Grown Folks Business: A section dedicated to "being about the Father's business" challenging what the world is trying to cram down our throats and accept as norm. It's articles are designed to help us step back, look at the information and examine it against the scripture.

1 Corinthians 13:11 - When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

Lights, Camera, Action - God is watching is he pleased?

by Jillian Blackwell

Hollywood has gone wild with Celebrity Reality TV.  Some of the first were the crazy Osbourne family, then the lovely Jessica and Nick Simpson gave us the Newlyweds and we can’t forget Anna Nicole Smith.  Some of the most popular celebrity reality TV shows today for teens seems to be Americans Top Model, Being Bobby Brown and So You Think You Can Dance. 

Teens no longer have to wonder about or spend their money on magazines to find out, what’s beautiful and what’s not,  how families function, the latest fashions and dance moves. 

All they need to do is grab their remote control, turn to MTV, FOX or UPN, sit back and drink it all in.

The term Reality TV started out with “The Real World” when it aired on MTV in 1992.  It showcased seven diverse young people sharing a New York apartment fitted with cameras and microphones. It provided viewers the opportunity to observe how strangers lived together in intimate surroundings and dealt with the drama of every day life. For some of us older people, (not including myself) it can be argued that reality TV has been around since “Candid Camera” and it is only the term, “reality TV” has appeared over recent years.

But I would argue that God had Reality TV on His mind before the Hollywood executives did. On his show you are the celebrity.  A reality show is going on right now, in my life, in yours and in our young peoples. But most young people would be surprised to find out that their every word, deed and thought is being recorded every day. 

The Bible says in, Deuteronomy 30:1

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.

In this reality show called Life, God let’s us know up front that the cameras and the microphones are on.  He tells us what’s the prizes are behind door number one and door number two, life or death.  He even tells you what to choose and when we chose, what the benefits will be “that both thou and thy seed may live.

But what’s even more awesome about this reality show called Life, God has provided us with the script – His Word.  He has given us an awesome Director – The Holy Spirit and and has provided us with the greatest stage manager – Jesus Christ.   So like any good actor, we should desire to know and get excited about our role, we should study our lines,  and we should always be in position and ready when it is our time to speak.

Unfortunately, some young people are so busy on their cell phones, listening to their iPods and watching their videos they can’t and won't take the time to dive into the Word and find out their role, who they are in Christ and why God created them. 

How do we as believers, rope our young people back in, sit them down and get them excited about what God is doing on this earth, in their personal lives, in their schools, etc.?  We must do just that, grab them, sit them down and remind them of what the word of God says about them.

Guess what, Jesus did this with His disciples.  Right after Jesus was baptized, he choose His disciples, and started walking into His calling.  He began to teach, preach and heal. When he did this, multitudes began to follow Him. 

In Matthew 5:1 it says,

“And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: 2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them."

After Jesus saw the multitudes, he realized that they people were looking for something.   What? Deliverance! Deliverance from what? What ever was not going right in their lives.

But before He could continue on and minister to them, he realized the importance of spending time with His chosen ones. He need to teach those close to him first before He could effectively reach out to others. He needed to impart wisdom into them, so that they could also reach the people. 

He realized if multitudes were following Him, multitudes could potentially follow those that were around Him.  So he first needed his disciples to understand who they are. 

Like Jesus, we must recognize that this is the time for us to realize who we are. This is the time to sit down with those around us and remind them who they are. Like Jesus we must recognize that this world is looking for something.

This is especially true for young people. They are desparately looking and seeking to find out who they are, why they were created, the answers to lifes hard questions.

This is evident in some of these shocking statistics: 

1. Experts have predicted that at the current rate of evangelism, only 4% of tomorrow’s generation, today’s teens will believe in the Bible.  
2. Studies show that 77% of people who become Christian do so before the age of 21 – so getting the word of God into the middle schools and High schools is critical
3. 8% of 13-16 year olds have had a casual sexual relationship
4. Each year, approximately three million cases of sexually transmitted diseases occur among teenagers and approximately one million teenagers become pregnant
5. More than one-third of all teenage pregnancies in the U.S. end in abortion
6. In this great land of MTV and BET, nearly one in five (19 percent) high-school students reported that they had thought seriously about killing themselves, and about one in 11 (9 percent) reported actually attempting suicide.
7. In this land were teenagers are the most privileged, more than 1 million American teenagers suffer from depression

Why such staggering statistics, because they don’t know who they are?  They are looking for the answer and can’t seem to find it. 

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Matthew 5:6

Are you ready to be the one to help this generation? Are you ready to step up and point our children in the direction towards God? Well if so, act like your big brother Jesus and sit down with those young people that are around you and pour into their lives. Tell them about God, tell them why He created them, tell them that He has a plan for them.

Take them to the word and tell them that they are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Explain to them that salt gives flavor, it heals and is valuable - just like them. Explain to them that light guides, light expels - drives or forces things out that are not like God.

When we do our part, God is pleased. He can then begin to watch our lives as it unfolds before Him and say,

"...Well done , thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

Matthew 25:21