Knocking on Heaven's Door: Helping Young People Say NO, NO to YOLO

18 For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. 20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.21 He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control. - Philippians 3:18-21.

Young people may think they are "invincible" to a certain degree, but they are also thinking about death and the afterlife.  I lead, what I thought would be a short discussion with middle school students based on Philippians 3:10-4:1, honing in on 3:18-21.  Click here for the basic discussion questions.   As I worked my way through the discussion questions I was bombarded with student questions that made me glad I am a "theo-nerd" and made our the volunteers glad they weren't the ones leading through the questions.  The questions ranged from "will we eat in Heaven?" to "do babies and people who have never heard the gospel go to hell?" to "what persons of the trinity will we see in heaven?(not stated that clearly)."  Indeed the word hell has probably never before been used so many times in a Methodist youth room, and not once was it followed up with giggles...They even concluded, on their own, that YOLO is probably a "bunch of hooey." 

I feel I should explain that our middle school group is a group of sixth, seventh and eighth grade students (heavy on the six graders).  They are a challenging group, with short attention spans (but I love em).  So why was this the best group meeting we have had all year?  One major reason is we have increased are volunteer team, but I think the bigger reason is, they are truly interested in eternity. 

Young people may be brash.  They may feel invincible at times.  But they are also very capable and perhaps even willing to embrace a kingdom perspective.  They are ready to contemplate the eschaton - the end times.  They are able to embrace the idea that the game is already won, and that this reality should impact their lives here and now.  They are ready to say No, No to YOLO.  They are truly ready to knock on Heaven's door.