How can we champion Young People in the Mission of God?

Thanks so much for having me today, everyone. As I mentioned about Year 13, if you’re interested in finding out some more about what Year 13 is about, I’ll be hanging around up the back there and you can come and talk to me about what might be involved. If you’re a youth, there is a talk outline for you to follow along with. It’s up the back. If you want to go and grab one of those and something to write with, you can jot some things along the way as well. That would be fantastic.

One thing I do know about youth ministry in particular is that so many of the games that you play when you’re a kid involve chasing other people around. That’s how things work. Everything seems to be a chasing game. You’re running after somebody or you’re running away from somebody or you’re trying to get close to them or far away from them. And even this is how young people often express their care and love for each other. Isn’t that true? You stole my hat and ran away with it. You stole my item of toys and ran away with it. Whatever else it is, we show our affection by chasing each other around.

If you chase something, it’s valuable to you. If you lost something important and you wanted to know where it is, you might not run after it, but you’d be chasing it down. Chasing it down because it’s valuable to you. Whether it’s that you want to win a game or catch the bad guy or just get your items back, if it’s worth chasing, you’ll run after it. You’ll run after it as fast as you can.

Today, from the passage of scripture that we’ve just had so well read to us, whether you’re 8, 18, 28, 88, or 108 today, I want to encourage you on this Next Gen Sunday to chase after godliness. Whatever your age may be, chase after godliness.

We sit in a church, and perhaps Sunday by Sunday, we are here and we hear these words that seem to come from the Bible, and we’re just not sure exactly what they mean all the time. One of those can be godliness. What is godliness actually talking about? Sometimes we sit in a church and we think we know the full picture, but we’re not actually getting the full picture of what godliness is about. This happens in life sometimes as well, doesn’t it? You see just some of the picture and not the whole picture.

Have a look on the screen here. You can see part of the picture. Part of the picture just looks like someone’s house. A few people mingling out the front, maybe having a chat together and talking together until you see the full picture and you realize on the next slide that all has gone completely wrong. They’re not just mingling outside and having a good time. They are noticing a disaster in their midst. Or have a look at this particular picture. You might think that you know that this guy is on a fantastic holiday overseas. Here he is in Dubai looking happy because he’s on a holiday of a lifetime, only to realize on the next screen that he’s just sitting in front of his television taking a picture of himself.

That’s what it can be like when it comes to godliness. We think we know what we’re looking at, but we’ve not got the full picture. So, what is godliness? If we’re going to chase after godliness, we need to know what it is. Godliness appears many times in 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and the book of Titus, the books we call the pastoral epistles. What is godliness? Godliness is not just something you think or something you do, but a combination of both of them. One person said this, “Godliness is an awe of God that results in action.” In other words, when you fix your eyes on Jesus and see your life changed as a result, that is what godliness is.

If you’ve got your Bible in front of you, come back with me just a couple of verses to 1 Timothy 3:16. It tells us what godliness is here in this passage. “Without question, the mystery of our faith or godliness is clear: Christ was revealed in a human body and vindicated by the Spirit. He was seen by angels and announced to the nations. He was believed in throughout the world and taken to heaven in glory.” This book itself tells us what godliness is. Godliness is seen in the person of Jesus. The model of what godliness looks like. The example of what godliness looks like. But for us as we look to Jesus, he is the model, the goal, and the sustaining energy towards godliness. And so as we become more like Jesus, as we look to him through the grace-fueled effort that he provides, how do we chase down this thing called godliness?

Train for Godliness

If you’re writing those notes along the way, and you guys that are youth, if you’re writing along the way, you’ve got three little points along your outline today. The first one is this: We train for godliness. Train for godliness.

Now, I just want to pause for a minute. I know we’ve already had a little bit of a quiz and interacting in church sometimes is people’s kryptonite. They really hate that. So, sorry if I’m going to make you do that again. You can opt out of this activity if you want. But what I want you to do is just find someone next to you that you can look directly in the eye. Can you do that, please? Just look them directly in the eye. Just twos. You can’t really do this in threes. And there’s a few young babies around, so they don’t count because they’ve got to talk back to you as a part of this exercise. I want you to turn to the person next to you. Look deeply in the eye, please. I want you to read their mind. You’re going to look deeply into their soul. If you’re a guest here today, we don’t always do this. Sorry about that.

Here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to name a category for you and then I’m going to count down from three, two, one, and you’re going to say something in that category. And the idea is you’re going to read their mind so that you match the thing that you say. Let’s have one practice round and then I’ll get to the real game. I want you to give me a color in three, two, one, go. Did we have anyone match? Good, good, good. All right, let’s get to work on this one. I’ve got four for you. This is the real thing now. I want to see if you can match this for me.

I want you to give me a subject at school in three, two, one, go. That’s a match. That’s good. I like that. All right, that was number one. Number two, I want you to give me please a sport in three, two, one, go. I think there were a few more matches that time. That was good. Next one. I would like you to give me a musical instrument in three, two, one, go. Okay, this might test you. Final one. I want you to give me—this might test you depending on age, but I’ll throw it out there anyhow. I want you to give me a video game, please, in three, two, one, go. Very good. That’s our four. How many of you said Pong? No one. No one old enough to remember that one. Who got four from four matches? This is a church. No lying is allowed. It’s okay. Three, two, one. Who got zero? All of you guys down the front. Excellent. Thank you for being so honest.

