Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Pool Parties and Modesty
One of the great joys of my life is being a member of the advisory committee for Jr. High youth ministry events for my church district. I am blessed to work with some really great people who really have a heart for kids. We are planning an event for this weekend that involves some water sports and things. At out last event some of the young ladies showed up in less than appropriate swim wear, so we decided to try asking that everyone wear a one piece suit or be appropriately covered. A Jr. High Guy's hormones need no help. One of the women in our group was expressing dismay at trying to find a one piece for a neice who will be attending the event. She asked what was on parents minds that all she could seem to find were fairly skimpy bikinis. Here is my response.
You hit on the salient point of the whole issue though. At the age of the kids we minister too, their parents are buying the suits. This year at Creation, Ryan Dobson (who wrote the best Christian book title I have ever heard..."Be intolerant-Because Some Things Are Just Stupid") or Joshua Harris (I don't remember which) relayed the story of taking one of the boys in his Jr. High group to pick up his girlfriend to take her to one of their youth group activities. The girl came out very scantily clad and said good bye to her father and left her go without saying a word. He relayed his discomfort with how the girl was dressed, but he didn't know what to say since she wasn't a regular member of their group but an invited guest. As it turned out when she got to the place they were going, she went into the bathroom and changed into something appropriate. The speaker was perplexed by this activity so when he got back to his group, he took some of the older girls aside and asked them if they had any idea what the girl was doing. The girls knew immediately, this young girl was testing her father to see if he really loved her. The father failed the test. We sometimes show love to our kids by the boundaries we set. Most of the kids we minister to have all of the friends they need, what they need is role models, leaders and examples. Some of them also need parents. Remember what I always tell you, God has put us on the front lines of ministry, with some of His most precious creations at the defining time in their lives.
One of the great joys of my life is being a member of the advisory committee for Jr. High youth ministry events for my church district. I am blessed to work with some really great people who really have a heart for kids. We are planning an event for this weekend that involves some water sports and things. At out last event some of the young ladies showed up in less than appropriate swim wear, so we decided to try asking that everyone wear a one piece suit or be appropriately covered. A Jr. High Guy's hormones need no help. One of the women in our group was expressing dismay at trying to find a one piece for a neice who will be attending the event. She asked what was on parents minds that all she could seem to find were fairly skimpy bikinis. Here is my response.
You hit on the salient point of the whole issue though. At the age of the kids we minister too, their parents are buying the suits. This year at Creation, Ryan Dobson (who wrote the best Christian book title I have ever heard..."Be intolerant-Because Some Things Are Just Stupid") or Joshua Harris (I don't remember which) relayed the story of taking one of the boys in his Jr. High group to pick up his girlfriend to take her to one of their youth group activities. The girl came out very scantily clad and said good bye to her father and left her go without saying a word. He relayed his discomfort with how the girl was dressed, but he didn't know what to say since she wasn't a regular member of their group but an invited guest. As it turned out when she got to the place they were going, she went into the bathroom and changed into something appropriate. The speaker was perplexed by this activity so when he got back to his group, he took some of the older girls aside and asked them if they had any idea what the girl was doing. The girls knew immediately, this young girl was testing her father to see if he really loved her. The father failed the test. We sometimes show love to our kids by the boundaries we set. Most of the kids we minister to have all of the friends they need, what they need is role models, leaders and examples. Some of them also need parents. Remember what I always tell you, God has put us on the front lines of ministry, with some of His most precious creations at the defining time in their lives.
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