As a young kid, I would hear my mom say something like this at the dinner table: “you can’t go outside and play until you clean your plate.” Since I was always a literal-minded smarty pants, I probably responded with, “well, how ‘bout, can I play INSIDE then?!” Of course I could not, and did not, play outside or inside or anywhere until my plate was clean. If you’re reading this (and of course you are or you wouldn’t know the question or be able to answer), let me ask you a different question: “How clean is your plate?” Now I must get serious and explain the meaning behind this whole clean plate analogy. At the “Avalanche” youth retreat in Deer Park this past weekend, the featured speaker, Bob Witte, presented a powerful message using clean (and dirty) plates. Here’s what he explained in a nutshell: we all start off with a clean white plate, representing our purity, innocence, and lack of sin in our lives. At some point, though, we choose to start messing around with sin, which was depicted by the word “sin” written in black magic marker on the white plate, followed by additional scribbling and covering of the plate in black.

At another, later point, we really get rebellious and mired in our sin, which was represented by a filthy, disgusting plate smeared with old, stinky, rotten, leftover food. A person was holding that plate and was asked to clean the plate with her bare hands as a way of picturing our efforts to clean up our own sin and become pure and innocent again. Of course that’s impossible to do. A different person in the illustration took that disgusting plate, realizing she could never clean it with her bare hands, and sat on it (yes, actually plopped right down on it), demonstrating how we all try to hide our sin from everyone else even though it’s right there with us. But not only are we completely incapable of cleaning up our sin, we also are unable to hide it, at least not from ourselves and, more importantly, from God. What is the solution? We must take the dirty, filthy plate and nail it to the cross, shattering it into oblivion. This action was taken and followed by Jesus handing the person a new, clean, white plate to represent the new life we have in Jesus Christ. So let me ask you again, how clean is your plate?” If it’s filthy, are you trying to clean it yourself or are you just hiding it from others? If so, give that plate to Jesus, surrender your whole life to Him, and ask for the new plate (new life) available to every person Christ died for when He was nailed to the cross (that’s everyone in the world, by the way).

As I read some passages in a book of inspirational stories for youth workers (written by Glenn Procopio), I ran across the following words that hit home with me:

It’s a boy, Lord. And he looks like me. I can’t believe he’s finally here. While his mom’s sleeping, I wanted to talk to you. He is the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me. I can’t remember being so happy—or so scared. God, I’ve always been a mess-up, not in a major way, you know, but I’ve never quite taken life very seriously. I suppose that’s why I entered youth ministry. I’ve always been able to laugh at life and not really care what others think. But over the last hour, I’ve realized that life is so important and so precious that I’m not sure that I can do this without messing up. I have kids in my group that have no relationship with their father, and I don’t want my child to end up that way. I want to be a great parent, not just a good one. I need your help, Jesus. Light my way.

Except for the part about “not really [caring] what others think” (I do care and sometimes too much), I relate very strongly to what Glenn shared, both as a youth worker and as a parent. As “daddy” to Nolan, Kaelynn, and Addison, I am granted just a glimpse of the love and joy God experiences because I am His child. As a father who has walked with his kids through some accidents and health scares and sad times in life, I am given just a small taste of the concern and compassion God has for me and my life. As a man who grew up having no real relationship with his earthly father, I thank God for the opportunity to give my children that connection (as scary as it can be at times) and to reflect in some small way what it means to have a loving Father in heaven who loves His children in a way I will never fully understand. We all need God’s help every moment of every day. Our children need it, our teens need it, and as “old people” we need it. Won’t you stop for just a few seconds and pray that simple prayer: “Jesus, light my way?”

In his book Hurt, author and youth worker Chap Clark describes a conversation he had with a boy named Jeremy, who shared the following:

“Okay, I’ll tell you something I’ve never told an adult. In fact, I’ve never told anybody. Three years ago my parents got divorced, and they decided to keep it a secret. They told me and my sister that we weren’t allowed to tell anyone, not even our grandparents, or we would get in big trouble. So for three years we all have been living a lie. I haven’t told my friends, my coaches, my teachers, nobody, and neither has my little sister. My parents hate each other, and they fight all the time, but they pretend to be happily married around everyone else. It stinks!”

