A Parable of 4Teenagersby Jim Hammond The camp they went to was the same. The message they heard at the camp was the same. The year that followed camp presented each of the four teenagers with many of the same opportunities. But the results were different. Harry Harding went to camp because he always went to camp. Harry new all the ropes at church, Christian school, and Christian camp. He had been going to camp for years. His parents expected him to go. He expected to go. Had you heard his language and rough manner at school, however, you might have been surprised that he wanted to go to a church camp. Harry went because he liked the activities at camp. He also liked to meet new girls. Harry was confident, cocky, and a loud mouth. Though Harry knew all the Sunday School answers in the small group discussions, Harry was also the one who liked to organize his own kind of fun. For example, he shut off the girl’s bathroom water heater and enjoyed hearing the screams when the water was instantly cold. Harry was a little more creative with the men’s showers. He carefully unscrewed all the shower heads except for the one he knew he would use. Placed a capsules of garlic powder in the shower heads then screwed these back on. He thought the results were hilarious. During campfire Harry sat in the back, preferably with a girl. But no girl wanted to sit with him on Wednesday because they found out why their showers went cold that morning. Harry had to settle for second choice, sitting and goofing off with someone he could influence. Harry was not interested in the songs, or the speaker. He thought the speaker was boring. Harry came home from camp the same Harry. A year later Harry was the same Harry but he wasn't laughing as often, or pulling pranks as easily. Harry found himself in the Juvenile Detention Center. His camp mischief didn't go over well in the real world. Sherry Schaeffer went to the same camp that Harry attended. She was one of the cute blondes that Harry had flirted with. Sherry had been coming to youth meetings for a month before she went to camp. She was excited about all the new things she was learning. She loved everything about camp. She was one of the many kids who accepted the invitation to receive Christ after the campfire speaker's message Wednesday night, and she went forward to express her decision. She spoke to everyone about how awful her life had been, and how wonderful everyone was at camp. She threw her cigarettes into the flames and said she was going to stop smoking, drinking, and going to the parties. She said she realized now what was missing in her life and she wanted to fill her life with the right things. When Sherry got home her boyfriend broke up with her because he didn’t like how she had changed. The youth group tried to encourage Sherry. They told her she had done the right thing and she should be commended for her firm stand. Sherry didn't feel any better. She wondered why God had let her down. Didn't God care about her feelings? Later, a popular football player at school asked her out. He was not a Christian. Sherry stopped coming to youth group. She was going to parties with her new boyfriend. Preston Pryor almost wasn't going to go to church camp because he didn't want to spend the money. He was saving for baseball camp. Preston loved baseball and was a promising pitcher. After coming to church camp, he seemed to enjoy it. Preston also went forward at the invitation along with Sherry to give his life to the Lord. When he first came home from camp he was at every youth meeting. He missed a couple meetings during his base ball camp. After coming back he shared how he wanted to be a witness as a Christian athlete. Preston began to miss more meetings as he began to train with a friend he met at baseball camp. After baseball season began, Preston stopped coming to church altogether. His camp experience soon seemed like a distant memory, and one that had little to do with his life now. Russell Reed was urged to go to camp with his cousin. His cousin happened to be Harry Harding. Russell and Harry were a lot alike. They both liked to get into trouble. The one main difference was that Russell had never attended church before and Harry knew the ropes. Russell was doing the things Harry was doing at the first part of camp. Russell was in on the first midnight sabotage and thought it was exciting and funny. At the Wednesday Night campfire while Harry was with a girl in the back, Russell sat with somebody who wanted to listen and actually acted like he enjoyed the speaker. Russell began listened for the first time. The things the speaker said really had Russell thinking about his own life. Russell wanted the kind of joy he was watching in many of the people around him. Harry stared at Russell with disbelief when Russell responded to the invitation that night. The rest of the week Russell was mostly seen with Mark, his camp counselor and new friend. Russell was a faucet of questions. Russell began to read the Bible in the places that his counselor suggested. Harry saw Russell and Mark praying together on a couple of occasions. This irritated Harry. When Russell got home he found a church that one of the counselors recommended. The church that Russell began attending had about ten teenagers in their youth group. Two weeks after Russell's first visit the youth meeting had fourteen young people because Russell brought his friends. After three months the youth group had doubled in size. The flame that was lit in Russell's heart had been igniting others around him. Russell and Russell's friends were changed by the power of the Gospel. Jesus wasn't surprised by the four different responses to the same camp. He described the reason for the difference in his own parable found in Matthew 13 and Mark 4. The fruit of the four teenagers' lives were as different as their four different hearts. Jesus knew Harry's heart was hard. Sherry's heart was shallow. Preston's heart was pre-occupied. Only Russell's heart was responsive and deeply rooted. Reed no longer blew over with the wind, but became a mighty oak.
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