I was walking to the bathroom during a Vacation Bible school class when I passed the big wooden double doors of the Church’s sanctuary and stopped. Sanctuaries have always amazed me and like many my age I was a hyperactive, curious child. I walked in and was spotted by one of the class leaders, Mrs. Black who was talking to a group of older children. She called me over and I sat in the group and listened as she began to tell us about Jesus and his sacrifice. Right there, at the age of seven, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior.
Like many who are saved at a young age, throughout middle and high school I began to notice my relationship with God was distant. I still knew he was there and I never really questioned his love, I just wasn’t living my life like I should have been. After graduating from high school, like many other graduates, I had a hard time making the transition from child to adult, from boy to man. I was bitter and standoffish, I wasn’t necessarily depressed, I was lost without a purpose. I had been involved with politics heavily, it was my calling. I was travelling to campaign on a national campaign, I was meeting people, making connections. I have the photos with political figures, I have the autographs, the books, things that many people dream of, but I was not truly happy, I felt lost. This moment in my life was when I began to notice that I couldn’t go through life alone, that God was calling me to something else. I began to acknowledge God more and prayed more, asking him to show me my purpose. Throughout this season in my life, I kept going back to my seven year old self, remembering the timed I was saved.
I began to reignite my faith, I began to get closer to God, my attitude was changing, my life was changing. God was guiding me. I began to take a break from politics and began to focus on finding my true purpose. I was happier.
At this point in my life, I have found my purpose. I thought it was politics, I thought it was government, but it isn’t. That isn’t my gift. During this time in my life, God has put something on my heart. The salvation of my generation and the church’s ability to reach them. The church has to evolve its delivery if we want to survive. The time of beating people down with their sins and throwing them in their face is over, that use to work, but it doesn’t anymore. Now I am not saying that we need to forget sin all together, I am saying that we need to change our approach or we are going to continue to see falling church attendance numbers. We have to learn to evolve without changing our foundation, The Holy Bible. The church has a hard time reaching everyday Millennials, because of this issue. Millennials don’t want to hear about their problems (their sins), they know their problems, because they live with them every day, they want to hear about to solution to their problems and I am here to tell them that the solution is a relationship with Jesus Christ. That is part of my purpose, to make this vital change.
For the past year I have worried about this, thinking in the back of my mind “My generation is really going to need someone with the ability to reach them with the word of God in a way they can understand it and apply it to their life.” Then it hit me like a train. Me, that is my purpose. My purpose isn’t political rallies, yard signs, or bumper stickers. It isn’t in Washington or a Legislative building. It is in a pulpit. You see, God has been telling me this ALL of my life, there is a reason why I was always fascinated by sanctuaries and called to them, God was guiding me, showing me where my purpose was. You see, when God puts something on your heart, it is for a reason, He is guiding you to your purpose in life. Don’t ignore it.
I have since rededicated my life God and the purpose he has given me. I now have a genuine, purpose driven life. My goal, my life purpose, is to reach out to as many Millennials that I can with the word of God and help them accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior and it all started when I was seven years old. The Millennial generation isn’t just the generation of iPhones and Twitter, we are the generation that will bring America back to God.
Tristian Beard © October 30, 2017, The Lantern & Shield Times LLC.
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