All of the things that we’ve just mentioned here are things that we do to train ourselves in. We train ourselves in these things particularly when we are younger, when we are youth. We train ourselves at school. That’s actually what school is, isn’t it? One big training ground. You train yourself in English or in maths or in science. And the idea is that you’re training for the next part of life, for your job or just how to learn or how to be an adult. And then there’s sport. We get involved in sport. We go to our training for sport so that we can get ready for the game, whatever day of the weekend the game is on, and we prepare for the game by training really hard. Or then there’s music lessons. Maybe you’re getting music lessons like the band behind us. And didn’t they do such a good job earlier on, and they will later on, too. What a great effort they’ve been putting in. But they’ve needed to train for this. In fact, we’re told that unless you have 10,000 hours worth of training, you will never be an expert in something.

At Year 13, we’ve got 18 and 19-year-old students there all the time. And some of them have been training really hard, not for any of those things, but video games. I’m told they’ve been training for Clash of Clans. Toby has 5,800 crowns. Dylan has 9,700 crowns. PF has 15,000 crowns and Aiden was proud to tell me that he is a global leader which allows him into only certain tournaments because he has more crowns than all of them, over 15,000. Now I have no idea what any of that actually means. I have no idea. But it sounds important and they’ve done a lot of training for it.

But here’s what the part of the Bible here says. There is something more important to train for than those things. And that thing is godliness. Training for godliness. What does it mean for us to train for godliness? It’s hard for us to work out, isn’t it? Because we know what it looks like to train at school because we just turn up. And we know what it looks like to train for sport because we go to the training session and we play our rugby or our cricket or our fake sports like soccer. Does that offend anyone? Sorry, that’s just a pretend thing that I mean. We train in different ways and we know what it looks like to train for a musical instrument and to get good at that. But what does it mean to train for godliness? Surely it just means coming to church, right? Well, yes, but only to a point.

You see, coming to church is part of it, but it’s not the whole story of training for godliness. Church is absolutely essential. But when you are here, you come to hear of Jesus week after week after week. And I pray you do so with an open heart, ready to take action, not just doing things, but changing the very core and character of your life to match up to what the word of God says. And thankfully, you’re all here today at a church that loves proclaiming Jesus and showing clearly Jesus’ death and resurrection and holding him up as the model of godliness.

Can I just say if you’re new or visiting with us today here for the baptism of Ellia or otherwise, a big warm welcome to you. I’m new as well. This is my first time here also, but I know this church and its leaders well. And I’m thankful that they proclaim Jesus clearly all the time in this place. And if you don’t yet know the great life-changing message of Jesus, his death and resurrection, then can I encourage you? Talk to the leaders of this church, talk to me afterwards and I’ll direct you in their direction because that’s the most important news you need to know today.

But if you already know Jesus, then I want to encourage you to train for godliness. In this passage, verse number six says that Timothy has learned these truths, the message of faith and the good teaching that he has followed. So verse seven says, don’t waste your time on things that are not true, on false ways. Train yourself in the truths of Jesus Christ. Look to him with an open heart and you will be changed. Do you see that’s far more than just attending church, isn’t it? Sometimes we think, don’t we, if you’re a parent out there, that we’ve got to get things right. We got to send our kids to school. We’ve got to send our kids to musical lessons and sport, and we got to send our kids to church. But it’s actually much more than that when we train for godliness. It’s much more than that. It’s training them to have an open heart, training them to take action in their lives.

Because what we’re told in this passage is that physical training, training of any kind—school, study, musical, sport—is of some value. But training for godliness promises benefits in this life and in the life to come. If you’re in the next gen youth, can I talk to you for a second? I’m so stoked that you’re here and serving today. But can I say whatever your plans are for the future, make training for godliness be a part of your plan. Open your heart to the message of Jesus week by week. You know what you can do? Set up your life so that you train to be godly. And if you’re a family or a church family, older in any way, invest in the training of young people here at this place. Make sure that you encourage them even today in the service that they’ve provided, but train yourself and them in godliness.

Serve with Godliness

That’s the first thing. The second thing this passage teaches us is that we should serve with godliness. I was so excited to hear that this was NextGen Sunday and even more excited to be able to preach here as a result of that because I think that it’s often the case that when you’re a youth you can think that everybody else in the church does the service and you have to wait until a certain marker in your life in order to serve in some way. But no, it’s possible for even young people to serve with godliness.

Timothy, he was working alongside Paul. And we’re not exactly sure how young he was, but he’d been left behind in Ephesus to look after the church there. But he’d been told, verse number 12 tells us, “Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young.” In other words, Paul says, “Age should not be an issue for you serving in the church of God.”

