Jesus said
"The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath"
Mark 2 v 27
A Biblical Perspective on the Summer Riots
‘Many of London’s teenagers have been rioting because they “lack hope” and “feel let down by society” BBC News 10th August 2011’
What were your first thoughts when you saw reports of the riots or for some saw firsthand the resulting chaos? Did you feel angry? Scared? Confused? Nothing? Did you tut and say something like, ‘What is the world coming to?’ or, perhaps, ‘Teens today,’ and raise your eyebrows? How should we react? What would be the response of Jesus? In Matthew 9:36 we read, ‘When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.’ This surely can present nothing but a challenge to us! Our response should, indeed, be the same as Christ; we must have compassion on them and recognise their need of Christ.
I recently heard a sermon in which the preacher quoted the following: ‘A Juvenile Magistrate from Glasgow on the occasion of his retirement said, “After many years sitting on the bench I have proved beyond doubt that a child brought up in Sunday School is very rarely brought up in court.”’
In many ways we have the only answer to such rioting—we must preach the gospel. In a society which sees our teenagers as losing hope, we have the greatest hope anyone can offer—Christ! This is a key time for us to be reaching out to this lost generation of teenagers who do not see where they fit into society or the fact that their lives are valuable in God’s sight.
In the light of this it is important that we see what a vital role our youth workers of today have. They have opportunities to show Britain’s young people a better way so it is important that in churches and organisations we recognise this and encourage them both in prayer and in practical ways.
At Day One we are aiming to support youth workers in a number of areas. We are going to be increasing our publications over the next few years to include many more resources both for workers and young people. We are offering training to churches who request it. I have already had the opportunity to spend time with missionary children running a children’s club at the UFM Family Conference, as well as opportunities to run training courses internationally.
Please take time to read our new Kids’ pages and Youth Workers’ Corner. This is an area we intend to grow in the coming years, so please pass this on to any in your church who you think may benefit. Also, if you know of issues or topics you would like covering, please feel free to contact me.
In the coming months we shall be bringing out some exciting new titles both for young people and for youth workers so make sure you keep an eye on the website and catalogue.
I trust that as together we look to a future of hope—not despair—for our next generation, that Day One will be able to play a role in facilitating our young people to reach out to peers and our youth workers to be an effective witness.
If you would like to keep up to date with news of upcoming youth publications and or news of what I am doing, then please let me know and I will add you to my YouthNews@DayOne mailing list. (This is currently only available in email format.)
Tirzah L Jones, Director of Youth Ministries, Day One