Ministry

How young do you need to be in order to have the awesome responsibility of bringing restoration to your family, your local community, your country, or the world? 

Yes, I wrote how young do you need to be, not how old do you need to be. 

I say this because it is widely understood that the vast majority of Jesus disciples, if not all of them, were younger than him. 

In fact, there are many who conclude that Jesus disciples included people potentially as young as 13 or 14, and that it is likely that teenagers were a significant proportion of the 12 disciples. 

Jesus could have called older people – established leaders, people of influence and status, to be his first disciples, but instead he entrusted the message of restoration to a group of young people, and they went and brought hope and healing to communities and cities throughout the Roman Empire. 

It’s an amazing illustration of trust, hope, and belief in young people shown by the creator of the universe. 

It is an example of trust, that I aim to follow in my own life. I often get it wrong, holding on to power and authority, rather than sharing it with others. But I am continually inspired by leaders at Endeavour who intentionally, deliberately, and unapologetically empower students to make decisions, and in doing so, display the same trust Jesus had in young people 2000 years ago, and still has today. 

May we all have the courage to trust young people in our lives, giving them the opportunity to learn and grow through leading and serving, helping them when they make mistakes, and helping them keep a good perspective on life and leadership. 

For more on how Jesus did this, I invite you to read Luke 10:1-11 and 16-24. 

God bless you today. 

Chris Mann

College Pastor