Author: Shay

Some readers of my blog my recognize that title from a Seattle based indie band, but by no means does my story have to do with Death Cab For Cutie. The only connection is Seattle, which is where I was going when I started thinking about airplanes. No, I don’t mean the actual plane with the wings and pilot, what I really mean is the people who board them every day. Where else will you find so many different types of people than on an airplane? There’s the business man, the mom and baby, the college student, or the first time flyer. There’s the out-of-towners, the dad, and the famous guy in first class who you just can’t remember their name, but you know you’ve seen them before. There are these and many others, but on my trip this weekend, I realized there’s so much to watch and learn as you sit, with your belt fastened of course, and listen to those around you.

The thing is, I’m kind of a people watcher. I like to observe and listen to the people around me. Some might call it eavesdropping, but I don’t think that concept counts on an airplane. You can’t help but hear just about everything going on within three rows of where you’re seated, and whether you like it or not, you’re stuck there for the remainder of the flight. But my flight to Seattle this week wasn’t one of those painful times. I never felt stuck, but rather entertained. It wasn’t painful, it was enjoyable. Let me explain.

Bethany and I left last Friday afternoon for a small trip away with family. After making our way through the usual madness of check-in lines, airport security, and boarding process, we found our seats — 21D and 21E. These seats would be our three feet of space for the next two and a half hours. Seated with us in 21F was a student named Mike. I recognized the school named on his shirt, plus the book he was reading, and I asked him if that’s where he attended? He replied with a simple “yes”, which prompted the man in 20E, just one row ahead to say, “you go there? I teach there!” It never ceases to amaze me how small our world is. Nevertheless, we listened as Mike and the man discuss their studies and if they had ever crossed paths. Yet, the teacher in 20E wasn’t flying solo. His wife and baby were with him, which provided more entertainment for us. The man’s daughter, who couldn’t be more than 18 months old, was a people watcher herself. She couldn’t keep her eyes off of us at least, which was a joy as we played “peek a boo” behind the seat and talked in high pitched voices to her. Most of the time having a baby near you can be a hassle, but this little one was well behaved and just enjoyed being with mommy and daddy. Our flight attendant Marc was just as happy as the baby in front of us. He was kind and smiled a lot, which I think made our flight that much more enjoyable. At one point he even held our little “peek a boo” friend to which the woman a few rows back said, “that’s a nice a man.” But those were just the people in front and back of us. Our neighbors to the left were having a different experience altogether. The larger gentleman in the middle found out his flying buddy in the seat next to him like cars. This threw him into a conversation that lasted the majority of the flight. I’m pretty positive he talked about eighty percent of the flight whether the man next to him wanted to talk or not. But who really cares about all these people you might ask? Why the heck are you talking about this Shay?

I guess the point is there’s just something about airplanes. You can see so many different people at one time, for an extended period. You can watch as they interact, as they work, as they discuss life, as they play with their kids, and as they go into their own worlds. They paid the same amount or more than you did to be on that plane. They are just trying to get to their destination to enjoy whatever it is that waits for them so many miles away. You can hear guys like say as he looks out the window, “I’ve never flown this low or close to downtown…” as we get ready to land in Seattle. You can watch people help each other with their luggage and make friends in a short amount of time. You can simply watch people. I don’t know why it sticks out in my mind so much. I guess when I’ve got two and half hours to sit and think these are things that come to mind.

Dear Jesse,

I listened to your song “Jesus” today. Actually, I’ve listened to it about twenty times in past few days. You sound sad and I’m sorry you are feeling that way. I’ve had some time to think about what you wrote and that’s why I’m writing you this letter. You see, I don’t know if you know the same Jesus that I know. The Jesus you write about isn’t the same one that I read about in the Bible. You make him out to be a quitter, or a guy who doesn’t care about you, but he does. You make it sound like you’re problems are such that he can’t handle them, but he can. You sound a little scared….

