A Personal Reflection
Minister Jeremy MacDonald
In my own walk of faith over the past year, I've had to grow, change, and face many things. Of the many things in life and faith which we all must reflect on, three come to mind above all others. I've thought much about our country, our own violent and contentious history as evangelicals, and about myself as a part of that story. Like many people, thinking about such personal and huge things all at once is overwhelming. I have many fears and concerns over the rise of Christian nationalism. Tied to this, I have deep concerns about the ramifications of another Trump presidency. I am anxious about the image and embodiment of faith that we are passing on to younger generations. As a youth minister, my highest concern is that we, as adults, represent Christ to the children and teenagers in our midst. It is perhaps our most important work as the church: not just to pass down faith, but to be Christ to people who do not yet have the responsibility nor the understanding to truly live in a faith of their own.
It would be easy for anyone, understandably, to feel dread and hopelessness. And yet in the past year, in many ways, I feel my hopes renewed. Our pains in the chaos of this life are not problems which faith must answer to, but the very reason why faith exists. God has not come to heal the healthy, but to bring life instead of death, to bring love instead of hatred and apathy. The late Jurgen Moltmann wrote, “The raising of Christ is not merely a consolation to him in a life that is full of distress and doomed to die, but it is also God's contradiction of suffering and death, of humiliation and offense, and of the wickedness of evil. Hope finds in Christ not only a consolation in suffering but also the protest of the Divine promised against suffering.” (Moltmann 21) As I reflect upon the ministry in the past year, not just on my own personal experiences, I feel honored. I'm flabbergasted that I get to represent Christ to these kids. That alongside the rest of the church, our responsibility to them is not merely a responsibility, but can be a life-giving process for anyone involved. I'm grateful to be able to preach the gospel to them, and to do my best to show and tell them who God is. My own hope in Christ is that, as we continue in faith and good works, younger generations will rise up and outshine our own. I am reminding myself to sit in this hope. That even in the midst of failure, chaos, suffering, and pain, God brings life instead of death. As we learn to love God and to love our neighbors, we too participate in this divine intervention.