Belonging...

This weekend I had the honor of teaching at a fall retreat for a group of High School students. I had partnered with their Youth Pastor and worked from teaching templates that he created. The central theme for the weekend was that of “belonging,” and each gathering centered around different aspects of belonging; us not needing anything to belong, not having to meet unspoken expectations, belonging no matter what we’ve done, and the support found in belonging.

The weekend overall was a great but the moment that struck me the hardest was on Saturday night as we talked about belonging no matter what you had done. We had taken some time to look the lives of the disciples, their failures, what it meant to be a disciple in that day and in general how they just did not measure up. We then had the students gather around a table and moved into taking communion together.

But here’s the kicker for me.

Communion for me is now seen in a different light. For years communion was seen as a reminder of how God came to “clean up” our sorry excuse for a pathetic life, serving as a reminder of how God had to bail us out of our helpless state of “screwed-up-ness.” But that night as we sat around a table, candle light flickering in the room, and retold the story of the disciples, and what they might have experienced that evening a new truth hit me.

In essence Jesus was saying to the disciples, I know the mistakes you’ve made, I know the ones you’re going to make, I even know what you’re going to do within the next 24 hours, but the next time you eat some bread and drink some wine I want you to remember that what’s about to happen to my body and blood was done so that you might belong. That you can belong not only around this table now, but also belong in my Kingdom, in my plans for this world, and as my disciples. I believe in you guys and I believe you can really be my disciples, following in my footsteps. That you can know what I know and do what I’ve done (except for the whole God part), I believe in you guys. I don’t see you by your brokenness but by your potential.

I recently had a friend tell me that the we doesn’t need to hear what’s wrong with us as much as we need to hear that we are loved and accepted. And that night as the candles flickered, I was reminded that for whatever reason I was accepted, that God loved me, even with all my crap, brokenness and screw-ups, I was loved, I was deeply loved, and I belonged.

So may I remember this acceptance when the candles are no longer flickering. May I live as one who belongs and not as the one with the “loser” sticker on his back, and may I remember to tell people of their worth, value, and acceptance rather then pointing out yet again their failure and mistakes.

So the next time we eat bread or drink some juice may we remember just how deeply we belong.


Here's some pics from the weekend:

Dan had us playing some crazy games

Dan explaining another crazy game

A game that was a mix of dodge ball + hockey + four square + couple of other things = a whole lot of fun

Some notes to each other

The woods were amazing, Fall is finally here!

A retreat is not complete without some campfire time

The Gang!