You see, I’m a little like you. I went to a Christian school growing up, just like you. My parents weren’t perfect, but they did their best. They sacrificed to put me into a school like that. Maybe your parents did the same for you, I’ll probably never know. I had, and still have, close friends from those days. These were people I cared about and still do. Some of them sound a little like you do in your song. They are confused about the Jesus they heard about in school. They make the same Jesus they talked about as often in school to be just a man, not a Savior - to be a friendly brother, not a Judger of the heart. What changed your mind about Jesus? Was it because you walked away from graduation and stopped thinking about him, because he wasn’t an assignment anymore? Was it because maybe you didn’t care about him to begin with so he really doesn’t matter now? But you’re thinking about him now, in fact, you wrote a song about what you think about him. You don’t know what to do with him now. You’re confused because you started thinking about death, I believe. You started to ponder what life might be like after death. Maybe your youthful invincibleness has worn off by now and you know you’ll die one day, just like everyone else. It’s not a morbid thought, it’s a fact. Can I encourage you do one thing? Stop thinking and start reading.

The Jesus of the Bible loves you. That’s not a silly saying that Christian people use, it’s an eternal truth. The Jesus of the Bible can and will help you see beyond yourself and see how great he is and how you need him to change your heart. That’s part of the problem - your heart is wicked. It will tell you wicked things and it is prone to sin. What’s sin, you might ask? It’s any act that goes against the nature and will of God. What’s the will of God? It’s what he has written in the Bible. But I think you have already heard all of this before, but let’s review. Jesus cares about you, hence the name Savior. He saves people. He saves people from their wicked hearts and their sin. That’s why God sent him to die on a cross. You talked about the cross in your song. You see, Jesus had to die on that cross to save you from the sins you have committed in the past, present, and future. He died once for all. He finished it all on the cross. Yet, you talk about “nailing him back up”, but that can’t be done. Christ died on that cross, and then rose three days later, thus showing us his power over death. Death of course is the result of our sin. This isn’t just facts from your fourth period theology class, this is what the Bible says he did for you. But I think you forgot about all that. You forgot what your teachers taught you, and maybe even what your parents taught you. Listen, I know no one is perfect, but that’s not the point. The point is that Jesus can and will save you from your sin, and he has all the power and authority to do it.

Jesse, please hear me out. I know you’re life isn’t perfect. I know that you have probably done some things that maybe you think he won’t forgive you for, but he will. He’s a good Savior. He’s a loving Savior. Don’t kid yourself to think you don’t have to work this out before you die. It truly is a matter of eternal life and eternal death. If you die tonight, without believing in your heart that Christ is Lord of your life, you will go to hell, there is no way around it. BUT, know this! If you turn your life over to him, submit your will to his, and trust him as the Lord over your life, he WILL save you. He will take you as his own and care for you. There is nothing in this world like him, and nothing in this world will satisfy you like him. If you don’t believe me, read the Bible. Start in the gospel of John and read about his love. Read about his miracles, his signs, and his life. Read about the God who saves. The Jesus that I know is a good God. The Jesus I know loves me and takes care of me. It’s not the Jesus you wrote about in your song. He’s not a quitter, and he isn’t careless. He’s truly a good God.

I hope this letter finds you well. I’ll probably continue to listen to your song, because honestly, it reminds me of those I know who don’t know the God I do. If you have any thoughts or questions feel free to write back to me. If you haven’t heard what I have said, I hope you at least hear what the Bible says.

Sincerely,
 Shay

Youth culture and education are a few items that I always find intriguing. In college I majored in education with an emphasis on youth and whenever I come across an article or news item that deals with any of that, my attention is grabbed right away. A couple of days ago I ran across a piece by a Canadian website called “The death of the teenager?” and my mind has been racing. Not because these are new concepts, but that I believe that some of these ideas are Biblical in nature, yet the author gives no credit to the Scriptures.

