I just returned from Nashville where I was attending the National Youth Workers Convention alongside my fellow team members at LeaderTreks. It was a great time to connect with new people, reconnect with friends, and engage youth workers from all areas of the country. In the midst of networking with others and spending time in the LeaderTreks booth, I was able to attend several sessions, and to be honest, it scared me. While everyone is blogging and talking about Ted Haggard's despicable comments, another speaker upset me even more.
One speaker on the main stage not only offended me, but deeply saddened me. This speaker had amazing things to say, but his message was drowned out by inappropriate and dangerous remarks. The talk was meant to connect us with the emotions and love of experiencing things for the first time, especially leading others for the first time. The thrill and fear of stepping out, taking a risk, and moving forward for Christ for the first time is something powerful and needed. His end goal was to encourage us in pushing students into leadership and let them take ownership.
While his goal was something I deeply agree with, the words he used to describe everything were horrible and inappropriate. Thinking it would be funny, he spoke about the thrill of first times by using sexual descriptions, asking all of us to remember our first time. He went so far as to use words such as "awkward, messy, or even forced," and at one point even made comments to make us think his first time was with his mother. While untrue, even eluding to this idea is disgusting. I'm sorry, but does he really not understand the weight of his words? When speaking to a crowd of people that, statistically, at least 25% of them were abused, molested, or raped as children or adults, why would using these terms as jokes be a good thing? Incest, rape, and abuse run rampant in our society, and not only do we not do anything, we have the audacity to joke about it. This sickens and saddens me. From the main stage of a national youth workers convention, we joke about something that is ruining lives and breaking God's heart. Too often we as people do not truly consider the words we are using before we put them out into the world, and it taints our message.
His message was great, but his delivery was horrible. While he had a strong start and an amazing finish, everything in the middle made me immediately discredit his ideas and method. Our words paint others' opinion of us and our message. I hope the next time he is given a soapbox, he truly considers the weight of his words.
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