commitment. But I think it is invaluable to identify them. If we can't identify them, or if we are convinced that we are doing it correctly, then how can we move forward? How can we work through these Shenanigans that we work ourselves into? I don't have the answer. I don't know that I ever will. But what I do have are middle school guys that continually teach me about the Lord, about loving people, about having fun, and about Shenanigans. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
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