Now, I got to tell you, if you’re a youth, just shut your ears for a moment because this is how you’re thought of in the world sometimes. You’re thought of as dumb and stupid and immature and irresponsible. And you know what? Sometimes you are. At Year 13, I have 18 and 19 year old students. And sometimes they do dumb stuff. Sometimes they’re stupid. But age shouldn’t be a marker towards maturity. The Christian young person should be able to serve with godliness and so that no one else will think less of you because you are young.

Guys, if you’re younger, if you’re a youth here today, I want you to serve your church. Not just today, but every day with godliness because you can do it. You really can. At Year 13, I tell my 18 and 19 year olds that maturity doesn’t mean what they think it means. And maturity often means, when you get a bit older, you just get boring. And that’s maturity. Sorry if that fits for you. It kind of fits for me. That’s what my kids tell me anyway. But that’s not what maturity is. Maturity is something very different.

You know these instruments behind us, they’ve got dials on them, don’t they? Dials that you turn to turn it up or turn it down. And maturity is knowing in your own heart and your own life how to turn the dials and when to turn the dials. I say to my students at Year 13, maturity is about when you turn the dial towards the silly end and know how to not go too far, but also how to know when to turn the dial back to serious and to change straight away. So you’re not being stupid at the wrong times and silly at the wrong times and having fun at the wrong times, but being sensible at the right times. And that’s what we work on at Year 13. But this is what is being told here is young people should do in serving with maturity.

Look again at verse 12. “Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. But be an example to all believers…”

• …in what you say,
• …in the way you live,
• …in your love,
• …in your faith,
• …and in your purity.

Everybody can serve with godliness, making sure that their words are not rude or gossiping or attention-seeking words in life by giving all of your life for Jesus. No matter what part of your life it might be, you’re a consistent person following Jesus wherever you are—school or work or family or friendships—you’re the same person everywhere. Or love that is consistent and genuine for all. Or faith, trusting God in public and in private. Or in purity, seeking to live free from sin as much as you can. This is what godliness looks like. Serving others with godliness.

Again, if you’re one of the young guys, one of the youth here today, I want to encourage you. May you guys be the most keen, passionate lovers of Jesus in this church. I love that verse in Romans chapter 12 that makes a competition out of serving God. It says, “Outdo one another in showing honor.” Imagine if about all of this church, you’ve got the men’s ministry and the women’s ministry and the older and the family, but the youth ministry. Imagine if you guys outdid everyone in this church in showing honor and serving with godliness. Make it your goal.

And if you’re a little older, if you’re parents, let me encourage you to serve with godliness as well, to encourage your family to serve with godliness. And if you’re a little older, again, perhaps retired, empty nesting, be one of those people here in this church who serve with godliness. That people might come to you for wisdom, that you might be approached, and that you might serve the church in godliness in that way.

Grow in Godliness

Finally, this passage tells us and Timothy to grow in godliness. That’s our final point on the screen. You’ll see it. Grow in godliness. I don’t know if you’ve ever had that occasion where someone hasn’t seen you very much recently and they look at you and they say, “Oh boy, you’ve grown. You’ve gotten so much taller in the last little while.” Now, I don’t have that happen all that often, but I did go to my cricket training for my new cricket season, and one of my teammates didn’t say any words to me. He just patted me on the belly and made exactly the same point. I now have a gym membership and an appointment with my psychologist.

Here’s the thing. When someone sees your progress, they notice it. Look at what verse 15 says from Paul to Timothy. “Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress.” No matter what age you are, can people around you see your progress in godliness?

I’m wonderfully privileged to be at Year 13 where I see young people grow in godliness. A whole year of the Bible open and lives changed. I can think of one young girl who came to our program last year and by the middle of the year she was ready to throw away her faith. “I don’t know if I’m a Christian anymore,” she’d say. “I’ve grown up in it, but I’m not sure if I’m a Christian anymore.” And she wrestled with it and sat under God’s word and looked to Jesus. And as she did, her faith was then strengthened more and more. And now at the end of Year 13, she’s now training herself further under the sound of the word of God in a Bible college, helping her to learn more about the word of God. What a privilege for me to be able to see her progress.

Who can see your progress? Sometimes when you stand in front of the mirror, you can’t see yourself growing either higher or further out. But can others see your godliness? Verse 16 says that this is not just about us. “Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you.”

As others watch on and see our progress, that will be a benefit to them as well. When you chase down godliness, no matter what your age, that’s not just good for you, that’s good for everyone. This passage teaches us that as others see your change and your transformation, they will also be looking to Jesus, seeing your life and your doctrine, what you believe, and how you live. And they won’t say, “How awesome are you?” But they’ll say, “How awesome is Jesus that he has allowed you to change like this and become more godly?”

Who is seeing the progress in you as you follow more and more in the likeness of Jesus? Today I want to encourage you, no matter what age you are, whether you are in the next gen or whether your next gen was quite a while ago, to chase after godliness. To do it by training yourself, opening your hearts, looking to Jesus, and changing your life, serving in the life of the church, and showing others your growth in the gospel because it is for your good, the benefit of others, and the glory of God. And so, will you chase down godliness this week?