Moshing for Jesus

Last night was my first official experience in a mosh pit. And to think a year ago I had no clue what "moshing" was. Dictionary.com defines the term mosh : "To knock against others intentionally while dancing at a rock concert; slam-dance". Sound fun? It sure was, even for an old guy like me. I definitely got slammed against pretty much every kid I'd never expect to get slammed into, and maybe part of it was "intentional knocking". But it was fun nevertheless!

For the kick-off of our Uturn youth ministry at Grace Church, we hosted a local punk band, Three Cord Wonder and had some 200 kids show up. It ROCKED. Now if there's one thing God has taught me about youth ministry this past year, it's that hanging out with the kids you're ministering to is of utmost importance. How can you possibly speak into the life of someone who doesn't KNOW you and whom you barely know? The cliche is still true: They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. When they know you care about them enough to get involved in their lives--to get your knees dirty, to mosh at the risk of getting trampled by a bunch of teenagers dancing about like a herd of squirrels on prozac--then they are likely to listen to what you have to say and pay attention to the way you live your life. And this is the beginning of true discipleship.

1 Corinthians 9:22 says, "I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some". If this means I have to become a teenager again--if that is possible--then so be it. Anything to see the hope of Christ come into these kids' lives.

Have you ever stepped completely out of your comfort zone to reach someone for Christ?