I’m headed to camp with a couple hundred church kids. The message will be new to maybe a dozen. The rest have been sitting in church for years. Most of them have made a few recommitments to Jesus. (That’s when we Christians say, “I know I’ve done this before but it didn’t stick. Now I’m really serious.”)

I was a church kid. I know the drill.

It’s kinda like dating. First we say, “Hey Jesus, wanna go out with me?” It’s awesome but it’s more of a crush than anything else.

When we’re older we understand it better. We go to camp or a retreat and get infatuated. We say, “Hey Jesus, I’m into you, I want you to take me back.” It’s awesome again but then it isn’t long before we take the “let’s still be friends but I want to see other people” approach. We don’t tell him about it, we just shelve Him and let Him figure it out.

Then, those who make it back for another Jesus Summit, sometimes finally commit everything. To use the dating analogy, we say, “I love you and see you’ve been waiting all this time. Let’s get married.”

This week there will be kids at each of those junctions. My hope is that I’ll have opportunities to truly connect with a few and encourage them to see Christ longing for a relationship with them.

I was a church brat. I knew all the bible answers. I recommitted my life a few times before I stuck and finally understood God’s love for me.

It was the patience of my camp counselor when I was 9 (we called him Zebra) and the conversations on the rides home from softball when I was 14 with my youth leader, Dick and a weekend retreat at Camp Harbinger at 17 with my youth pastor Dan, that helped me trust Jesus.

I pray that I’ll get to be that type of Christ-follower this week at camp for another church brat, know-it-all like me. I pray that I’ll get the opportunity to invite just one to trust Jesus and follow Him with everything.