Kicking the Crutch

BIG Idea: There is no excuse for sitting on the sidelines of the Kingdom.

A few days before my sixteenth birthday, my family moved several hours away to a new city and a new church. This experience was as traumatic as you might imagine. No kid likes moving to a new area and having to make new friends. I had been very attached to my previous youth group, which ran around 50-60 kids. The first Sunday at my new church, there were five students, including my brother and I. It was devastating.

Up until that time, I had effectively sat on the sidelines. I allowed others to lead and influence while I sat out and watched. As much as I hate to admit it, I had gotten used to sitting on the sidelines. But when I now constituted 20% of my youth group, I was forced to step up and lead. It was difficult at first, but eventually I found my voice, and our little youth group began to grow. Because of God and our youth pastor’s (my dad) great leadership, we saw sixty kids get baptized in two years. Incredible stuff.

The Bible verse that got me off the sidelines was 1 Timothy 4:12, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” I realized that there is no excuse for sitting on the sidelines of the Kingdom.Once I kicked away the crutch of my youth and inexperience, I discovered that God wanted to use someone like me to impact the Kingdom.

What’s your crutch? What excuse do you use to sit on the sidelines of the Kingdom? Do you feel:

• You’re too young? Too old?
• Too unhealthy? Too tired?
• Too busy? Too stressed?
• Don’t know enough of the Bible?
• Weighed down by too many past mistakes?
• Too broken down by life?

If you work at it hard enough, you can find a crutch that can keep you on the sidelines of the Kingdom. Real faith means kicking the crutch and allowing God to use someone like you to impact the Kingdom. God’s ready. Are you?

Question: What excuses have you used in the past to sit on the sidelines of the Kingdom?

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