In the next 4 weeks our high school group will be addressing sexuality. One of the teaching topics we will be dialogging about is homosexuality.

I have tried my best in the past 3 weeks to get my hands on any scientific, theological, psychological, and philosophical content that adequately handles the homosexual issue in relation to the Christian faith.

How do we respond to homosexuals that are Evangelical Christians? (and if you do not know any and/or you do not believe that they can be “Christians” you need to expand your theological world view!)

Homosexuality can be broken into two categories: 1) homosexual orientation and 2) homosexual behavior. Homosexual orientation is not a choice. Homosexual behavior is a choice.
Although this raises the question of: How can God simply deprive a homosexual from his sexual and emotional expressions? ( I am still grappling through this question.)

Homosexual Evangelical Christians are torn not only between their sexual orientation and traditional biblical interpretations, but also between the homosexual community. I have found that Evangelical homosexual Christians can act in celibacy while acknowledging their sexual orientation.

The funny thing is that Jesus never condemns homosexuality. Jesus only condemns the judgmental religious people who look for sin in the lives of others without dealing with the sin in their own lives (Matthew 23). hmmmm….sound familiar to a brand of Christianity?
Jesus responds with love, respect, and dignity to everyone.

The Torah illustrates that homosexuality is wrong (Lev 18.22, 20.13, & Deut. 23 17-18). It is the Torah’s goal to clearly define the moral code (10 commandments) and purity code (eating shell fish, sexual behaviors, etc).

The Pauline perspective talks a bit about homosexuality and immoral sexual acts (1 Tim 1.10-11, 1 Cor 6.9, and Romans 1.26-27).

I argue that God designed human sexuality to be expressed only within the loving bounds of a monogamous, heterosexual marriage relationship. However in reference to the homosexual issue: I recognize the consistent biblical teaching that homosexual relationships are not a part of God’s design for humanity. Homosexual expression is not a viable lifestyle for believers. At the same time, I do not believe it is biblical to elevate any particular sin above the other, and it is essential to provide a redemptive, healing, experiential, and safe community for those who struggle with any thing: same sex attraction, anger, self image, depression, identity, and the list can go on and on.

My question to you is: Can homosexuals enter the pearly gates? Can one honestly say Jesus will not let a homosexual in? Based on your answers, what are the implications for the 21st century church in how we respond to homosexuals who are in church?

I have a hard time saying that Steve, who is struggling with his homosexual identity, will not get the nod into the gates, while me, Jeremy, who is deeply struggling with an anger issue, will get the nod into the pearly gates.  Thankfully, I don’t have to play God.  I will leave the judgment up to God.

I would love to hear any perspective and feedback. If you disagree with me, I will beat you up. ; )

© 2009, Jeremy Zach. All rights reserved.

Youth Ministry teaching topic of:  Hell

Hell is an essential topic to teach to our youth.

Last Tuesday night, our High School ministry had a conversation about the doctrine of Hell. It was really interesting to hear their perspective on what they think Hell would be like.

I framed this Hell conversation in six parts: 1) Where do we go after we die?, 2) Where is Hell in the Bible?, 3) What will Hell be like?, 4) Who chooses Hell?, 5) Do all non-Christians go to Hell?, 6) How would an all-loving God torture people in an eternal Hell?

I attempted to argue that there is no salvation outside of Jesus. Jesus judges people by their heart. People do not go to Hell by accident. Hell is a very bad place and God does not put people in Hell, people put themselves in Hell. It is not for us to understand it or explain it but rather avoid it.

Also, I outlined the four perspective of Hell.
1) John Walvoord argues that it is a literal place of smoke and flames.

2) William Crockett defends a metaphorical view, punishment but not necessarily literal fire. (This is the view I support. If one takes the literal interpretation of the lakes of fire, darkness, and pits, there is a sense of contradiction. How can Hell be dark while having a lake of eternal fire???)

3) Clark Pinnock presents conditional immortality – punishment but not forever. God puts them out of their misery.

4) Zachary Hayes explains the concept of purgatory.

I left with this thought: If Jesus willingly died for us to avoid Hell, Hell must be one terrifying experience!

© 2009, Jeremy Zach. All rights reserved.

Matthew 5:33-37 ³³ “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ ³⁴ But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. ³⁶ And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. ³⁷ Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

For students to keep to their words is a difficult thing.  It is imperative they realize the weight of their words.  What Jesus is saying here is:  You shall fulfill your oaths to the Lord and to others.

Seriously, how flaky are our students?  They say yes to a lot of good things, but don’t know how to look for and wait for the great thing to say yes to.  This is why youth pastors need to teach on LYING in their youth ministries.

Jesus is truth, we believe in His truth, so therefore we need to tell the truth.  Being a truth teller is a human obligation for those following the ways of Jesus.

I simply asked my students:  Why do you lie?  Is lying more about protecting yourself?  Is lying a coping mechanism to cover up fears, embarrassment, and humiliation?

