Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Friends who challenge you

I work at the YMCA as an Outreach Coordinator and run a program called the YMCA Community Action Program. We reach out to high school age guys who are struggling in a variety of ways, including socially, mentally and academically.


I publish a monthly parent newsletter for the program in which I have an editorial section called Community Corner. In this section, I attempt to strengthen community bonds by sharing stories and encouraging students and parents to find ways to connect with others in meaningful relationships.


The following is the latest editorial I wrote for Community Corner.


Have you ever had a friend who challenged you to do something that, when looking back, you think “That could have gotten me killed!?!” Now I’m not talking about doing something that is just blatantly illegal, ignorant or foolish. I’m talking about the type of friend that challenges you in a healthy way, one that pushes you outside your comfort zone. A friend who is willing to challenge you so that you are both happy to be alive, yet feel like you have had more life breathed into you because of your experiences with this person.

I recently had this type of experience with a friend of mine named Ryan. Ryan is the program director for the National Youth Project Using Minibikes at YMCA Camp Carson, and is a far more experienced dirt bike rider than I am. When Ryan and I go for rides on our own – without any students present – he really likes to explore, push the envelope and find trails that have tighter turns, steeper hills and more obstacles to maneuver around than a what the average NFL running back faces on any given Sunday. To be completely honest and transparent, Ryan’s willingness to push the envelope leave me a little nervous, slightly scared and wondering why in the world I’m riding with him!

However, Ryan knows my riding ability. He knows what I am capable of doing. He will not take me on a trail that he knows I will not succeed in riding. Ryan also knows that in challenging me, he is making me a better rider. For these reasons, when Ryan says to me “Hey come check out this new trail I found,” I always follow him. I trust Ryan.

And this brings us to community. In order to engage in true community, I am convinced that we need friends like Ryan that are willing to push us. To make us slightly uncomfortable. To break us of our need for the familiar.

See without a friend like this, we are content to be comfortable. When we are comfortable, we are more concerned for our own wellbeing rather than going out of our way to see the needs of others. As a society, we are much more inclined to choose personal safety over selflessly serving the needs of others.

Without selflessly serving the needs of others, we cannot engage in true community. To take this a step further, I believe that until we are challenged to go outside our comfort zone to the point that we need to rely on others, we cannot truly understand the importance of community.

I have not found a better example to support this need to be challenged than in the life of Jesus Christ. Jesus lived radically different than anyone at the time. He challenged those who would follow him to live outside of their comfort zones. He called them to live in such a way that they were completely dependent on God to provide for them. He showed them how to live in a way that put the needs of others first. He showed them what it was like to live in community.

The cool part about this is that the offer Jesus extended to those who would follow Him years ago is still available to us today. When we have a relationship with Jesus, we automatically have that friend that will challenge us in a healthy way, ask us to step outside our comfort zones and allow us to engage in true community. Jesus is waiting to find adventure with us, to show us how to really come alive. To show us true community.

Over the past year, I have written about experiences that define community, and through that we’ve been on a journey. I’m convinced that there is no better time than now to continue on this journey to community. To break from the familiar and challenge ourselves with the unfamiliar. To put the needs of others first. To be challenged. Will you join us as we continue on this journey to experience community?

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