By Jessyka Albert
To be honest, sometimes being a 21-year-old young adult is like reliving that awkward middle school stage all over again. You’re never quite sure when someone is going to treat you like a child or expect you to be a responsible, omniscient “grown up.” It’s a confusing and frustrating time. Some of the biggest life transitions are lurking around the corner all while you’re balancing learning to do taxes, pay bills, and figure out your purpose in life. The metaphorical teeter-totter between child and adulthood wavers from side to side, and keeping it balanced seems like a full time job.
Even though there is much anxiety that comes with walking this tight rope into the future, there is a beauty that young adult leaders can bring to the table. At the beginning of Matthew chapter 18, the disciples naively ask Jesus who will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus, the greatest teacher of all time, really wanted this to stick in their minds, so he brings in a visual aid. He calls a child to Him for all the disciples to see. Then he blows their minds saying, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Obviously, Jesus is talking about having the heart of a child, but who better to understand a child’s heart than someone who is only years re- moved from innocent heartfelt questions, fort building, and imaginations that surpass all reality? This is the double-edged sword that our young people in the church possess but don’t always understand its value. That teeter-totter that tests and stresses us is also used to bless us.
The best leaders I have ever encountered are the ones that do not slowly walk from the child side of the teeter-totter to the adult side, but that work hard to keep harmony between the two. As young people, we don’t really have the choice to be there, we’re just stuck in the middle of tests and stress sometimes forgetting to let it bless us.
The middle of the teeter-totter is the most effective place for leadership. It is never comfortable because of the constant wavering and alertness it takes, but creates a Christ dependent life. It can sometimes feel frustrating, but it is also humbling. It is a place where the child’s heart meets wise eyes.
In 1 Timothy 4:12, Paul writes, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”
So whether you are 16, 21, 47, or 95, don’t let anyone look down on you for your young heart, but rather pursue it! Brave the shaking teeter-totter, pick up the double edge sword of youth and wisdom, be the leader God created you to be, and join the children entering the Kingdom of heaven.
Jessyka Albert is completing theological studies at Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska. She is joining the Boulder Seventh-day Adventist Church in May 2016 as pastor for young adults.