Ken was an up-and-coming youth leader in his church. At 19 years of age, he felt that God was calling him to the ministry and he was eager to do all he could for the church.
He was concerned that his local congregation was not holding the young people as well as they might. When they could be at youth meetings, some of them were going dancing. Ken had an idea. Why not hold dances at the church?
So he made the suggestion. Some took it up, but others opposed it. A special meeting was held to discuss the proposal.
‘If we are going to hold our young people,’ said Ken, ‘we have to make allowances for their interests. If we had regular dances here, they wouldn’t be going elsewhere.’
Others argued that it wasn’t the church’s role to entertain. The young people needed to be better motivated.
The matter was unresolved. Then something happened to change Ken’s life. He met some young people from another congregation who seemed to have no motivation problem at all. They loved the Lord and they loved the church, with all its faults. Eventually, he found their secret.
A year earlier they had been empowered by the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8; 2:4). Now they were living with the impulse of divine energy.
To read more on this topic see Living in the Image of God, Barry Chant (Miranda: Tabor, 2012 available in eBook and Paperback) from which this edited extract is taken.