CityView Magazine

10 | July/August 2016 BY CRAIG MORRISON WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BECOME A Christian Man faith Have you heard the saying, "Faith is caught, not taught?" Catching faith is not like catching a fish or catching a baseball; it's more like trying to catch rain. Nobody has a perfect family and no one person can fully express the love of God, so it truly does take a village to raise a child. I would like to introduce you to Jay Griffith. Jay is a retired Army officer who now works for a defense firm. He is a regular guy who loves God. He wants to help young boys grow into Christian men by the time they graduate high school. Jay has been involved with our Lifegroup ministry for six years and has worked with sophomores, juniors and seniors. Over the years, Jay has learned some key approaches to help students "catch" the faith and grow in their understanding of what it means to become a Christian man. Q CRAIG: How have you helped these young men address and overcome these challenges? A JAY: I focus on their desire to be a Christian man and help them get from where they are today to reaching their goal. For some, it is a very small adjustment. For oth- ers, more adjustments are necessary. An example of some success- ful progress is someone I'll call Steve (not his real name). Steve had a secret addic- tion to pornography. Almost every day he used his phone to look at porn. In one of our sessions, we spoke about the impacts that this addiction has on an indi- vidual and how it separates the individual from the relationship we all desire with the Lord. We also discussed the impacts of relationships with young women. At first, Steve smirked and had an "eve- ryone does this" kind of a response. But soon aer our session, he had two things happen: he met someone he thought was very special (we'll call her Cathy) and his little sister began dating. Cathy was an awesome young woman. She was a dedicated student and faithful to the Lord and really liked Steve. When Cathy found out about Steve's secret, she said she was not going to be around someone with this addiction. en, Steve found out the guy his sister was dating had a similar secret addiction to porn. Know- ing the impacts of this addiction, Steve was incensed that his sister was dating a guy who was viewing pornography and then spending time with her with these images in his head. Since we had taken this issue on in Lifegroup, Steve knew he had a safe place to talk. Working with the Snyder Youth Ministry Team, we helped Steve find the re- sources he needed to get aer his addiction. We followed up with Steve on a regular ba- sis. is was truly a team effort between the Youth Ministry team, the Lifegroup leader and the individual. Today Steve would tell you that the Lord, through Cathy and his little sister, was responsible in helping him see that he had a problem and that he also needed to address it. Q CRAIG: What advice would you give to another church or ministry that is seeking to implement a Lifegroup ministry for their young men? Q CRAIG: Jay, can you share several of the challenges young men face and how we can help them grow in their faith? A JAY: e challenges are the same for all youth. e difficulties the world puts in front of them (like sex, alcohol, drugs and pornography, etc.) mixed with their emerging and evolving faith maturity can cause them to confront their commitment to the Lord at almost every turn of their day. An Interview between Craig Morrison and Jay Griffith of Synder Memorial Baptist Church Photo contributed

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