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2009-07-07 issue:

Boyd tells youth normalcy is overrated

by Heidi Martin

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Youth worship ended on July 4 as it began on June 30: with glow sticks. But the light they shed was minor compared to the glow of the youth who shouted, clapped and whistled while singing with Jeremy Kempf's band at the beginning of the service.

Speaker Greg Boyd noticed the energy.

"I encourage you to cherish the traditions you have," said Boyd. "Take this energy back to your [churches], but cherish your traditions."


Pastor Greg Boyd speaks to the youth on July 4 at Convention 2009. Photo by Anna Groff.

Boyd's counsel is noteworthy considering his atheist lifestyle before surrendering to God in 1974. Though once a student at Yale Divinity School and Princeton Theological Seminary, Boyd is currently the senior pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, Minn., and continues to write best-selling books, including Letters From a Skeptic and The Myth of a Christian Nation.

Boyd began the session, called "Empowered with the Spirit," by describing the emptiness that once loomed in his soul and which looms in many others. Although there are millions of ways to try and fill the emptiness, all, except the Holy Spirit, are false, Boyd said.

"God created us to fill us with His Spirit," said Boyd. "The Holy Spirit is essential to the kingdom."

He went on to speak from Acts 1:4 in which Jesus tells his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the gift of the Holy Spirit.

"Clearly the Holy Spirit is needed," said Boyd. "God wants people empowered by the Holy Spirit."

Boyd shared examples of how empowered people in Acts built the kingdom of God. He reminded the youth that this same Spirit dwells in them if they are followers of God.

"God Himself dwells inside of us," said Boyd. "You have a bottomless geyser of fullness of life."

Then Boyd asked why the lives of Christians do not look any different from the lives of non-Christians.

He went on to share a story from childhood in which, at age 6, he decided not to let the words and actions of his stepmother hurt him. Though he felt pain, he never cried and growing numb became a form of survival. Boyd says the same is true for the church. We are numb.

"We have a body of living water inside of us but it's corked," said Boyd. "It's time to unleash the Holy Spirit."

Boyd shared three ways to yield to the Holy Spirit. First, he encouraged youth to remain awake to the fact that God Himself dwells with us. Second, ask God to lead in each moment. Third, respond to the promptings of the heart.

"You may look weird," said Boyd. "So what? Normality is way overrated." 

To that statement, the youth cheered.

"We're to be people who march to a different drum because we have a different Spirit," said Boyd.

The youth service and convention ended with music and worship leaders Peter Eberly, Harrisonburg, Va.,and Anna Hinojosa Gomez, Los Fresnos, Tex., waving good-bye to the cheers of over 4,000 youth.

"See you in Pittsburgh," they said.

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