One of those…

I have been corresponding with a teen who has been struggling with depression. She told me that no matter how hard she prays she doesn’t hear anything in her heart from God. She feels ignored. I have been trying to help her understand how to get closer to God. She is young and naive in so many ways and I love her. I want her to experience the joy and peace that comes with a close walk with Jesus. So I suggested that she start her prayer time with confession. I told her that unconfessed sin can block her prayers and cause distance between her and God. I told her that the Lord is looking for a humble heart that lets go of pride and admits sin and repents of that sin. That is one step in abiding in close communion with the Lord.

To my surprise she responded with “Oh, you’re one of those!” I was so surprised by her response that I had to ask her what she meant by that. She said that she hates it when people suggest that she is an horrible person whose actions have any bearing on her relationship with the Lord. She said that God’s love for us doesn’t change - He loves us regardless of our behaviors. She is correct that God loves us no matter what. Nothing we do can separate us from His love. “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭38‬-‭39‬ ‭

But He can love us from a distance or He can love us up close and the difference is in how we approach Him. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James‬ ‭4‬:‭8‬ ‭

We have to lay down our pride and submit humbly to God, confessing our sins (not just once when we are first saved) and willing to learn and apply what we have learned to our lives. The Christian life is not a sprint - it is a marathon. As one of our platform speakers once put it: The Christian life is a long obedience in the same direction.

This teen I have been working with has formed her opinions and beliefs and is unwilling to consider that she could have some wrong ideas. Here are some actual quotes from her:

“No actually I feel very fine in what I believe :) because I believe I am right and I feel really good about it actually.”

”Actually I do not feel bad or convicted at all.”

“I am actually quite calm. Never offended or being rude or defensive or upset at all.”

“I am smart and mature and do have very good judgment :)”

“I have my own stance and I am sure I can prove it with logical biblical knowledge.”

Her opinion is that she is a good person and that any suggestion she isn’t is hurtful, judgmental and wrong. I tried to remind her that scripture says no one is good - not one person in this world is good because we are born with a sin nature.

“As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one;” Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭10‬ ‭

I should not be surprised by her attitude about God though. Most churches just don’t teach the meatier parts of scripture anymore and so Christians are fed only spiritual milk or baby food. Families don’t have spiritual discussions around the dinner table - most don’t even gather together for a meal anymore. A shocking number of Christians don’t read their Bibles regularly, let alone every day. And teens (including this girl I have been chatting with) spend all day and all night (literally - this girl has severe insomnia in addition to clinical depression) consuming social media reels and posts which is where they go for the information that they use to form their opinions.

The BIBLE is the only reliable source for how to live and what to believe. I believe the Bible so yes, I proudly claim that I’m one of THOSE!