Never Too Young
When I was 18 years old, our church in Kentucky called on me to teach the youth department. The teaching ministry has not found a truer neophyte and neither given a tougher assignment to the newly initiated. Most would think it radical to have the youth director dating and planning to marry a student in the youth department. It sounds creepy and right so had it not been we were the same age and already engaged. Some of you at first think of the overused cliché of inbred southerners as if this had anything to do with it. I must accept these thoughts for opening this can of worms. My point is not to reveal my dark past but to show there is a logical reason for the choice. Rarely would a young and inexperienced person receive such a call without justifying mitigating factors. These same factors resulted in the church choosing me to become a deacon at only 25 years old. What were these factors?
The first I did not own except for the marvelous grace of God. I had no control that God would choose my life to begin in the home of a pastor who would never allow me from the day I was born to be anywhere but in church on the Lord’s Day or on any day there was a church meeting or activity. The purpose for the restriction was the need to be close to God’s word to receive instruction not found in any other place I could be. If I was to receive salvation, I must hear the word of God and the more I heard the more opportunities for the Holy Spirit to open my heart to the gospel. This constant exposure to scripture had more benefits. When I trusted Christ at only 7 years old, I had an extensive background in scripture that most Christians far older than me had.
The next benefit was the development of love for God’s word. I wanted my dad to take me with him when he went to conferences, and I had no trouble at that age sitting for hours listening to sermons and taking notes to help preserve the knowledge. Coupling this with my father’s teaching, a man grounded in the depths of the word, there was a foundation painstakingly laid on the solid rock of Jesus Christ. From 7 years old to 18 years is more than a decade in which I invested private time to learn the doctrines of the church. At 18, I was ready for the assignment. I admit those I taught were not nearly as anxious as I was to learn. Many hours of study went unnoticed, and the learning often sailed over the heads of my contemporaries. The most cherished reward I have from those days is to see one of those friends again and have them remind me of the experience with a word of appreciation.
I graduated from youth to teach adults and preach the word. These are outlets to share more knowledge gained and to hopefully help others in better understanding the cherished word that will draw them closer to Christ. These days I have a little more time to think about where I have been and how I got here. It is also time to remember faithful parents who were steadfast in their duties to ensure my understanding of the glory of God. I also thank the young girl in the youth department I married who never begrudged the hours taken away from her to pursue a more perfect knowledge of Christ. I sit here at my desk continuing the daily work of study because she also trained me in faithfulness. Thus, I daily repeat, “Soli Deo Gloria.”
Pastor V. Mark Smith