Tuesday, April 28, 2009

The Path (part 2)

Saturday New ACT met in regular session on site with nearly six hundred youth at 4 Word 09. The 4 Word steering committee graciously invited New ACT to join the youth in worship. It was powerful. The music was awesome but what really moved me were the personal testimonies offered by worship leaders. As I shared with New ACT later in the day, these testimonies helped remind me how we must all look for God in the stuff of our real, everyday living. The energy, spirit and vision of our youth inspired New ACT's work.

And I really appreciated the enthusiastic cheer that went up when a worship leader reminded us we'd soon become one conference. 4 Word was the first experiment in bringing North Central, Troy, Western and Wyoming together. The youth cut a path and showed us how it could be done. They continue to lead the way. Go youth!

Let me focus in on one of the things these youth demonstrated Saturday: our new path is also an ancient path. Sociologists have this theory regarding change called "path dependence." Simple put, it states innovation is not always about doing something completely new, but about doing old (even ancient!) things in new ways. Innovation is as much about reclaiming as it is about re-inventing.

I think of Jeremiah 6:16: "Thus says the LORD: Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls."

I saw this lived out by our youth in their worship Saturday. We sang new songs with new tunes and old hymns to new settings. Youth read ancient scriptures in contemporary translations. They engaged in the time-honored New Testament practice of "giving testimony" by sharing personal stories of the challenges of following Jesus in the classroom, at basketball practice and online.

It all spoke to me and drew me to God. I'm so glad to share the path with these youth as we journey down new and old roads together.