Expectations

Luke 9:57-62  As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.” He said to another person, “Come, follow me.” The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead! Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.” Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.” But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”

I was reading through this passage of scripture above and God really made me realize something. If I say that I want to follow Jesus, He has an expectation for what that means. I mean sure I know what I think it means to follow Jesus, but is my expectation of "following" the same as His? He expects me to give of my time, effort, energy, resources, and more when I follow Him, and I shouldn't expect to give any less than what He is asking of me.


This is a lesson that relates to us individually, but I also believe that it relates all too well to teenagers. We have expectations for our teens. We expect them to go to school. We expect them to do their homework. We expect them to be polite and courteous. We expect them to clean up after themselves.

Time for the gut check... Do we expect them to be investing in their relationship with Jesus?

If you answered "yes" to that question, let me ask you another one. Do they know that you expect them to be investing in their relationship with Jesus?

Teenagers are very smart. They learn all too well what is important to us, and they will work hard at meeting the expectations of their parents. In addition to "have you done your homework" and "have you cleaned your room" do we ever ask "have you read your Bible or prayed today" or "how did you demonstrate God's love to others at school today"? These are things that Jesus expects of those who follow Him, and as adults (and parents) you can help reinforce those expectations in the life of your son or daughter.

There are two main ways that I want to challenge you in this lesson.

First, set these expectations for yourself. Are you involved in/attending church? Are you reading your Bible and praying daily? Are you intentionally living out your faith in an obvious way to others? Are you expecting to do these things in your life? This has to be real to us before we can make it real to them.


Second, talk to your son or daughter about these expectations you have for their life. Show them that God is the most important thing to you, and tell them that you expect Him to be the most important thing to them. Make sure they know that you will be asking them more regularly about their faith, then actually follow through with it.

And some encouragement as we wrap this up... We should expect for God to do amazing things in our lives when we do what He expects us to do.

Are You Up For A Challenge?

Romans 10:14-15 tells us:
^"But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!"

Paul writes these words in Romans almost two thousand years ago, and they still ring true today. But lately I've been thinking about it in terms of how to apply this truth to high school students. Yes, students need to hear the gospel that Christ came and paid the price for their sins so that they can go to heaven. And yes, we need to tell them about this amazing truth. But to a high school student, is that enough? In my opinion, I don't think so.

The longer I am in student ministry the more I realize how much students need to see a living example of what following Jesus looks like. They need to see their parents and other adults they respect eager to attend church each weekend, passionate about inviting their friends, hungry to spend time with God daily outside of church, and committed to living their lives for Jesus before these students will truly understand what following Him means for their lives. "How can they hear about him unless someone tells them" can more accurately relate to high school students when put "how will they know He means something to them unless you show them that He means something to you?"

Students need to see that Jesus should invade our entire lives... our families, our jobs, our finances, our hobbies, our language, everything. It will only be then that students will begin to see that God means something to them in their lives.

So, are you up for a challenge? I want us all to take a little inventory, myself included, and ask ourselves these questions:

_How often are topics of God and faith discussed in my family?

_When was the last time I asked someone how I can pray for them?

_When was the last time I spent time with God outside of church (and is this a consistent thing)?

_With the exception of church on Sunday, would my life be any different without Jesus?

Chances are, if we can't confidently answer these questions, our students can't either. As adults, let's set an example for our students to follow. Let us be able to tell our students what Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11:1 which says "follow me as I follow Christ." Students are looking for someone to show them that God means something to them. Will you be that person?

Challenge extended. Will you accept?