Seeing Christ

Wednesday was a hard day for everyone. The kids were hard to deal with at the DreamCenter and it seemed to wear on everyone. We had a kid named Tyler who was very rebellious and liked to make fun of us anyway he could. He would cuss at us, call us names and then cut up with his friends about us. We tried to ignore the rude comments, letting him know that we didn't say those things and if he continued we would have to go get the director.

Seth Singleton(18) and Andrew Etherington(15?) were watching over the sound equipment so that none of the kids would mess with it. Tyler and his posse came over and starting asking if they could play with some of the stuff. When Seth told them no, they began to call names and say things they shouldn't. Seth kept his cool, but held his ground on the rules.

A little later when we were packing up, Tyler starting making more trouble; throwing food on the ground, lying about it, and getting mad at those who told him to pick it up. I was coming back from putting a canopy away when George Lawson (youth pastor and leader of the trip) came looking for the director. Tyler had received his last warning and was getting kicked out. As I watched them take him out of the pavilion, I saw Andrew in the distance. He was sitting at a picnic table crying.

Alan Thornton (youth leader) was already headed his way when I started over. Andrew could hardly say anything as Alan asked him if he was crying because of the language and the things Tyler had been saying. He nodded, and I was immediately overcome. It was all I could do not to break down and start crying with Andrew.

As I had watched Tyler, all I could think about was how terribly misbehaved he was and how he needed to be punished. Both of these things were true, but it drove me to anger. This knowledge that he needed judgement elicited a response from me; anger. Jesus was put in a similar position, only his was more gruesome and the sin more disgusting. He saw all the sin of man. He didn't just see it but he experienced it as they denied him, beat him, and nailed him to a cross.

This triggered a response from Christ. He wept. He felt pity for humanity as they mocked him and spit upon him. They forsook the very God they claimed to follow and yet when Jesus hung on the cross he said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." Tyler doesn't understand that what he is doing will land him in hell where he will pay the punishment for all his sins by spending eternity apart from God. Christ pleads on our behalf, "Father, forgive them." He had every right to be mad for the sin that humanity commits and yet he takes the punishment for us and appeals to God for us.

When I sat next to Andrew, as he tried to stop his sobs, I saw Christ. I saw Christ weeping over the sins of the world. The very sins that condemn us to death. The difference was that I got mad at Tyler for his wrong doing, whereas Christ died for him, so that if he believes he won't have to. Christ was moved to pity and compassion for everyone, including me. I have believed and I am now covered by Christ's blood. I should be moved to compassion for the unbelievers, because I was just as lost as they were.

Jesus said, "Father, forgive Luke for he knows not what he does." God forgave me and showed me the wrong that I did and continue to do. Tyler hasn't been shown yet. He is still in the dark, and that should make me sorrowful for him, because without Christ he has nothing. He is dead in his trespasses and sins just like I was. Have pity on the lost, because without Christ you would be no different.

Please keep Tyler in your prayers. He did not come back to the DreamCenter after that day, so we don't know where he is. All we know is that he needs Christ. Pray for him and the rest of the kids there.