Dr. Robert Epstein is an author and director of behavioral studies at Cambridge and has some very intriguing thoughts on youth education and the place of the “teenager” in our society today. Basically, he believes the “teenager” is something made up and really shouldn’t even exist. His argument is our modern culture has put this younger adult in a weird middle phase of life that has no responsibility, no freedom, and no value. Dr. Epstein said he came to this conclusion by watching his own son’s development, as well as doing many surveys and tests that compare young people to “real adults.” His findings were negligible. The claim was that on certain issues the teenagers scored higher than most adults on issues ranging from life, family, and politics all the way to business and economics. Therefore his only conclusion was that there may not be a difference between their abilities, just the time at which they were able to use them all. Dr. Epstein’s proposed plan of action would be to change laws to allow young people to vote, buy homes, and even drink at younger ages, only if they have proven that they are responsible. He says we would start seeing an “ageless society” that parallels the older model of young people that marry and own businesses at very young ages. Education would not be something that was always done in the classroom in his mind, but something done over a lifetime. Apprenticeships would be more common and the classroom would be for those students who learned better in that environment, based on their learning style. All of these ideas I find quite impressive… but really, these are not new ideas. What strikes me so much about this is one of my professors in school, Dr. Rick Holland, had the exact same view, only he didn’t have to do a bunch of research to figure it out.

I’m not against research and the ability to reason some of these ideas out, that’s not my point. What my professor in college pointed out in class was that what Dr. Epstein is finding is exactly how the Jews did things in Bible times. As soon as a young man or woman reached the age of 13, they were considered an adult. It’s not that something magical happens at 13, but that in their culture those men and women would be treated as adults and have the same responsibilities and rights as adults. There was no “middle period” for the Jewish children. But let’s be honest. These children were ready for adult hood. The Jews didn’t wait to put their children in to their schooling. Most of them were memorizing entire books of the Bible and learning the language very early on. Some had multiple Bible books memorized by the time they were eight or nine years of age. When they reached 13, they were ready to be treated as adults. Even as we look at history this was the case in many families. The great theologian Jonathan Edwards went to Yale college at the age of 13 and was already studying the Hebrew and Greek languages. At that time, Yale required all students and staff to speak Latin in and out of class. That’s the level they were held to. The sad part is, I can barely speak English and I’m a college graduate (not of Yale, but you get the point).

The truth is, our culture has lowered it’s expectations of youth. We have degraded them and put them in their own little sub-culture and have told them they’ll be fine when they reach the ripe age of 18. Apparently at 18 everything will be just right. You’ll be able to vote, own property, take out a loan, and even purchase cigarettes. Yet, just like the age of 13, nothing magical happens. You don’t suddenly wake up the day of your 18th birthday and have everything figured out and are now completely responsible. It’s just our nice American culture says that you should be able to. This is where I think we need a change. We need a change of heart when it comes to these people. We can continue to push this “age of responsibility” back, but the reality is we need to push it forward. I like the idea of doing away with the concept of adolescence. Doing away with this thought that these teenagers won’t be able to handle what the world has for them. Of course this would mean changing the way we educate people. It would mean a changing our attitudes about the maturity of these young people. It would take a lot of time to turn the thoughts of an entire nation around concerning so many young people who could be used as valuable citizens, businessmen, homemakers, athletes, and even pastors and teachers. Maybe I’m rambling, but don’t take me wrong. I don’t think this could happen tomorrow. I think it would take years to see a change like this, but I do believe it is possible. It’s amazing what a young mind can do. It’s incredible how the Lord has created us to be able to retain even our own language at ages like 2 and 3. To be able to understand math, science, and other subjects at very young ages.

At the end of it, I think this discussion is really for me. I’m just trying to mold and shape my own thoughts about youth, but it’s something I really do care about. I care about it, because I think we are failing at seeing this in the church today. So many churches have bought into this concept and the youth ministries have become baby sitting centers for 15 year olds. So many churches have bought in to the idea that the youth won’t be real “church members” until they are 18+. Yet, these young people are vital to the church. They have ready minds to learn and they have ready hearts to serve. We just need to help train them and give them some serious responsibility. We have to help them grow and serve alongside them. We have to call them to a higher standard, because I truly believe if we did, they would rise to that standard. In so many ways, there are teachers and coaches at their schools that call them to a higher standard than the church does. Maybe if we just took a look in the past (like the Jews) we might realize just what we’re missing out on. That is, we’re missing out on seeing the Lord use these young people in mighty ways and seeing how the Lord has made each one for His glory.