Link Chat: Will You Be My Buffalo?

I had a chance recently to talk to forty or fifty kids at our church. I don’t often talk to kids other than my own, so I was a bit nervous. I felt some pressure to be cool, but not to look like I felt pressure to be cool or was in any way responding to that sort of pressure. So I wore a decidedly dopey seer sucker shirt and sandals. I doubt any of the kids thought as I walked forward, “Wow, that’s one cool old guy.”

Even so, by the time my 30 minutes were up, I felt like I had communicated what I wanted and had connected, at least a little, with the group.

I used to challenge my friend Dave to blog his sermons. He didn’t really want to. Something about modesty and not wanting Rick Warren’s lawyers giving him grief for copyright violations, or something like that. I can’t really remember.

But I thought it might be fun to post an outline of the talk I gave the kids and invite your feedback. At least watch this video that we showed at the start of my talk. It’s amazing.



Battle at Kruger

In case you don't watch it, this video is amateur footage of a wild life battle in South Africa. Some lions cut a Cape Buffalo calf from the herd and wrestle it to the ground at the edge of a watering hole. They fight with a crocodile for possession of the calf before the herd fights to take it back. Ultimately the herd frees the calf and chases away the lions.

With that background, I began my talk:

Cast of characters:
• baby buffalo in distress
• lions on the prowl
• the thundering herd
• opportunistic crocodile, aka: oppy croc

Who of these are you right now?
I’ve been most of these (I threw in some confession sort of stories here.)

Bible in I Peter 5.8: says our enemy is roaring lion, seeking someone to devour

Jesus is the the buffalo (I told them that saying Jesus = Buffalo could get me fired from my job, so let’s just keep it among ourselves.)

Jesus’ interaction with the Pharisees and the woman they caught in adultery is an example of him being the buffalo to rescue someone.

One of Jesus main instructions was: "Follow me. Believe what I say, sure, but also do what I do." We need to be the herd for each other.

I asked how we do this. A couple students offered: "We hold each other accountable to following Jesus and we give each other a shoulder to lean on." I said, "Don't gossip. Hang out with the smelly girl. And look for people who are getting drug down to the water."

Questions
• Who’s one person you might need to watch out for at church?
• Who’s one person you might need to show some care for outside of church?
• What’s one way you need the others here to watch out for you?

We ended by shouting together:
Will you be my buffalo?
Yes, I’ll be your buffalo!

The ending was pretty fun. I’d never roused a bunch of kids to yelling and it was pretty enjoyable. I suppose there’s a paragraph early on in the Youth Leader’s Manual that advises: Don’t mistake rowdy yelling for successful communication. I’ll keep that in mind.

Here are the slides:

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