Teens at Work

This week, I am at Michigan Christian Youth Camp, participating in the first-ever "Mid-Michigan Work Camp." It's a week of Christian summer camp for teens, except that instead of horseback riding, water skiing, volleyball, and high ropes, the kids are painting houses. Each day, they pile into vans and go to homes of needy people in the Lapeer, Michigan, area and they paint. Most of the recipients are seniors who can't afford to hire the work done and who are too frail to do it themselves. I haven't worked a week of camp in six or seven years, and haven't done any other significant youth ministry in 12 or 13 years. But when my friend Jerry Brackney asked me to be a part of this, I couldn't say no.

My task this week is to speak each evening to a group of worn-out, paint-speckled teens. The theme for the week is "Extreme Makeover--Christ Edition" an obvious play on the reality show that basically tears down substandard houses and rebuilds dream homes in their places. Our theme scripture is Romans 12:1-2. The kids have been great. They listen patiently as this old guy lectures them on the finer points of being a living sacrifice. And despite being normal, goofy teens, I get the sense that they're really serious about giving it all the Lord.

Which sometimes makes me feel like a bit of a hypocrite. I'm 55 years old, and I wonder how good a handle I have on what it takes to be a living sacrifice, to allow the Spirit to do an extreme makeover on me, no holds barred, no questions asked. I'm afraid that more often than not, my life more closely resembles Aaron Tate's lyrics (below) than Romans 12:

You say you want a living sacrifice
Well I am a burnt offering
Crawling off the altar and
Back in to the fire
And with my smoke-filled lungs
I cry out for freedom
While locking and chaining myself
To my rotting desires.
And I hate the stench,
But I swallow the key,
And with it stuck in my throat,
Can you hear me? Can you hear me?

(From Coming Home, performed by Caedmon's Call)

But, like Tate, I still cry out to the Father, "I'm coming home." And my Father stands ready with the ring, robe, sandals, and fatted-calf barbecue. This week's camp is a wonderful and encouraging way-station on that journey back to the Father's love.