Regular K

This year’s camp experience was definitely different than usual. Normally, camp is an overwhelming spiritual high for me, where it’s so easy to sense God’s presence around me and to sing praises unashamedly. Not quite so this year. In a word, I would describe camp as “mellow”.

My first reaction would be to declare that camp was not really a success - that for some reason, something went wrong. However, as I continued to think it through, something in me knew that this could not really be true. Wherever true believers gather in God’s name, he is there. And certainly, we are believers, so what happened? The problem with my assessment was that I was using the wrong criteria to judge the camp. It’s foolish to think that because I didn’t “feel” God, he was not there or not speaking to us.

I sense that most Christian teens don’t realize how dangerous it is to classify camps, retreats, “worship concerts”, etc. as good or bad based on superficial things. I know that I am guilty of it, myself. For example, when I said that Historymaker was “really good”, it was because Hillsong United played really well and because the speakers were engaging and funny. However, true worship has nothing to do with how well the band played or how articulate the speaker was - it’s about how you humble yourself to God’s sovereignty and stand in awe of him. I’m beginning to realize how lazy I am in worship, relying on bands and speakers to worship for me. If they worship fervently, I hitchhike on them.

This year, God did not use his megaphone. He spoke in a whisper, and I hope that the teens heard it. For me, I learned that I need to learn how to worship without the “experience”. Otherwise, who am I worshipping? The band or the one who blessed me with my life?