Spiritual Investment and ROI

I just finished up with the second day of the Blast youth conference up in Wisconsin Dells led by Community Christian Church. My oldest son who is now a senior in college has been attending since he was in 6th grade, and me and my wife have been leading groups of kids for the last 5 or 6 years now. It has always been such an incredibly top notch event and it keeps getting more and more impactful every year. As I was looking around at all of the different church leaders, parent leaders, student leaders and attendees, I was reflecting on the enormous amount of investment that has been made in and through so many hundreds of people over the years.

My youngest son Michael has been coming to Blast with me since he was 5 or 6 years old. This year marks his first official Blast experience as a 6th grader in junior high. I was watching him and his friends and was marvelling at the gi-normous foundation that has already been laid for him as a 6th grader. He was born the fourth child and his oldest sister was present in the hospital room for his birth, just because she loves kids so much and was so excited to have a new little brother. Michael’s older siblings and their friends have been investing in him since he was born. His older brother has been teaching him drums, baseball, football, etc., since he was old enough to hold drumsticks and wear a mitt. His sisters have been loving on him and growing his self-esteem on a daily basis. Michael has had the privilege of being loved by new brothers and a sister who are living with us, and even more amazing, is, in Michael’s eyes, this is all normal. Michael is more comfortable talking to high school and college kids than he is kids his own age, all because of the way my kids’ friends have loved on Michael and intentionally developed friendships with him.

Michael sees wedding pictures of his mom and dad in the early 20’s and see them still happily married and very much in love. Mike thinks this is normal. It’s normal for him to see his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins several times a year and have them build into his life on a regular basis. Michael went on his first mission trip when he was 6 years old and thinks it’s normal to have friends in the Philippines who used to be abandoned to live on the streets. Michael has shared pictures on his first grade “about-me” poster of him hanging out with inmates in Filipino prison cells, the sick in Filipino hospitals, and the impoverished children in garbage dump areas. Michael believes all of this is normal. Leaders, friends and their families in Philippine Frontline Ministries have invested in Michael on his multiple trips to the Philippines.

Michael has had  church leaders at every level invest in him – elementary leaders, student ministry leaders, pastors, volunteers, friends, neighbors, etc. Michael has attended dozens of Blast teaching and worship sessions over the last years and heard content that rivals any Christian conference, youth or adult, world-wide. Mike was baptized by his brother and sisters last year in front of his parents, family and friends during his church’s anniversary celebration on Rotary Hill in Naperville. Michael has grown up believing in God’s grace and unconditional love and that it is normal to have a growing, dynamic, personal relationship with God through Jesus.

It is a no-brainer to Michael that he is a masterpiece of God’s creation, with good works that were prepared for him ,and no one else to do. The only business Michael ever known is business with a mission. Michael would never question the desire and inherent, God-given ability to change the world, and he expects to see it happen on a regular basis, from small to big. Just think about the strong foundation that Michael get’s to build his young life upon, laid tirelessly by servants of God, from the humbly, obscure to the humbly, well-known.

This of course, is not just Michael’s story. The 850 students attending Blast this year, and hundreds of church staff, musicians, and student leaders have similar, but unique stories to tell of strong foundations laid by many willing to invest all of what they have to offer. There have been decades of Blast graduates over the years and through God’s grace, there will be decades more and the impact will continue to spread and continue to become a movement of young people who have the desire to change the world, and the audacity to believe that it is God’s good pleasure to do it in and through them.

The big risk in all of this is that Michael forgets how un-normal this really is in the world today. That Michael forgets how many children have known abuse at the hands of their dads, uncles, cousins, neighbors, instead of non-stop love and caring. That Michael forgets that so many children know a father who was abusive or unfaithful to his wife and his family, or a mother whose low self-esteem and abusive history makes her much less of a mother than God intended her to be. That Michael forgets how many kids have heard that they are failures, and losers with no future from their parents, families, friends and others in their lives. That Michael forgets how many people in the world have no experience, or worse yet, a huge negative experience with God and are far from him, if not running away; and, that so many have suffered abuse at the hands of fallen church leaders.

As I reflect on all of this, it give me great pause to recall the parable of the talents as told by Jesus in Matthew 25:14-30. In this well-known parable, Jesus explains that God expects a return on his investment, and the minimum return he is looking for is 100%. How many talents of gold have been invested in Michael from his birth up until the 6th grade? I believe it is likely hundreds if not thousands of talents, compared to the servant who was given the five talents in the parable. I remember that Jesus further teaches in Luke 12:48 that to whom much is given, much is expected. All of this has conspired to bring out a very healthy fear and sense of urgency in me today.

Am I being faithful in communicating the the duty and responsibility that belongs to those to whom much has been given? Am I casting a vision worthy of the incredible investment that has been made in him? As Michael’s father, as the father of three other kids, as a husband, as a mentor to so many students of all ages and young adults, some of whom I know very well and others I know casually – am I casting a compelling vision for a future in which they fully leverage the investment that has been made in them?

What kinds of expectations am I setting? Are doing well in school, sports, music, other activities, keeping free from substance abuse, and practicing safe-sex the highest callings that I hope come to define the life of my child, teenager or young adult? Am I continually setting expectations that far exceed the norm and motivating those I mentor to strive to do immeasurably more than they can ask for or imagine as they are continually empowered by the Spirit of God at work within them?

I need to step up my game and more fully dedicate myself to unleashing the Ephesians 2:10 masterpiece that God has created in each and every relationship in my life, so that God will be glorified by a return on investment that would make Warren Buffett giggle with joy.