The church, police and community must work together to empower young people and help them feel valued and loved, if gun and knife crime are to be stamped out, says the founder of Street Pastors.
“The police are not going to crack this on their own,” the Rev. Les Isaac said. “We need to turn the tables so that those who want an exit strategy out, there should be that exit strategy, whether it is the church, the police or the local authorities.”
Speaking at the Baptist Union of Great Britain’s Bite the Bullet conference on Saturday, he also said it was necessary to send the strong message to young people that carrying a knife or gun is “totally unacceptable.”
More than 100 Christians packed into Brixton Baptist Church in London to address the alarming levels of gun and knife crime among young people.
Isaac said that the “get rich quick” mentality and family and community breakdown were big contributors to youth violence.
“Young people are angry, young people are confused and young people feel a tremendous sense of ‘nobody cares,’” he said. “There is in many of these young people a sense of hopelessness.”
The priority, Isaac stressed, is to make young people feel loved and valued.
“It is about caring and helping. What young people are looking for today is to know that they are valued and that they are loved. If you value and love someone it brings the best out of someone,” he said. “There are an awful lot of young people out there who feel unloved and that nobody cares.
“If we as a community, city and nation could do what Jesus says to do – love your neighbor as yourself – in a very practical way … then I believe over a period of time we can see a major transformation in our society.”
Isaac appealed to parents to play their part in stemming the flow of youth violence by taking more interest in their children. He proposed that the church launch family development and mother mentoring programs to support struggling families.
“The first thing the church needs to do is come out of the church,” he said. “It needs to really come out and engage with young people. You learn a lot about what you are doing but also equally what you are not doing, because I think that the greatest challenge to the church is to be relevant to what young people’s needs are.”
The church also needs to be prepared to reach unchurched young people with no church experience, the Street Pastors founder said.
“We need to be very creative in what we do and how we do it to help young people understand that church is not just concerned about heaven but equally concerned about earth and the things that impact and affect you today,” he highlighted.
“We’ve got to recognize that young people are very gifted and very talented and we’ve got to empower them.”
Reflecting on his own past as a gang member and leader, Isaac said, “I didn’t go out to really hurt people. It started with a laugh but then everyone around me is pushing me to go on, and you go on and do it, because you don’t want to lose face. So there was this big pressure on me.”
Speaking of his transformation from gang leader to committed Christian and Street Pastors founder, he added, “I put this down unequivocally to my faith. I can remember that point in my life when my faith in Jesus had a profound impact on the way I think, my actions, my values, and that really helped me to realize, number one, that there is hope.
“I say to young people there is hope, your life can be changed, because from my experience the Gospel, Jesus Christ, had a big impact in saying to me actually you do not have to become a victim of your circumstances.”
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Comments
Our society as a whole has a problem with children and self worth because the adults have a problem with self worth. When we removed the concept that God loves us and we can rely on Him for direction in our lives we removed stability.
I see what this guy is saying all the time in our little country county. Gangs tried to move in here and are having very little impact. It seems they are scared of the rednecks (and rightfully so).
Gangs give a sense of belonging and importance. Children who do not have that fall easy as prey. It is WAY more than just the parents. It is the Christian society that does not step up and create a place for these people. We have become weak as a Christian society. Parents cannot do it alone. It is in a society that is woven together by Christs morals and values where the answer is.
Preaching can come in actions as well as words. After working as a teacher and youth leader with underprivledged children for 50 plus years, I find the fruits of the Spirit in action, draw more youth to Jesus than talk. Love is the KEY. That is what Jesus did.
It is not for us to judge ministers. The word of the Lord is for all to see and do. I get hurt when we start
doing what the word says for us not to do.
I work with the "hard cases". The bitter and angry cases.
When all else fails, ask the Lord for His love, and the wisdom to administer it in the most effective way. You won't get them all, but it will bring many.
Umm...
No Les... these CHILDREN are THEIR PARENTS RESPONSIBILITY (especially professed Christian parents). The LORD will not hold these parents UNACCOUNTABLE irregardless of claiming to be Christian or not. If you are a "Reverend"... you need to p reach the Gospel, to these CHILDREN TOO!! They need the love of the TRUTH that they are sinners and under the wrath of God like all of us are, unless we repent and are saved thru Christ Jesus. Cops can't do it, social work in the streets won't do it. The Word of God will do it (if it is His will).
BTW, Jesus said Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul mind and strength. If you don't do that, y ou can't love your neighbor as yourself.