Day at the Races: The First Turn! — Wednesday
James 4:14-15
How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” (NLT)
On August 28, we hosted Men’s Night here at Southland, calling all men to join us for an evening to be challenged and to learn how they can make an impact. One of the main takeaways for the men was getting involved in the lives of the next generation—a generation of young men growing up confused, misled, and neglected due to lack of male role models or men in their lives that cared enough to show up, tell them the truth, and lead them.
1 Timothy 6:12 shows Paul giving Timothy another imperative: “Fight the good fight for the true faith.” A few verses prior, Paul describes the way people will frequently skew the Bible and use the church to advance an agenda, stir up disagreements, and create confusion. Today, true faith is undeniably under attack in preference of political correctness, “inclusion,” and many other things, because truth itself is under attack. There is an interesting and unfortunate pendulum swing occurring where society has run so far away from allowing anything to be objectively true that we have a generation of young people thoroughly exhausted from not knowing who they may offend just by trying to be a kid.
Today’s scripture from James felt like somewhat of a call-to-arms when I read it recently. We can worry about little things, or we can step up and take action like the Lord has asked us. Stepping up and fighting the good fight on behalf of children and students is not solely a job for men. Anyone and everyone should consider how they can step in.
Growing up, my dad would always say that one of the first ways you’ll know you’re moving in the right direction is when you face obstacles from Satan. It may sound a little hokey, but consider this: A large portion of you have already started spinning up reasons (excuses) why you aren’t the person who needs to get involved. I’m too busy. I’m not good enough. I don’t know enough. I don’t have anything to offer. Take it from me, as someone who has led a group of now high school sophomore boys since they were in 4th grade: Most of the time, the most impactful part is being consistent and intentional. I’m no Bible scholar, and I’m certainly not great with words, but I know that an adult who consistently shows up means the world to them.
Are you willing to show up in the lives of children and students? There are tons of ways to do that and fulfill the directive that Paul relayed to Timothy: Fight the good fight.
Wednesday’s Reflection
Ready to have a conversation about volunteering at Southland? Head over to southland.church/volunteer. If you want to talk about what that could look like, feel free to reach out to me!
