Relationships Unfiltered

This is a quick, easy read, but it also packs a powerful punch.

Chapter four was helpful for me because it contrasted Justin and Jan. "Justin could go into a school and attract kids to an event, but Jan could open her person to adolescents and invite them to be cared for in the love of Christ she represented with her presence" (66).

Chapter five talked about suffering. "It may be that we work with kids who've had every opportunity and advantage in life, but this doesn't mean they have not known suggering, they have not questioned their existence, or they have not felt (or been) betrayed, abandoned, or lost. We all have suffered" (87).

"A major element of our vocation is to suffer" (91). Ouch. Not words you really want to hear, but it is so true. Something they probably need to share more at Christian colleges preparing young people for ministry.

"Our job isn't to discover the next hot thing or craft our personalities to be hip but to watch for God's activity in our lives and to articulate it. This is being a theologian; it is to be deeply with others as we seek" (140).

Andrew Root is a former Young Life leader, so he addresses the invention of "relational ministry" and what that has become. It is a really interesting book that has challenged me to think deeper. There is a difference between relationship and connection. We can connect with a lot of kids without being in relationship with them. Root is definitely challenging us to get into their lives (life's ups and downs).

Definitely recommend this book to those in ministry.