@Orchidaceae 14 December 2020 edited

Junior High Faith Is Emotional And Idealistic

Junior highers are experiencing adult like emotions and feelings for the first time in their lives. And because these emotions are new, they are also surprising in their intensity and are very unpredictable. These emotions will stabilize as the years pass, but these early emotional experiences will be very formative. It is important therefore to give junior highers religious experiences that will allow them to "feel" God's presence and to sense his love. They need the kind of positive emotional experiences that will validate their understanding of the Christian faith. Joy, wonder, sorrow, guilt, compassion, praise, peace-these are just a few of the emotions that are an important part of the Christian faith, and junior highers are now capable of understanding them in a new way. They need to feel deeply sorry for their sins and they also need to experience the joy of salvation. When junior highers shed tears, they are real tears representing real feelings that will have a significant impact on their lives. Junior highers will enjoy worship when it is an emotional experience for them. In most cases, however, worship is anything but emotional. Listening to boring sermons, reciting creeds, and singing hard-to-understand hymns usually carry little emotional weight for junior highers. This is why there is real value in taking kids to camps, retreats, and other places where they can worship God and receive the kind of mountaintop experience that may not last forever but will never be forgotten. These experiences are formative in the spiritual develop- ment of young people. We must never play on the emotions of junior highers, nor manipulate them emotionally, but we can give them opportunities to experience God's presence very deeply. While junior highers need to feel emotional about their faith, they also need to know that faith is not dependent on those emotions. Faith in Christ sometimes makes a person feel euphoric or peaceful or confident, but faith in Christ is not the result of these feelings. The Emotions of junior highers fluctuate a great deal. They need to be assured that Christ is always with them, even when they are despondent, ashamed, afraid, angry, or upset. They are just as much a christian at these times as when they are feeling happy and good about themselves. God is constant; we change. We are the ones on the roller coaster, sometimes up and sometimes down. Junior highers are going to experience a variety of feelings-some good and some bad---and they need to know that Christ is always there and understands all of them. It helps to remember that junior highers are full of conflicting feelings at times. If they seem restless, bored, distracted, or full of giggles during a worship service or when they are expected to pay attention, it's not necessarily because they are unspiritual. They are just junior highers, with a faith that is "under construction." Just as they are learning how to solve the mysteries of algebra and to handle the disappointment of a broken friendship, so they are trying to fully grasp what it means to call themselves a Christian. As junior high workers, we need to take their journey seriously, have patience with them, and give them every opportunity to grow and mature as fellow members of the body of Christ. *****Junior High Faith Is ldealistic***** it is part of the early adolescent paradox that even in the midst of struggle, failure, and doubt, junior highers are extremely idealistic. They have a strong desire to be committed to something and make their lives count. It is not uncommon for junior highers to list as career choices occupations relating to service, such as doctor, nurse, missionary, and teacher. For this reason it is important they be given many opportunities to serve and use the gifts God has given them. Their idealism, while it may be strong during their early adolescent years, will diminish over the years if not given expression. Junior high workers in the church should find as many ways as possible to channel the energies and enthusiasm of junior highers into positive activities that allow them to give of themselves and see the results of their efforts. They need to feel the significance and affirmation that comes from doing things that are worthwhile and that benefit others. Junior highers need to know that they are important and that God can use them right now. They are not the future high school group.Neither are they the "church of tomorrow," as they are often called. I heard a seventh-grade girl once respond to that description of the youth group with this question: "Don't they know I'm alive right now?" We need to include junior highers in the church of today. Some kids may feel that they were hopelessly shortchanged when God was distributing the talents, gifts, and abilities necessary for becoming a somebody in God's scheme of things. A certain degree of discouragement might set in when they compare themselves with biblical or historical heroes of the faith, popular Christian celebrities of today, or adult Christians they know, such as the pastor or the youth director. Despite a genuine desire to accomplish much and to serve in some way, there is often the overriding fear that they are miserably uhqualified and illequipped. We can help junior highers to know that God can and will use them just the way they are-like the little girl who wanted to become a great pianist, but all she could play on the piano was the simple little tune "Chopsticks." No matter how hard she tried, that was the best she could do. Her parents decided after some time to arrange for a great maestro to teach her to play properly. And of course, the little girl was delighted. When the little girl and her parents arrived at the maestro's mansion for the first lesson, she climbed up onto the piano bench infront of the maestro's grand concert piano and immediately began playing "Chopsticks." Her embarrassed parents told her to stop, but the maestro encouraged her to continue. He then took a seat on the bench next to the little girl and began to play along with her, adding chords, runs, and arpeggios. The little girl continued to play "Chopsticks." The parents couldn't believe their ears. What they heard was a beautiful piano duet, played by their daughter and the maestro, and amazingly enough the central theme of it was "Chopsticks." Junior highers may only have "Chopsticks" to offer to God right now, but God sits on the piano bench beside them. He can take their little and turn it into much. We just need to encourage them to keep on playing. @Orchidaceae