There are two ways to think about the work that Josh Blackmer will begin when he arrives at Palm Beach Lakes. One is to see his work as an evangelist doing family/youth work, and the other is to see it as doing FAMILY/youth work. It is so vital for every member to see the difference between these two concepts. It involves far more than just spelling the word family two different ways, one with all caps.
Before looking at these differences, let us be reminded that the work planned by Josh is vastly different from the full-time youth worker and the work which we have had in the past. The work done by those who have gone before was not wrong. It changed the lives of so many of our teens. I thank God for all that was accomplished and the souls it helped to get to heaven. It was, beyond question, a good work. The new approach will be even better. That work revolved around those young men employed to work especially with our teens. Unfortunately, the work often revolved around that one person who took care of our teens.
Josh’s work will not just be family/youth work. While he will make a concerted effort to get every parent of every teen involved in the youth work, it will involve far more than just those few parents who, for a brief time, have children who are teens. Those who are parents must be involved with their children, but Josh’s work is far greater than just helping teens and their parents grow spiritually.
Josh’s work will be a FAMILY/youth work. We used the concept of all capital letters as we introduced the work to indicate that it involves another family. That FAMILY is the church of the Lord. Our young people need connections with far more than just their peers. They need our young adults to be involved with them and live the Christian life before them. They need role models of those young adults who so recently were teens themselves. But God’s FAMILY is made up of older brothers and sisters. Many of our young people have parents who are not faithful Christians, and they all need the association of spiritual parents and grandparents. On the other hand, all of us need our younger brothers and sisters. We are family.
We are not trying to create a family for the youth. We are going to create a family for the FAMILY. Think of all those “one another” verses in the Bible. We are part of a family that sometimes laughs together and sometimes cries together. We are part of a family that dreams together. We care; we share; we bear. Josh is not coming to replace anyone in any role they now have. His work will change the emphasis we have had. His work will definitely impact the youth of the church, but in a greater sense he will be working with the FAMILY.