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An Interview with Ron Kenney: We brought you up close and personal with Ron Kenney, the youth minister from Fenton, MI, two weeks ago. He talked to us about "walking the talk", rock solid faith, and how essential family and prayer is. This week Ron talks to us about the importance of his family and brings us some inspirational thoughts on challenging those who may have lost faith in the existence of God. ParishWebmaster: Sticking with the family -- you have a big family and you have a young family -- how are they supportive of your ministry? Ron: They are a part of it. I don't think I see them outside of it; it is not like "here is my ministry, here is my family". One of the things I try to do very much in my ministry, since I have gotten married and have children, is to make them a part of it. I bring them along as much as I can. They spend a lot of time up here with me doing ministry. I use them in my ministry. As far as if they are not there - believe me - do I talk about them? I talk about them constantly. I don't see them apart from it, I seem them a part of it. And I think that is the important thing, they know what I do and I try to make them a part of what I do as much as possible. ParishWebmaster: Back to your kids in the youth group, what would you say if a kid approached you and asked, "How do you know there is a God?" What do you give them, because you know that they are looking for something? What is your approach to a situation like that? Ron: How do you know that there is not? It is as simple as that. You come right back with more questions just to make them think about it. I always tell kids I can't prove this, there is no way. I'm trying to teach you about something you can't see, you can't feel, you can't smell, you can't hear. It is probably one of the most challenging jobs out there. If you're a science teacher -- I'm talking to a teacher here -- they work with truths and hypothesis and stuff like that, but most of them are proven. You can show a kid this is how a tree grows -- there is a seed, there is dirt, there is water, there is sun, BOOM the tree grows. And you can prove it to them. Really, it is challenging them to think outside of the "box" a bit, and to see that there has got to be more to this. Plato, Aristotle, and then Thomas Aquinas. (They all use - well actually Aristotle stole from Plato and Thomas Aquinas stole from Aristotle.) They're whole belief system, in something else out there, is all based on looking at what is in front of you and seeing that there has to have been a Master Designer to all of this. There has to have been a first cause to all of this. Sure we can say here is the Bang, and it all just happened by accident. But there has to be something that started that accident. An accident just doesn't happen. That is a proven fact, that is a truth (creation of the universe). We have to look at it and say that something caused the accident. Be it a person or whatever. Well, those first causes are what Thomas Aquinas called God. I like to always have kids think about things like-
You can't prove that to me, but you know it based upon what happened yesterday. A lot of this faith in God is based upon exactly that - faith. It is not something I know for sure but I just believe it inside of me. I always like to use the old Pascal's Gamble or Wager. Have you ever heard of that one? Do you know that one? Pascal's Wager? ParishWebmaster: Pascal's Triangle? Ron: Pascal's Wager. Blaise Pascal was a French mathematician, philosopher, or whatever you want to call it. When asked a question about trying to prove God he said, Well, I can't prove God to you. But, I would rather live my life as if there is a God. If I live my life as if there is a God and there isn't, I don't lose anything. If I live my life as if there is a God and there is, I've got a chance. But if I live my life as if there is NO God, and there is a God, I am up a creek without a paddle. It just makes more sense...And why not? I try to send kids on their own journey. I never try to tell them - this is what you have to believe. I believe that you need to put it in front of them and let them discover it for themselves. A lot of it is like teaching; you put it on the chalkboard and say here it is -- make something of it. I really believe when it comes to God and when it comes to religion there are many many different truths and beliefs. But, we are all searching for the right path in life. And we are looking to the future; the future is not the future here on this earth but a future beyond this earth. God gives you hope, religion gives you hope, faith gives you hope that there is something else more. It goes back to that previous question when you talked about God, when you talked about what makes your faith so rock solid. It is knowing that in tough times, I'm going to have something to carry me through. I guess that is what I am trying to prove -- that belief in God. I'll guarantee you the stronger you have God in your life the easier it's going to be to overcome, or to accept, or to at least have peace with those tough times. *** In Part III, our last piece with Ron, he talks to us about evangelization and keeping the faith. Again, as Ron would leave us -- BE PEACE! Life Applications: Is your family an integral part of your ministry? Your life? Is there someone in your life who needs to be challenged because they have lost faith in God? Are you searching for the right path in life?
Copyright 2002 by Rod Hetherton |
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