by Destyn Land, 2018 Augsburg Youth Theology Institute Mentor

As a small group leader, I always saw it as my obligation to set the tone with transparency for all of our discussions and time together. Before I entered the small group space, I attempted to make a mental script and plan every single thing that would happen from the beginning until the end. To make a long story short, my script absolutely never worked (and I mean never). But even in those moments I thought to myself that maybe this was God’s way of showing me that flexibility is truly a virtue.

After our very first small group meeting I left feeling content with how things went, however, in the back of my mind I still desired our group to become more open with each other. To debrief and process my thoughts I began to journal about what I wanted to do differently and things that I thought went well. After writing for just a few minutes, I came to this conclusion: It is completely arbitrary and irrational to expect my small group to open up to me, if I could not open up to them. During the the time of the theology institute I was facing some challenges in my life that were worth sharing, but the tempting desire within me to be perfect made me silence myself.

One day during the institute my heart was burdensome.  I was being confronted with a tough decision that had to be made sooner rather than later, and knew that my decision could affect an immense amount of people. I decided to open up about this challenge during our last small group session. While talking about my low for the day, without my permission, I heard my voice crack like an egg on a counter. I started to attempt to fight back a few warm tears that were haltingly slithering down my face and making their way to the ground. I did not want my mentees to feel uncomfortable, so I concluded my story, prayed no one noticed, and sighed, celebrating the fact that my turn to share was finally over.

I nodded my head to signal the next person to start sharing, but right before his mouth opened to speak, another student, raised her hand and said “can I say something really quick?” This was one of those students who did not talk much, and someone who you could say prefers to be alone. Before I could nod my head with approval, she began to speak in a soft, yet authoritative voice. She instantly started pouring into me, and offering wisdom to my situation. I was surprised, and silent, as I sat there listening to her genuine words. All week I felt like I was pouring into my small group. I spent the entire week encouraging them, praying for them, and speaking life into them, but during this last small group session, God said that it was my turn to receive. There were two big things that God was revealing to me in this moment in relation to the work that God has called me to do. One, it was in this moment that I realized that a mentorship is a two-way street; and two, you never know who God will use to speak to you.

As my mentees were learning a lot from me, I was also learning from them as well. Every now and then my mentees definitely would push back on doing certain activities, or ideas, and from this experience I had to learn how to ask questions in different ways, and go deeper in the way that I explain things. Mentorship is a two-way street that reminds us that we are lifelong learners, and that we will never know everything. 

In our society the voice of youth is sometimes seen as adorable, but not powerful. I think we sometimes forget the stories in the Bible when God used the youth to impact many. If God used a teenage David to slay a giant warrior, than I have no doubts that God is not still using young people to slay and combat social issues we are facing today. In the parable of the Good Samaritan it was the priest, the religious person who avoided the traveler that was stripped of their clothing, beaten, and left on the side of the road in grave condition. The one who we would generally expect to help did not. Instead, it was the Samaritan, the person who a Jew would least likely expect to help.

In my challenge, the words that I needed to hear did not come from my parents, or one of mentors. It came from one of my students. Not the one that was the most bold, the most talkative, but the one that was the opposite of all of those things. On a larger scale, I believe that sometimes God gives us a word through the people we least expect. He is using the people we disagree with, the neighbors that we haven’t been the most welcoming to, the people we have micro-aggressed, and the people we have silenced to impact us in ways we could never imagine.

This reflection on mentoring and leadership is from one of the 2018 Augsburg Youth Theology Institute Mentors.

The post AYTI Mentor Reflection – Destyn Land appeared first on Bernhard Christensen Center for Vocation.

“(And Jesus Said) You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.” Matthew 5:13

You are…a people of faith. You are…a city on a hill. You are…the Salt of the Earth. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls his followers salt, of all things! Don’t get me wrong, salt is delicious and needed. But we could be something great! We could be legends, we could be a mountain, instead Jesus charges us with salt. While there are numerous interpretations of what exactly is meant by being the Salt of the Earth, I personally hold this verse in the Gospel of Matthew to indicate how followers of Jesus should engage in the world. I am going to do this with a little bit of Chemistry.

I wanted to be scholarly and a little rebellious so I researched what Salt of the Earth even means. According to the Wikipedia page devoted to Matthew 5:13, it reads “Salt itself, Sodium Chloride, is extremely stable and cannot lose its flavor…(then some author notes) Jesus is ‘not giving a chemistry lesson’” I’m almost a little offended. Who are they to decide when chemistry stops. If there is one thing I learned at Augsburg…chemistry never stops. Since Jesus clearly was not teaching chemistry, I think I will step up to the plate so to speak.

I’m sure all of you are familiar enough with cooking. You know with all of your might that oil and water will never mix, no matter how much you stir. Oil is simply too big for water to take on. Long chains of carbons and hydrogens are not attractive to water’s oxygen and hydrogen combo. Maybe for too long, Christians have become oily in practice and deed. We have become too engrossed with our beliefs, what road to heaven or what does this passage actually mean. If water represents the world, sometimes we just sit on top, looking at the world below us but never submerges ourselves. We see our neighbors of various religions, but we may seldom act. What we need is a radical shift in ideas and our approach to other religions. But Jesus doesn’t call us the ‘oil of the earth’ we are the ‘salt of the earth’! You know perfectly well what salt does in water- it breaks apart and fully involves itself in waters affairs. An important thing to note is that the salt is never destroyed in this transaction. Often what holds us back from working or engaging in interfaith dialogue and service is the simple fact that we are afraid of losing our faith. Of changing for the worse or even where to begin. But of course these actions can be learned. WE are called to engage the world and serve our neighbor. How much longer are we going to separate ourselves from this sacred service?

Interfaith service and dialogue is important and needed work. Important because we are called to live in this world, not as only Christians or only Muslims, but as humankind. To serve rather than to be served. To engage instead of fall asleep to the cries of the world.

I have come to the opinion that the Gospels don’t need much prodding in order to reveal to Christians that interfaith service is a necessary project. Many people continue to approach interfaith service and dialogue like a nice option; a creative and unique box to explore for its own sake. While interfaith work is altogether important and requires a well of creativity, the Gospels call…no wail out to us to serve and engage our neighbor. We must wander the world around us, desperately and endlessly listening to the calls of the poor and oppressed; not regardless of their religion, but because of their religion. There is no doubt that rich and powerful work can be done when we grasp the hands of our friends and neighbors and use faith or beliefs as a starting point and cornerstone to our work. I engage in interfaith service because the Scriptures I see in my tradition call me to be first in service and generosity, and truly take on the title of Salt of the Earth.

*This message on the importance of interfaith engagement was one of two student presentations at the 2015 Augsburg Corporation Luncheon.

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