Tonight’s dilemma is from Stephanie. She’s a young Christian woman, a uni student, and a youth leader in her church youth group.

Stephanie’s started to make some good friendships at uni, and at work. She really wants to start connecting with these new friends, but is finding it hard to spend time with them outside of work and uni classes. She’d like to go out and socialize with them, be part of their lives - but due church activities, she’s had to miss a lot of important occasions like their birthdays and so on. She fears she’s creating an image of a snobby Christian who doesn’t associate with anyone outside church.

Stephanie’s non-church friends also do things she wouldn’t normally choose to do – going out to nightclubs for example. She’d like to join them  - not to take it up as a lifestyle, but to reach out and connect, and show them that as a Christian, she really cares about their lives - regardless of whether they share her faith or not.

Her dilemma is this - Being a youth leader, she doesn’t want to confuse the young people in her care, or cause them to “stumble”. She’s really concerned about doing what’s right, and setting a good example.

• If Stephanie goes out clubbing with her non-church-going friends, is that a bad example to the young people in her youthgroup - especially if she’s trying to encourage them not to get tied up in the ways of the world?

• How can Stephanie best juggle her church and youth leadership responsibilities, with her social life and her work and study life?

• Her heart is actually to follow Jesus’ example of shining a light -  (“being in the world but not of it”) – How can she strike the right balance?
 
• Maybe you’re a youth leader who has experienced a similar dilemma yourself… What did you do?