The Baton of Faith

Becoming a common heartbreak for youth pastors are young people who, though having been reared in a Christian home, come up through years of Sunday school and church but fail to really embrace the Faith. They squander their teenage years, coming to church out of obligation and staying on the periphery, absorbed in self or tantalized by the world. Discerning whether these kids need to be evangelized or revived is not the point of this article; rather, we seek here to present another perspective on a familiar passage of Scripture that may reach a young heart for the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Consider Hebrews chapter 11. Often called the “Faith Hall of Fame,” it stands as a passage in which God honors a relatively short list of faithful servants, preserving their names forever in His Word. There is a tendency among men to create lists of people whom we choose to honor. Whether Nobel Prize winners, Academy Award winners, Heisman Trophy winners, or honored dead whose names are engraved in black granite, those whom we wish to honor are added to the lists we have created for that purpose.

God tells us in His Word that He will one day judge the earth with fire and that the very elements will melt with fervent heat. Every movie Oscar, every blue ribbon, every trophy, and every granite slab will be destroyed beyond recognition. Every hall of fame will be obliterated—except the one found in our passage in Hebrews. That list of the faithful will stand throughout all of eternity. Our young people need to understand that they, too, can throw their lot in with the faithful servants listed there.

Consider the list. Starting with Abel, God builds an honor roll of individuals noted for their faith as demonstrated through their actions: Abel offered a sacrifice, Enoch was translated, Noah prepared an ark, Abraham obeyed and went, Sarah judged God faithful, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, Jacob blessed Joseph’s sons, Joseph looked forward and gave instruction regarding his bones, Moses’ parents hid him, Moses sided with God’s people rather than the world, and many others who both triumphed and suffered in faith.

And then we come to Hebrews chapter 12 where we are admonished to run the race before us. Did you ever wonder what kind of race the writer of Hebrews had in mind? There were foot races, chariot races, horse races, and maybe even marathons. Perhaps the type of race in view here, though, is a relay race, the most critical point of which is the handoff. That is where the race is won or lost. Each runner must successfully transfer the baton to the next runner or the entire effort will have been futile.

That same faith observed in Abel has been passed down through the ages. It passed from generation to generation, through Enoch and Noah and Abraham and Moses. It was shared and passed down through priests, prophets, and common folk. It survived those silent years between Malachi and Matthew. It was clarified and validated by the Lord Jesus Himself and then scattered in the face of persecution to spread like wildfire across the face of the earth. It survived the attacks of both the world and religion through the Dark and Middle Ages. It continued to propagate through the Reformation and the Age of “Enlightenment.” It was carried by desperate pilgrims to the shores of a new world. It brought revivals and sustained the world through global conflict. It has survived the onslaught of secularism, and now it is offered to the next generation. What will they do? Take it and run? Or drop it on the track?

Consider the track. There are many kinds of tracks— Olympic tracks with great crowds of spectators, high school tracks with other field events underway, and county fairs with vendors hawking every sort of food and trinket in the infield. See your young people there on that track. To their right the stands are filled with their family and church, many of whom are burdened for them and praying. To their left is the infield. From there they are bombarded by the allure of the world. On the track they stand. Some are faithfully watching behind them for the coming runner with the baton. Some are not quite sure what to make of the race. Some cannot decide if they want to be in this race at all. Some have left the track are off to explore the offerings of the infield.

What is the remedy for the lack of interest in spiritual things? How do you encourage your young people to take up the Faith and walk in God’s Kingdom? What does the passage say? “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” We must encourage our young people to recognize and to keep their eyes on the goal. Toward this end, we offer a couple of practical applications.

We must show them Jesus Christ in our lives. Growing up, I was privileged to have one or two godly examples in my life. If I had any doubt about how Jesus would handle a particular circumstance, I had but to look at the lives and manners of these men. They had “put their faith in overalls,” as my pastor likes to say. So we must also become practically skilled in the ways of God. The kids in our care should never need to look far for a godly example—no further than our lives.

We must also encourage our kids to keep their eyes cast in the right direction. My own kids have heard me say to them, “Keep your eyes down the road.” Often this admonition came within the context of a driving lesson. When I was sixteen and learning to drive I developed a bad habit of looking at the road immediately in front of me. Not seeing oncoming traffic issues early enough, I continually adjusted the steering wheel too late, resulting in awkward and exaggerated course corrections. Not until I learned to keep my eyes down the road did my driving improve.

Your kids need to keep the future in view. Remind them that their days of being a child are over and that there is a future at stake. “Young man, what kind of wife will you be looking for?” “Young lady, what kind of father do you want for your children?” “One day, you will look down the track and see your own son or daughter standing and deciding whether to take up your faith, and every fiber in your being will be struggling to make the exchange soundly.” Remember that the goal of youth work is to produce young adults who love God and are walking in the light of His Word. While exciting activities are fun and certainly have a place in your ministry, do not remain content merely to feed their passion to remain a child. Keep their eyes—and your own—down the road.

There is much at stake. The world pulls hard for the lives of your teens. The genuine gospel of Jesus Christ is marginalized and ridiculed in our culture. We must be the heroes that our teens see putting our faith in overalls. We must give them a vision for life beyond the present. You hold the baton that they so desperately need. Pray that the kids in your care will embrace it securely and run.

Dan Zeller is an automation systems engineer in Greenville, South Carolina. He and his wife, Terrie, have eight children, all home schooled. Dan is a deacon and Sunday school teacher at Faith Baptist Church in Taylors, South Carolina.

(Originally published in FrontLine • September/October 2010. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.)