I would argue that probably 75% of our students lie about 60% of the time especially to their parents and teachers (and maybe to their youth pastor). Think about all the white (or little) lies that lead to a web of lies that are students are very likely to get into.

I had a student tell me:  “Jeremy, I am not a liar until I get caught.”  Interesting….To be considered a liar, means someone else calls you out on it.  That is assuming they are willing to admit that they lied.

So the question still remains:  At any level do we have the right to lie?

One can only refer to the classic WWII Nazi scenario.  Essentially if you were a common German who was sheltering and hiding Jews in your home and a Nazi solider came knocking at your door asking “if there are any Jews?” what would you say?

Glen Stassen in Kingdom Ethics argues that “those who are threatened and oppressed may be permitted in times of moral emergency to suspend truth telling temporarily in some contexts.” (388)

Jesus said it best (like He always does):  Let your yes be your yes and your no be your no.

I challenged my students to do some soul searching by asking the question of:  What is the biggest lie, you have everyone believing about yourself, right now?

I called my students to come out of hiding and to stop pretending.  If they (the students) are lying, cheating, and stealing; to stop.  To live in the truth means to always tell the truth.   

© 2009, Jeremy Zach. All rights reserved.

Adolescents and alcohol–that is a bad mix. If a youth pastor is honest, probably 45% of his/her high school youth group is experimenting with liquor. Alcohol is a huge problem in America’s private (yes even “Christian” schools) and public high schools. Partying leads to drinking and drinking leads to sexing.

What does a youth pastor do? Obviously every great high school youth group student knows that drinking is not only illegal, but theologically wrong. The quit drinking sermon may not exactly work…..so what will work?

In Chap Clark’s book HURT, I learned that if there is a group of students (a student cluster), there will be at least a few students (if not all) drinking.

I realized that the desire to party goes beyond just getting drunk. “Drinking is not about drinking; it is about community” (164). Adolescents see being in the party scene not only as a social ritual, but also as a place where they can be involved and be accepted. At the core of every adolescent is the longing to belong.

The reality of the party scene, described in HURT, was not surprising, but affirming. It would be silly to deny the research, to not address the problem of adolescents and alcohol. The abuse of alcohol is a difficult problem without a simple solution.
How did I address the alcohol situation in my high school ministry? Honestly addressing the alcohol problem in a youth ministry is a step by step process. There is no perfect program, no overnight fix, or insightful teaching that will automatically get adolescents to stop drinking. It is imperative to remember (although I forget a lot) the transformative power that the Holy Spirit brings, not the youth worker! I handled this alcohol situation with three different techniques.

First, I needed to assess the alcohol usage in the high school ministry. I needed to know when the students were partying and who exactly was partying. I started by asking students a lot of questions both individually and collectively. I also spent time on their MySpace and Facebook pages. MySpace and Facebook are our friends! They give a firsthand perspective of what happens on Friday and Saturday night. At times I wonder if they add to the stories to glorify their alcohol consumption. I had access to the pictures, bulletins, and commentary that described the party from the night before. Oddly enough, my students did not have a problem sharing their alcohol experiences and party stories with me.

For the last segment of my alcohol assessment I gave a survey where each student anonymously answered questions (either in open ended or multiple choice format). Some of the questions were: Where do you get alcohol? How many parties are there in a week? How much are you likely to drink at a party? Why do you drink? Do your friends drink? Walking away from the assessment I realized that 65% of the kids in my group were “partiers” and they were partying on Friday and Saturday nights.

Second, I taught a series on the “Realities of Our Identity.” The goal was to communicate that who we are should not determine what we do to gain acceptance. We are the children of God; we already belong to the Heavenly Father. My students need to put value on their identity in Christ, rather than putting value on the identity imposed on them from the party scene. It is my desire that these students are authentic in who they are as followers of Christ.

Third, our high school ministry team orchestrated a variety of weekend activities that encouraged interaction and connection between the many student clusters. The students also had a chance to spend time with adult leaders. It was important to find adults who genuinely cared about the students; whom the students felt comfortable with. It was clear to me that student clusters party because they love social interaction, connection, and excitement; and these gatherings gave the students those outlets–without the alcohol. My amazing adult leaders were willing to open up their homes and their Friday and Saturday nights to be with the cluster that they were connected to. Whatever the clusters enjoyed doing, the adults would do it with them. For example, clusters could go paint balling, bowling, to the arcade, to a baseball game, to the movies, etc. The intention of these weekend nights was to demonstrate what authentic, sober connection looks like (with their friends and other adults who care for them outside of the church).

Above all, there are no overnight remedies to the alcohol problem. The problem lies not with the alcohol alone, but with a genuine longing for community. Assess your students’ alcohol consumption. Simply accept and lead the partying students from where they are at. Give them opportunities to find a place to belong apart from the party scene. Remember that the change must move from the inside out. We have to trust that God is at work inside of their hearts.

© 2008 – 2010, Jeremy Zach. All rights reserved.