Chap then noticed a quiet girl on the other side of him starting to squirm and bite her nails. She said, “Me, too.” Chap said, “Pardon me?” She said, “Okay, I guess it doesn’t matter anymore anyway. My parents did the same thing last year to us. I hate them! I hate them both!”

These situations might represent extreme cases, but they demonstrate the hurt and pain caused by phoniness, by not living like genuine Christians. From my 12 years of serving in the youth ministry and seeing teenagers enter their adult years, I would say that the most troubled young adults are those who were raised by parents who put on a good act at church but lived a different life behind closed doors at home. I say this not to criticize past behavior, but to challenge us to “get real” for the sake of our young people. This goes not only for parents, but for everyone with influence over teens, including grandparents, youth leaders, and teachers.

We should also take note of what a 15-year-old boy named Christopher wrote in his journal: “Today is my birthday. I’m 15. The day is foggy, it may rain. We are inside. I’m going to watch TV. I got my journal today. My dad would like for me to go to church with him. But nobody likes me there. But I would like to go.”

Let us never be a church where someone feels unloved or disliked. We can do better than this; we MUST do better than this. Maybe now is our time to tear down whatever has been dictating how we live and to declare that we are simply ready to live a real life before God and others. Our lives, and the lives of our young people, depend on it.

Someone wrote a little poem that goes like this:

Lord, I'm so discouraged; I don't know what to do

I have so many burdens, and I gave them all to you.

But you didn't take them, Jesus; Will you tell me why that's so?

The answer's simple, little one: Because you won't let go

I read these words this morning and they reminded me of a process we walked through during the recent "Portland Youth Rally." Each of us was challenged by the featured speaker, Bob Witte, to write down, on a small index card, our "biggest" sin, the one thing we most needed to kill and cut out of our lives. After that, we were encouraged to nail the card to an actual cross, symbolizing our death to that sin. For the next step of the process, we were urged to grab a rock and not let go of it until we told someone else, out loud, what we wrote on our cards and nailed to the cross. We were not allowed to let go of the rock until we shared our sin verbally with someone else.

How powerful it was for so many people to confess their sins and leave their burdens at the cross where they belong! This exercise was just one element of a powerful weekend that prompted many of our young people (and adults) to initiate real life change through the power of Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross. Whenever I am tempted to commit my "big" sin, I now picture my little card hanging on the cross, reminding me that I gave my burden to Jesus Christ, the only one who can really carry my heavy load. I left my sin at the cross where Jesus paid it all to set me free.

Won't you let go of your burden today?

A story is shared by Don Holliday that goes like this: There once was a sorcerer who fell into disfavor with the king and was sentenced to death. On the day of his scheduled execution, the sorcerer told the king that if the king would allow him to live for one more year, he would make the king world-famous. The sorcerer guaranteed to make the king's horse talk, and in so doing give the king worldwide fame. If the sorcerer failed, the king could kill him and the sorcerer wouldn't object. The king agreed to this and the sorcerer was spared for one year and placed in the palace dungeon. A duke, who was a friend of the sorcerer, sneaked into the dungeon and said, "You are indeed a fool. I know and you know that you don't have the power to make the king's horse talk. You have no hope at all of success. You will surely die!" "But," the sorcerer replied, "I have one year to live. Many things can happen in one year. Perhaps the king will die. Or I may die. Or I may even teach a horse to talk. Regardless, I still have one more year!"

God has given us another new year that started just a few days ago. What will we do with it? Perhaps we can take to heart and apply the truths we will learn at the "Avalanche" Youth Rally in Deer Park. The theme is "Underground" and over the course of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend, we will explore the lives of Daniel and his friends, who were bold followers of God even when it was unpopular, even dangerous. These young people did not hide their faith or keep it "Underground;" rather, they greatly influenced those around them, including the rulers and authorities of their day. As we participate in this youth rally, we hope, along with the event organizers, that our teens will be strengthened in their faith and passionate about living it out each and every day, even when the world is opposed to it. This will be extremely challenging at times, but nothing is impossible with God and, hey, we "still have one more year!"