For the last few weeks, I have had an unsettling feeling in my soul. Each day it seems our world is on fire. More than once I have been reminded of the words to one of my favorite Billy Joel songs:
We didn’t start the fire,
It was always burning
Since the world’s been turning.
Truly the world seems to be on fire. With the release of the movie Selma, we are truly being reminded that this fire didn’t just start. Unrest has been with us “since the world’s been turning.”
Lately, my mind has also returned to Esther 4:14:
In fact, if you don’t speak up at this very important time, relief and rescue will appear for the Jews from another place…Maybe it was for a moment like this that you came to be part of the royal family. (Esther 4:14, Common English Bible)
Regardless of where we each fall politically, theologically, or some other “-ically”, I am convinced that the world is screaming out for a prophetic voice. It is time for the church (and our youth ministries) to speak healing and truth into a dry and parched land. Your youth are crying out for their youth pastor and pastor to speak prophetically in a very unsettling and confusing time in the life of our country. But what do we do?
1) Be honest with your youth about where you are — particularly if you are afraid or confused.
It is important for your youth to hear from you and to hear of your struggles to figure out how to respond as a person of faith. Use discernment and good judgment, but be transparent. You don’t have to have all the answers.
2) Say something!
The worst thing we can do is to pretend that everything is normal. It isn’t. Your youth know it isn’t. They need to hear from you. Say something! Not sure where to start? (Wait for it…it’s coming!)
3)Don’t just talk—ACT!
I’m reminded that even small actions are better than no action at all. Give your students definite ways they can respond to educate themselves. Give them a chance to respond with their prophetic voice to their own generation (and maybe ours!).
This week leading into MLK weekend the time seems appointed for youth pastors to begin an important conversation of the way scripture informs our faith and our response to cultural issues. Passport Media is releasing a FREE resource to help you get that conversation started. This resource—Dream. Believe. Do.—helps high school students connect the teaching and actions of Martin Luther King Jr. to the scripture that informed them. At the same time, students will be challenged to take practical steps in forming their faithful responses to the scripture that informs their faith.
As you prepare to be a prophet this week, you may also want to listen to a great interview released last week by our friends at Sojourners. This interview with David Oyelowo, the actor who portrayed MLK in Selma, gives us insight into how the faith of MLK informed the faith of Mr. Oyelowo as he prepared for his role in the Selma movie.
We are all called to be prophets for this important time in US history. Go! Profess! Dream! Believe! Do!
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Rev. Dale Tadlock is a 25-year youth ministry veteran and is currently the Coordinator of Passport Media at Passport, Inc. He assumed his role at Passport after having served previously at First Baptist Church, Waynesboro, Virginia. Dale has written on youth ministry issues for Youthworker Journal and The Journal of Student Ministries and published youth curriculum with Passport Media and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.