article from JULY-SEPTEMBER 2008
Peer Pressure – Positive and Negative
In leading a Christian life, we as individuals have responsibilities. These responsibilities come with pressures that can be positive or negative. At home you are surrounded by the world and your human nature may begin to negatively impact your life. These pressures, of course, can be very great. But at AYC 2008, these pressures seemed to fly away instantly. Being with others in God’s Church offers a positive pressure that helps build strong character.
In Satan’s world, pressures can impact you negatively nearly everywhere you go. Just the thoughts going through your mind have to be considered, prepared for and controlled.
For a youth or young adult in God’s Church, the basic school day is a negative pressure. The temptations of our generation can be seen and heard from the second you walk in the door. The foul language and gossip that occurs is almost unavoidable. Finding the right group of friends is quite a task, never mind the constant pressure of Friday night parties and Saturday events. These are the pressures of an average school day for a teen in God’s Church.
Turning away from these things and walking down the narrow path to God’s kingdom is the goal, but Satan has a way of blurring your vision.
People are given their talents. Whether one naturally has good people skills or a mind for business, we all have our interests. For me, it is athletics. I, and others like me, have had to walk away from sports teams because the games interfere with the Sabbath. It was tough for me to give this up, but in the end the right choice became obvious. Once you step out in faith and make the decision to follow God’s Way, it proves that we can overcome Satan’s negative pressures, with God’s help of course.
At AYC 2008, the youth in God’s Church came together for two weeks to let their lights shine on each other. We, unlike our worldly friends, understand what we experience every day in the world. This feeling of unity drives us to push each other to build character. We experienced many amazing activities that forced us to communicate together even though we just met each other. The 13 amazing miles of the canoe trip made the more experienced members step up and give aid to the less experienced. This trip provided a lot of time to interact with each other, as well as experience a bit of God’s beautiful creation.
Although the activities were all great, perhaps the most overlooked part of camp—personal time—was the most helpful. This gave the youth the rare opportunity to fellowship with others their own age. For adults, going to the Feast and meeting new people is similar to us attending AYC for two full weeks. Talking with each other, and hearing others’ experiences and pressures, helps motivate us to let our light shine to the world. It was truly an honor to be pressured to become a better person and learn from others’ mistakes at AYC.
One of the purposes for attending AYC was to meet with other youth in God’s Church. We understand the responsibilities of being a Christian are substantial, but during the two weeks at camp we were able to bond closely. This bonding will send us back into the world able to face Satan’s negative influence with confidence and the right state of mind. This is all-important to help us reflect upon the Great God we serve.
These positive pressures at camp were truly amazing and I hope to put this new attitude into action upon returning home.