That’s the Chicago Way
I have a few movies that I really love and inspire me. “The Untouchables” starring Kevin Costner and Sean Connery is one of them. Early on in the movie, after Elliot Ness (played by Kevin Costner) experiences a bit of a setback, he tries to enlist Jim Malone (played by Sean Connery) to be apart of his team to stop Al Capone and the illegal drinking during the Prohibition.
This is a scene in which Malone tells Ness what it will take for him to have success. Take a look.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/9ALcqt6GMhM[/youtube]
“That’s the Chicago Way”. Malone knew what the Chicago was way. He knew what it was going to take to get Capone.
Based on this simple, less than 60 sec conversation, the question for us ministers is do you really want to reach students for Christ? I know we are all hired to do a job of reaching teens and college students for Christ, but Ness was hired to do a job too and Malone still had to ask him the question, “do you really want to get him”. So, if you are really out to make an impact and reach them for Christ, the next question is what are you prepared to do to reach them? To what lengths are you really prepared to go so that their lives can be changed for eternity?
I believe that in order to reach them we have to know and understand their culture. We have to know the “chicago way” in our towns and our schools we are ministering to. What makes them tick and what is important to them. Even though we have national statistics on teens and college students and most go through similar stages of life, what happens in your town could be distinctly different than what happens in my town or someone else’s town. We have to know and understand the students we are trying to reach in our town. We have to be students of them. Once we can identify that, we can effectively know how to reach them for Christ and help show them how Christ can meet their needs.
So, what are you prepared to do to reach the teens in this culture?
Right now, TAKE A MINUTE and think through how well you know the students in your area. Then, as I’m sure Malone himself would challenge you, “What are you prepared to do” to reach them for Christ? “Then what are you prepared to do?” The point being is if we are after reaching this generation and these students, it is going to take more than just our best effort. Chiefly, we have to go to the Lord and ask him for opportunities but then we have to do our homework. Again, as students of the teens in our town and our schools, we have to know them, understand them and do whatever it takes to reach them for Christ!
So if you are really serious about making an eternal impact for Christ in the lives of this generation, what are you prepared to do and how are you going to go about doing it? Process that out now and start taking steps towards that goal.
