it was on my first mission trip at age 14 that i realized that being young could be a useful thing.
somehow, i had picked up on the message that a person could not do something of worth until s/he was an "adult".
seeing the zeal of my peers & the products of our Christ-focused teamwork convinced me:
Jesus really can use people under the age of 18!
what bothers me, though, is that there continues to be evidence of reverse ageism when it comes to leadership in the church.
i am not foolish enough to think that young people have the wisdom of their elders,
but i am idealistic enough to believe that they can accomplish a lot more than they are often encouraged to aspire to.
while there is ongoing dialogue focusing on the unfair attention paid to youthful appearance,
it misses the under-empowerment of younger leaders due to favoring established figures.
Jesus called the little children to Him.
the apostle paul told timothy not to let people look down on him for his age.
there are progressive, Jesus-following communities taking action to include & utilize the tweeners, teens, millenials, & gen-Xers.
these are the communities we spend time in & serve through.
it's time for ALL AGES to be valued & recognized as of worth to our King.
we can all teach & learn from each other.
