And… wait for it… here is yet another video! If you are reading this on Facebook, on email, or on a smart phone, you should really make an effort to view it on Messiah’s site.
‘Perfect’ is a music video from a Canadian group called Simple Plan. This particular song isn’t what you might consider to be Christian worship music… by any stretch of the imagination. At first blush, it doesn’t seem to have much of a draw for “adults”, either. If you are the parent of a teenager, you might find that you have more in common with your angry, rebellious teen than you ever imagined… especially if you read on, and… if you watch the video a few times.
The song and the video do a great job of literally looking in the window of teenagers. They are struggling with changes in their lives. They are wondering about their place in the world; in the universe. They are talented, intelligent, and sensitive, but are often dismissed, or worse yet… invisible. They love intensely, are highly emotional, and feel rejected at the least provocation. What they want is to strive toward what they see as bright possibilities in their future, not be restrained by the impossibility thinking of people living in the past who think of them only as children.
Of course, adults see it differently. Adults see children that resist authority, that don’t have any idea how the real world works, that are idealistic and emotionally charged, and that don’t know how to make the best choices yet. As adults, don’t we have to protect them from the things we know will only end badly for them?
Actually, there isn’t much difference between teenagers and adults. Compare how adults percieve God… “He has all these rules that I just can’t ever live up to… I’m not perfect!” “Why do I have to be accountable for everything? I’m not perfect!” “Why shouldn’t I get angry? I’m not perfect!” As adults, we have just as many excuses for God, as teenagers have excuses for adults.
Yet, there is Good News. Though we are not perfect, we can find the perfection we need in Jesus. In Him, and through Him, and with Him, we are made right and acceptable to God the Father… we are made PERFECT!
Perhaps… just maybe… if you can get your [FILL IN THE BLANK] (teen, parent) to read this blog entry and watch the video… you might be able to open a dialog.
“Come now, and let us reason together”, saith the LORD: “though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
Isaiah 1:18
Share this with somebody in your life, and let me know what happens.
Your brother in Christ,
Dave
