Bigger Than Just An Youth Group

Youth Group:

Noun:
an organization of young people for social purposes, usually under the sponsorship of a church, a political organization.

When you speak of a youth group, your pretty much are speaking of "ones" church. I understand it is God's church and God's youth group, however the youth group usually does things for and around its own church people and community. That’s fine, but this is still a problem. It benefits the church's surrounding community and city, because of all the food bank events and neighborhood outreaches. It is a problem to one’s state, region, country, and world when a youth group focuses strictly on its own youth and church. Like a pond, its beautiful for a while, but stagnant in the long haul (no flow). It is similar to a politician (<--- ugh politicians), who is a Mayor. He has a burden for something larger, so he pursues that burden and obtains the office of a governor. His burden subsides for a while. Then he itches for more reform and realizes he can only change his state. He finds that it’s much bigger than his state, so he reaches for presidency to change his nation. The politician realizes that change is much bigger than his familiar surrounding where he grew up and he must do more. He wants change the lives of not just his people, but people as a whole.

           Let’s look at our bible. Throughout all the Old Testament and early parts of The Gospels, it is evident that God is only interested in one particular sect of people, the Jews. He provided, loved, and disciplined them because they were his primary focus, but then he said this, "I will call them my people who were not my people..." (Romans 9:25-26). That salvation, longing, and love that was thought to be just for one nation was extended to the rest of the world...us. He died for everyone, the whole world...not just for the Jews.

       
             What if that becomes "us" and that is "them" looking from the outside in. Wishing some type of way that this truth, that this joy that we have wasn't so limited to just us and our people... That we weren't so secure on who gets this, and wanting us to tell them that he has called all men unto repentance and not just our youth group and our church... What if? What if our concern traveled outside our youth group and into our world. What if this whole time we have been living for the sake of our youth group,  when all the long,  we are meant to die for the sake of the world?