I'm gonna keep this post short. Last night during our high school program two college aged women stood up right when the talk began and started screaming and rebuking our ministry. Although the entirety of the moment spanned about eight minutes it felt like fifteen. They chastised our worship set, games, breaking benjamin cover, "i will not bow," and told our students they were going to hell.
I have heard of this happening but it has never happened to me. Absorb for a moment the reality that it was a room filled with about 100 high school students 18 years of age and under. About 90% of our Wednesday night environment come on their own and not from a religious family background. We always have fringe kids, kids in process, and especially hurt students who we have pursued with love and care.
It was so over the top and violent that our kids thought it was a skit. Seriously.
Now, don't get me wrong I don't judge these two people. So hear me say that with as much love as I can muster for them. Alright, now learn and think.
Warning Signs
1. During our games and worship set they were praying out loud with increaing intensity.
2. When the talk began they did not stop and it was over the top of my assistant director.
3. There were two students who approached a leader before the program started and told them that there were two women telling us we were going to hell. Note: I did not know about this.
When it goes down.
1. We have a paid officer on property. I did not have his number and he was walking the grounds. Make sure you are ready to call 911 or have the number of your security.
2. Our initial words were, "Hey we love you and want to hear what you have to say but we are trying to have a service and we need to move this outside."
3. This was repeated to them over and over as they just kept screaming at us and over us.
4. Two of my female leaders moved swiftly taking it to the next level telling them to stand up and walk out.
5. When they continued to resist I got out my phone looked her in the face and said, "I am now calling 911."
They left and I grabbed the microphone and spoke calmly without judgement to our students. "We love you. In a room this size we have many of you who love and pursue Jesus with everythign you have. We are so proud of you. Others of you are trying to figure out what you think about Jesus and whether or not you even believe in God. We love you too and as we always say (thank God we say this) every weekend this is a place where you can feel secure and free from being judged. Take all the time you need to figure it out. Andy is going to do the talk tonight and we are kicking off a series about the mouth. Tonight, ironically, we are talking about the weight of our words and how we can speak life or death to someone." Now, unbelievably Andy had this incredible teaching momment and knocked out of the park.
We prayed for them and then carried on. I walked outside located our officer and we attempted to find the two women but they had already left.
Our students reflected on facebook,
"The craziness that happened tonight only reassured what I already knew and made my faith stronger. Thanks for the boost."
"the cool thing about it is that no one left!! That speaks for itself in my mind."
Is so happy to have things back to normal. I missed the Uprising!
My dad says the devil is going to attack places where God thrives...so Really this came as no surprise.
I'm disgusted at what happened tonight. What happened to love? Why must people automatically resort to hate and lies because they believe differently. I'm sorry to anyone who got hurt by those people, but everything will be okay.
Tonight was awesome! : ) Missed The Uprising so much!! I love Andy Baxter and Chad Swanzy, and how they handled things.
A couple of people heard them quoting scripture and asked should we be worried they're right? My response...
Let's suppose they are. We get to heaven and we find out their way was the only way that pleased God. We also find out that this was God's way of letting us know. Do you think God would convey this to us and do so against his own commands for dealing with sin between believers? Matthew 18 says you go to your brother privately, then take a witness, then go before the church. The Bible also teaches to speak the truth in love. If what they said was truth did you feel it was conveyed with love? We had three worship songs tonight, we prayed and always reveal to you what God says about himself, life, and eternity yet they proclaimed we were worldly had not talked about Jesus or even prayed. This was not true and was an accusation. Edification if it tears you down it is directed toward building you up. Did you feel lifted and pushed toward Jesus?
One student, who is on the worship team, wrote this on his facebook this morning,
"A man who lacks judgement derides his neighbor, but a man of understanding holds his tongue." Proverbs 11:12
I will let you know what happens next week as I am not worried that they will come back but instead worried if there are students who will not. Pray for students to focus on how we loved those people and loved them as opposed to hearing a lie that this is how Christians behave and judge people. My spirit was broken last night.
