A Word to Awana Citation Achievers

          Last Wednesday, I had the privilege of watching several high school seniors receive their Awana Citation Awards. These young men and women successfully finished their time as Awana clubbers, representing 10 years of Bible memorization, teamwork activities, service work, and various special projects. The journey towards a Citation Award starts in 3rd grade, the first year of Awana's Truth & Training club, and continues through the Trek (7th and 8th grade) and Journey (high school) clubs. 

From the Awana website:
A teenager earning the Citation Award must be a graduating senior. Adults can also earn the Citation. In completing the award requirements, the achiever will have memorised 836 verses, read the entire Bible and completed the 10 third- through 12th-grade handbooks and manuals.

I earned my Citation Award in May 2008, and I still remember exactly what being on stage and receiving it felt like. Would that all Awana boys and girls could strive for such a moment! The Citation is recognised as a prestigious award by many churches and organisations, and a number of Christian colleges and universities award various scholarships to students who have earned one. (As a note, mine earned me $1000 per year at San Diego Christian College.)

During my final year at Awana camp as a camper, the senior's teacher (a certain Mr. Houser,) gave us all some sage advice:

A Citation award is a tool. 

Some tools are earned/bought/received, and then stored in the shed indefinitely. Others are used often at first, but then gradually forgotten about. Others are tossed aside after a period of time, seen as archaic or useless. 

But, some tool are appreciated, and recognised for their usefulness, and are utilised often for the betterment of their owners life, and the lives of those around him. Will you leave your tool to rust in the shed? Or will you find uses for it in the situations that life presents?

That parable struck a chord with me; I've never forgotten it, and its truths are more and more evident with the passage of time.

Of the many fellow clubbers who I've seen earn Citation, some have fallen away, shunning Christianity and the life that the Lord offered them, preferring to pursue the countless and stark attractions of sin. Others have sought to serve two masters, joining their fleshly desires with their faith, and are enduring harsh consequences in an impossible lifestyle. These are people that I saw as my peers, and some I even looked up to. Such is the way of the world; God does not change, and His Word (both the Bible and the Logos Himself) warned us of such individuals.

But there's always a bright side: For every Citation earner who has fallen away, there are many more still that have risen to the challenge and continued on the paths of righteousness, paths that God has laid out and offered to them since the beginning of time. Some serve in their churches as leaders and pastors. Others serve their community as firefighters, law enforcement, and in the military and other government service positions. Some serve as missionaries in far-flung countries, while others travel to their 'lowly' office or job site every day, knowing that the Lord has given them the opportunity to minister and be an example, like many apostles, in the Agora --- the busy markets and places of exchange.

There are lawyers, doctors, teachers, salesmen, chefs, and construction workers who share the achievement that sets you and them apart as leaders in the Body of Christ. Finally, some are pursuing the toughest occupation of all: Raising Godly children in an increasingly hostile world. It is these people who chase after the highest calling, and the one with perhaps the greatest earthly rewards.

In essence, here is my message to Citation earners, from one Awana alumnus to another: 

Your Citation award is a tool, perhaps one of the greatest tools of your young life. The 'tool' portion is not the award itself - in all its monogrammed plastic glory - but rather the journey of the countless Bible verses and studies you've endured. Few Christians have the training you now possess, and fewer still have the grasp of the Bible that have obtained. Follow the path of righteousness the Lord has laid out for you, and it will be there for you when the need to use it arises. Whether your mission field is a third-world country, a business office, or a classroom, the Holy Spirit will bring to mind the verses you memorised, and that will open the doors for sharing your faith in Christ. Though your friends and fellow earners may fall away, stay strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

A related word of advice: If and when your friends and fellow Citation earners do fall away, do not shun them and throw them out of fellowship with you. Instead, continue to act as a beacon of light in their lives. Unless they completely shun you, you are still their friend! Christianity may come to seem foolish in their minds, but continue to exude the love of Christ, and the wisdom granted to us via the Holy Spirit. Keep a vigilant watch over your actions and deeds, lest you be seen as a hypocrite, for even though we may not think it, we are each witnesses and missionaries to those around us.

We all make mistakes and sin, but the mercy we receive, coupled with a heartfelt yearning to repent, is what has given us the ultimate freedom of Life.

To that end, your 'award' marks the beginning of a term of service to fellow believers. You are armed with the truth, the power, and the light: Follow Jesus Christ's command in Matthew 20, and be a Servus Servorum Dei --- a Servant of the Servants of God. 

The road to your Citation was about the journey, not the destination. It's a piece of plastic; never let its true value become clouded or lost on you!



1 Timothy 4:10-12 NKJV
For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the  Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. These things command and teach. Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

1 Peter 3:15 NKJV
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.