Another Camp Meeting Decision

by Steve Damron (1993 Graduate, Associate Pastor, Fairhaven Baptist Church)

In talking with youth pastors, one of the greatest causes of discouragement is the recurrence of sins or character flaws in teenagers of which they have made a decision to overcome. It is what I have termed, the "Camp Meeting Decision Syndrome."

At some teen camps they all gather around the campfire on the last night and bring their pine cones or whatever represents the error of their ways, and they tell how they failed in their decisions from the previous year's camp and how they will keep their decisions this year. The cycle then continues year after year until they reach the adult years. They no longer have to renew their camp meeting decision, but they transfer this idea to the altar or special meetings that may occur at the church. They make the same decisions over and over again and never seem to overcome the sin or character flaw which God wants to be removed.

How can we avoid this downward spiral which seems to lead us to a defeated Christian life?

I believe Joshua and his leadership of Israel gives us some insight for what to do to be overcomers. The children of Israel came out of Egypt, made a bad decision to follow the "crowd" of spies and not cross over into Canaan, and wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. They were then given Joshua as their leader to take them into the promised land. Notice what he wants them to do.

First, they were to follow the ark of the covenant across the Jordan River into the promised land. Second, they were to build a memorial to remember this momentous occasion. I believe both of these steps enable us as Christians to become overcomers with the decision to move into that promised land - the land of victory.

We need to realize that God wants us to make the decision. If He has moved in our hearts to change some aspect of our lives, then we need to rely on God and not our own strength to keep this decision. We must turn to His omnipotent power in order to be faithful to this decision.

The second thing we must do is build a memorial of this decision so it will last. Joshua did not want them to forget. The decisions need to be, in essence, "set in stone." What does this mean? We need to write the decision down and review it every few months. We need it to be visible to others. A teen needs to talk to parents and authority to make the change permanent.

Don't make your decision just another "camp meeting decision." Make it permanent. Study the Bible and take the biblical steps to move into that victorious Christian life.