Kids these days don't want Dairy Queen! They want Jesus!

These are the words of a CEO of a national youth organization that were spoken at a meeting to challenge students in the Fargo/Moorhead area to engage more fully in the ministry and purpose of Jesus Christ.

Immediately after this was said, a student looked over at my work colleague and said, "this is boring...we should go to Dairy Queen."

Then I start to think about the actual ministry of Jesus and his disciples. It makes me wonder if Jesus ever woke up in the morning and said, "today I think I'll take a break from telling people the good news and just sit by the watering hole, eat grapes, read People magazine, and play angry birds on my iPad." It makes me wonder if Luke ever said to Paul "hey, let's take the rest of the week off and go watch the camel races."

Just so we are clear, I love the Dairy Queen. If I would have been in their shoes at that meeting, I would have left in a heart beat for a Reese's Peanut Buttercup Blizzard.

In hindsight how does this make me feel? It makes me feel lazy. Because that day when Jesus and the disciples took a break from sharing the good news never happened. They were machines, driven by the Holy Spirit, constantly glorifying God with their actions, honoring His name by the way they lived their lives. I couldn't ever be as dedicated to the mission as they were.

Which brings me to my point.

When you work at a church in youth ministry it's easy to get caught up in the whole idea of what's "relevant" in today's culture. It's easy to let that culture steer the ship.

It's easy to form a "cool kids club" and sustain that sort of ministry with an emphasis on fun and fellowship rather than worship and discipleship.

It's easy to skim the surface of what life is really about, because when you never break the surface you have no fear of drowning. You're always safe. Always stable. Always comfortable. Never risking anything

Jesus says that if you are to truly follow Him you would deny yourself daily, take up your cross and follow him. (Luke 9:23) That is what it takes to be a true follower of Christ. That's what a deep relationship with Jesus would feel like. Unsafe. Unstable. Uncomfortable.

And that's probably why most teens (and quite a few adults for that matter) have such a hard time with the idea of discipleship. If only their was a way to stay on the surface and still receive that coveted relationship that God wants us to have with His Son Jesus.

There isn't. To live on the surface is to be separated from God and all His glory.

In Revelations 3:16 it says "So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you from my mouth."

We aren't allowed to sit on the fence. We aren't allowed to be just an enthusiastic fan of Jesus.

Jesus wants followers. Jesus wants us in the deep end. Jesus lived, died, and rose from the dead so that we might have a life with Him in Heaven.

This is our calling. This is what we were made for.

And yet, regardless of the mission, do I think that Jesus and his disciples would have stopped along the way to have some Dairy Queen?

Yes. I do believe their is ice cream in the deep end.