commitment nights

woke up this morning at 5:46 a.m. for no good reason…just awake.

last night was “commitment” night here at Hume SD.  it turned out to be a good night.  what i mean by that is i felt like i accurately communicated the gospel - that’s all my job entailed.  

i’m always a little afraid of these nights, and especially with jr highers.  in my opinion, we take these nights too seriously.  

don’t get me wrong, i think we should take them seriously - just not as much as we typically do.  it seems like we view the commitment night as the end, rather than a means to a much greater end.  sometimes we act as though this is the only time in which a student is able to accept the Lord and if they don’t we’re hugely disappointed.   other times we think of it as a one time prayer rather than a lifelong process for people.  

i think all these attitudes will eventually turn these kids off.

i have to admit, i’ve manipulated kids in the past on commitment nights.  this wasn’t malicious in anyway.  i wasn’t intentionally trying to do harm.  i really do believe my heart was right in what i was doing.  but, talking about the pain of the cross or even giving an extended amount of time of awkwardness in hopes for kids to come forward just never seems right to me.  now i avoid these at all costs and even encourage the opposite.  i don’t allow a lot of time at the end, i don’t even have kids come forward.  i talk about activities that are open, dismiss everyone, and let the kids know that if they want to talk to someone about what they heard they can stay behind.  but, if not, its 100% totally cool and they should go have fun.  

so, here’s my thoughts on commitment nights:

1. making kids feel awkward about leaving or not coming forward is manipulation.  our heart may not be to do this, but we can often do it in VERY subtle ways…and they feel it.
2. it’s not the end
3. my job is to set up the youth leaders for conversation about the gospel message, not to have kids come forward and pray with me.
4. as a speaker my responsibility is to explain not only what Christ did in regards to washing away sins, but also that his death wasn’t just about us being forgiven.  it was much bigger.  it was also so that those who are living no longer living for themselves, but for him who died (2 Cor. 5:15).  kids have to think about this as well
5. the power is in the gospel message, not the pain Christ endured
6. when we focus on the emotional aspects of the gospel, especially with jr highers, they can often make emotional decisions - especially as the week goes on and they get more and more tired.
7. altar calls are dangerous - not bad - just dangerous.  sometimes we feel like “we have to give them an opportunity to accept the Lord” and what we mean is them coming forward.  this can be good in the sense they come in front of their peers, but this can also ONLY be for their peers.  i know coming forward can be a part of a process, but the process can also happen without coming forward.
8.  i think commitment nights at camp are good, healthy, and even necessary - but not for college-age people.  it’s a much more complex process.