A Role to Play: Helping Young People Find Themselves in God’s Story

I was talking to a first-year college student just the other day. I asked him, “If you could ask God for any miracle, knowing that God would give it to you, what would you ask for?”

I was surprised by his answer. "I’d ask God for a reason to be here." I was taken aback. He saw my concern and quickly assured me he was not in a mental health crisis. He just wanted to know that he could make a difference, that God had a calling for him. Relieved, I began my 'it’s so great being a pastor' speech, and he waved me off. "It needs to be simpler than that," he said. This young man, more than anything else, wanted to know how he fits into a larger dream, how he fits into God’s dream of shalom.

I was surprised, but then again, not really.

We’ve hurt our kids and youth by failing to communicate this truth: God’s story is ongoing and they’re an important part of it. God is still working to solve the sin problem and every person has a role to play.

Two problems contribute to this failure. The first is seeing the story as closed. Jesus came, lived among us, performed miracles and showed us God’s true character, died and rose again. Case closed. Salvation has been accomplished. That’s true enough as it goes, but we forget that Jesus’ life, death and resurrection don’t automatically save everyone. This seems like a no-brainer to say, but many of us don’t see ourselves as part of the equation. This is the second problem. We’ve forgotten our part in this grand story. We have been called for a mission, the mission to show Jesus and his love to others. How will people know about Jesus unless they see something vastly unusual in us, something so different that they start to ask questions?

To that end, I’ve written a book, Finding Ourselves in God’s Story. This resource shows God healing the world by creating and recreating a chosen-for-a-mission, covenant, shalom People of God out of all people groups. This people group is unique in that it contains people from every ethnic group, every socio-economic group. It’s an attractive and unusual People of God, because it’s made up of people who should be suspicious of each other, according to the world’s standards—but they aren’t. They love each other, and they love their enemies, and they share their money, and they are so different, that people ask—why.

Yes, Jesus is the answer to our sin problem. But he isn’t going to force anyone to join. So, it’s up to us, this rag-tag group of people from all peoples, to wake up the world and point the way to Jesus.

Our kids and youth need to hear, in no uncertain terms, that they have a role to play in this grand drama. They need to participate in the biblical story. They need to be part of the grand conversation.

But how is it possible to have a conversation with a 2000 year old book? It’s not easy, but if we start by seeing the Bible as a story and give permission for kids to speak into that story, the conversation begins.

First, we must relook at the Bible as a story, the most important story of all. While there are many genres in the Bible, the driving force is a narrative where God is actively working in real history while also honoring human free will. Story implies a couple of things. In good stories, relationships are key, and the biblical narrative is all about relationship. God chose to become one of us—talk about relationship—and walk with us here on earth, in all its messiness. God could have sent an instruction manual, with succinct directions. No mess, no complications, no discussion. But would that have been the best way to know God?

Second, the meaning or lesson is sometimes implied. It’s hard to figure out the take away in the mess of people doing their own thing. Many times, the narrative simply describes what happened, not necessarily what should have happened. So, we have to dig deep into the story to figure out God’s message.

We teachers need to use the same method God used—story, with all its complications and mess. To that end, Finding Ourselves in God’s Story takes the hundreds of biblical stories and shapes them into one big Story. In every little story, there are broken relationships: that’s the heartbreak of sin. And in every story, God is working to heal those relationships. And in every story, the people of the Bible had the choice to either cooperate with God or be unfaithful.

Here’s an example: In John 9, Jesus and the disciples see a man who was born blind. This man had a broken relationship with others (they thought he was a greater sinner than most), and a broken relationship with the physical world—he was blind. He probably felt bad about himself as well, which shows a broken relationship with his inner self. The broken relationship with God, which we all have, is implied. Jesus healed him. This could have restored him back in good standing with his community, but it didn’t. The Pharisees chose to ignore the clear evidence of the miracle and who Jesus was, and the man, while physically and spiritually healed, remained ostracized by his community.

We also need to create a safe space for kids and youth to enter into the story as conversation partners. In Finding Ourselves in God’s Story, I asked youth in a variety of places to listen to a section of the overall biblical narrative and then address it—take it seriously. They asked questions; they pushed back. At times I was scared because I love Jesus and his story so much that I didn’t want some questions to surface. “Why did God demand the slaughter of all Canaanites in the Old Testament? That doesn’t sound like Jesus.” Yes, I said, it doesn’t. I had to be honest. I don’t have all the answers.

Perhaps this authenticity is the biggest gift we can give to our children. When we are honest about the difficult questions, they’ll be free to be honest too. Our kids and youth are eager to ask these questions and asking them helps all of us internalize and make faith our own. Having a safe place to ask difficult questions shows them that God really does care for them, that God wants an authentic, living relationship with them.

And these conversations help the Bible come alive. Our kids and youth start to realize that the Spirit is walking the school hallways, meeting us at the coffee shop. The story is ongoing. And like the people of the Bible, we have to choose whether or not to be faithful.

The first-year college student and I met over coffee several times. As he interacted with the biblical narrative, he started to see himself in the story. He wasn’t meant to be a pastor. He was meant to be a different kind of entrepreneur, a businessman who worked for the greater good. After great soul-searching, he chose to enter into God’s story as a faithful follower of Jesus. He’s not the main character, but he’s part of the solution, part of the grand Story. And that brings him great joy.

May we too, find ourselves and find our greatest joy, in that Story.

Michele Hershberger has spent her life serving the world through the church. She loves speaking and writing, and no matter what she does, it's somehow connected to nurturing faith in youth and young adults. She's been honored to write the official catechism for Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada, as well as other books.  Currently, she is in her 24th year as a Bible Professor and her second year as a campus pastor at Hesston College.