How do we reach them?

I have been reading 1 Corinthians and today I was studying a passage in Chapter 3: 1-3. It states, "Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly-- mere infants in Christ, I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men (NIV)?"

It is hard at times to live knowing this truth. I taught middle school this past year and there were some students who were Christians but they were not yet ready to fully accept what they believed. They were as Paul would put it, "mere infants in Christ". I dealt with so much gossip, belittling, cheating, etc...I had to look back and realize who I was working with...TEENAGERS! Of course they are going to behave that way. They are hromonal and think they rule the world. Now, I will say there were a few exceptions with in my classroom, but not many. I would try to talk to the class about a situation where one student was feeling left out and thought all the popular students, who were Christians, were leaving her out. It broke my heart when this girl came into my room crying. So I addressed the class, and they just acted like nothing. It never sunk in and I wanted it to sooo bad! It was so hard at times to try to explain what it meant to live for Christ and model a life after his, they couldn't understand. I know at the end of the day that it isn't me working in the lives of my students, it is the Holy Spirit. I am a mere vessel doing what I feel the Lord is calling me to do and when I felt the urge to encourage my students with something that hadn't anything to do with math, I knew it was the Lords guiding. Plus, who knows, maybe some of the students came to some realization about the situation or maybe they will one day. I just have to remember I am just a seed planter and that Christ is the one who will come and water what I have planted. I can only pray the seed grows.

This was just one example of how that passage struck me. There are other examples I could have given but I chose not to. I just wanted to make it clear that adults are just as guilty and can easily be called mere infants in Christ as well. The sad thing is that adults in a way are worse than the teenagers because you would think they know better than to act the way they do in certain situations.

So, anyway, I answered my own question about how to reach them. It is through prayer. It is listening to the Holy Spirit and following his leading. We aren't here to play the Holy Spirit and intentionally make people feel guilty (just because someone feels guilty after you talk to them doesn't mean you are trying to play the Holy Spirit. It just determines where you heart is when you confront them). We are here to set examples.