Our junior high winter blast is such a fun camp!
The shouts and laughter of forty campers and their accompanying counselors filled the air. They even made the lodge tremble with their energetic singing and hand motions.
This year, our speaker was the one and only Wiggin!
Wiggin was a camper here at Camas Meadows back when Scruffy and I were . . . much younger. Then he became a camp counselor and finally a youth pastor and camp speaker!
Wiggin spoke about the gospel being good news.
He mentioned how sometimes the gospel doesn’t seem like good news, even though that is what the word gospel means.
Sometimes kids are dealing with some serious church hurt. Maybe their family had a dispute with a local church, fell through the cracks and had real needs ignored, experienced the horror of a church leader who betrayed their trust, or watched the Christians around them treat others in ways that Christ would never have praised.
But while Wiggin was honest and serious about the hard things kids have lived and seen, he assured them that the gospel really is good news.
Wiggin shared about the origin of the word gospel. How it came from ancient military clashes where the townsfolk were waiting for the messenger who would run back from the battle to let them know if their army won the day or had been defeated. Gospel, good news, was a message of victory for the worried people who waited.
The very first good news Wiggin shared was that we don’t have to have it all together.
They read in Genesis chapter two about how Adam and Eve, “were both naked, and they felt no shame.”
Wiggin quickly reassured the campers that there was no need to join a nudist colony. But that this scripture illustrated an important facet of the good news of the gospel. God designed us for real and vulnerable fellowship with each other and with him. Not for pretending that we are perfect but for honesty and vulnerability.
They looked at Brene Brown’s research about authentic connection requiring vulnerability. Investigated Genesis chapter two in a new way and saw that one of the things that made Eden ideal, was that mankind was completely honest and open with God. Then they talked about how God has designed us in such a way that to actually connect with God and others, we must be our vulnerable, authentic selves.
Just take a peek at Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman as they stood and talked beside the well for a glimpse of the kind of authenticity that Christ urges his followers to risk.
On Saturday morning, the part of Jesus’ good news that Wiggin spoke on was that God cares about the broken.
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19
“God came to earth to be on the side of the outcasts, and the hurting, and the broken—the people who don’t have it all together. That’s Good News, especially with how hard middle school can be.” –Wiggin
“If life is great and we’re happy, it means that God’s inviting us to also be on the side of the broken.” –Wiggin
The good news on Saturday night was that God wants to be in relationship with us. Not just in Heaven someday, but right now!
“After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: ‘Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.'” John 17:1-3
On Sunday morning, the good news was that God wants to live normal, everyday life with us.
“… normal life with God means denying ourselves, that we don’t get to live for us, we don’t get to be selfish anymore—we live for God and for others; and normal life with God means choosing relationship with God every day, engaging with him, and, really importantly, putting ourselves around people who help us choose God every day.” –Wiggin
Christ’s invitation is good news indeed! This good news isn’t just for the amazing middle school students in our lives. Pause with me a moment, my friend. Truly consider the depth and beauty of what our God and Savior offers us each day.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
