Youth are not just leaders of the future!!!!

If you were to walk the halls of churches and ask them what they thought about the youth in the church.  They would say a couple things, but there is one that I want to focus some attention on.  Often times you will hear that "students are our future leaders" or "students are the leaders of tomorrow", which is true........partially.  The men and women that are in youth groups now will be business leaders and church leaders in ten to fifteen years, but they are so much more. 

I also want to say there is a flip side to this coin.  Students have the capacity to be leaders and influencers right now. It does not matter if a student is in 6th grade or a senior in high school they can change their community.  They can be leaders today.  In my experience and the experience of many of the youth pastors I have spoken with,  we have seen students change entire cultures within churches, families, and schools.  I believe that God can use students to bring life and energy into churches. Students can bring Jesus into homes where God isn't a part of the equation.  Students can help spread the love of God through their schools.  Students are not just leaders of the future.  They are leaders right now.

I want to take time to share one brief story of how our youth group has shown their leadership skills already.  About 25 of our students went down to the Lake Wales Care Center about a month ago (if you don't know what the care center is, take some time to learn about them.  They are a great organization), and we painted a lady's house.  We cleaned her yard. We pulled a stump out of her front yard.  We showed her the love of God in a practical way, and our students that day were leaders.  They weren't leaders in the future.  They were leaders in the present.  I wish I had time to tell you about all of the leadership moments the students showed that day, but you wouldn't be willing to read for that long.  God can use students to change this world, and I pray that as adults we start believing that students aren't just the leaders of the future.  Students are leaders right now. 

This is students being the leaders of today!