Our church (CrossPoint) participates in an annual event called a Rite of Passage. As an intergenerational church, or what I like to call a Titus 2 church, this event is an official entrance for the young men and women of God to take their place in His church.
Part of the process is a moment in which the young men and women of God stand up respectively and receive a charge concerning their quickly approaching adult life. It’s always an amazingly powerful moment, and after reading these words over 25 attendees at out Hays campus yesterday, I wanted to share it with those of you who have never experienced it.
By the way, huge thanks to my friend and mentor Chuck Stecker for training us in this process so many years ago, and letting me build on your framework.
Charge to the Woman of the Kingdom of God
- You must never forget you are royalty
- As daughters of the King you are a princess
- Conduct yourself in a manner worthy of nobility
- Think of yourself no less than a child of the Creator Himself
- In the way that you speak, act, walk, talk, and carry yourself… Remember that you are no less than an ambassador of heaven.
- You are the representative of Christ!
- You are to carry the spiritual DNA of the Savior into this world.
- You must protect yourself from the lies of the media
- Shelter yourself from the ungodly standards of the entertainment world
- And separate yourself from the patterns of behavior that are unbecoming a princess in the kingdom of God
- Your dress should protect the eyes of God’s men
- The words that come from your mouth should bear a testimony of your innocence, wisdom, and inner beauty
- Your behavior should point others to the same God that you honor
- You must determine in this moment and remember it in every moment that follows, that the lies of this world will tell you that you must look, act and behave in some other way. But, by God’s Holy Word you must stand on the fact that you are perfect in Jesus Christ, that your frame was not hidden from Him when you were knit together in the womb, that you are beautiful by the book.
- No man or woman has the right to tear you down, misguide you, lead you astray, or try to convince you you need to be something else.
- You are bought by the blood
- Sacrificed for by the Lamb of God himself
- You are the apple of His eye
- You are a promise waiting to happen
-
You are the one whom God has said I have plans for you to prosper and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope,
- You are royalty in the kingdom of heaven.
- Live like the princess you are.
Charge to the Man of the Kingdom of God
- You are warriors on behalf of of the Lord Jesus Christ
- You must no longer act as children, but conduct your affairs with bravery, honesty, integrity and valor
- The expectation of a warrior is to rise above
- In this world the enemy will approach you from every direction
- You will be told that a man is to act in a way unbecoming of a leader in God’s army
- You’ll be ridiculed into standing with those who stand against God
- You will be given the image of a man that is actually not a man, but a boy in the form of an adult
- As a man and warrior in God’s kingdom, you are to deny the lies and hold firm to God’s word as the standard for what is the way to live
- You must be prepared to hold the front line on the issues of character, integrity, standing for God’s word, building up his church, and protecting others who you call “brother and sister”
- Into every battle that rages onto the perimeter of of your life, you must carry the banner of God’s Word in this confidence, “If God is for us, who can be against us!”
- When the women of the kingdom of God come into any room – whether young or old – and they look at you the warriors of God – whether young or old – they should find themselves at ease and at peace because they know their protection is secure, their purity is preserved, and they are under the very real protection of the God of this universe… because a man of God is in the room.
- Follow Christ
- Stand for His word
- and Be a Man
- Live like the warrior you are
I am aware that nothing in the preceding statements is politically correct, culturally sensitive or socially progressive. However, it is Biblical and unashamedly the hope and expectation for this new generation of Jesus followers.
