Spin Weekend 2024

On the weekend of January 26 – 28, I had the opportunity to participate in what is known as Spin Weekend. This is an event where over 600 middle school and high school students get together to worship and study God’s Word at First West church in West Monroe Louisiana. I was honored to participate in a panel discussion as part of the weekend. I was asked to respond to the question, “What would you go back and tell yourself as a middle school/high school student?”

This triggered reflection on things I have learned and wished I had learned sooner. These are things that I think would be beneficial to everyone. This will be a brief summary of those things with more detailed blogs later.

What I shared with students was to focus on being nice and doing what is right, rather than getting others to approve of you and like you. We create so much emotional distress worrying about what people may think about us. This is the basis of much social anxiety. If I think about what I have control of, being nice to others, this gives me a realistic focused goal that diminishes the likelihood of worry and anxiety.

Worrying whether people like me or not focuses on something that is often out of my control. No matter how nice I am some people are not going to like me. The best example of this is Jesus Christ. He was perfect and some wanted to kill him. If Jesus cannot get everyone to like Him, what chance do you and I have? Instead focus on pleasing God. Paul in Galatians 1:10 (CSB) tells us “For am I now trying to persuade people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

Another reflection I had in response to the question is the importance of accepting reality. It occurred to me several years ago, as a psychologist I spent much of my day trying to help people accept reality. Acceptance of reality is a key necessity for good mental health. Accepting the reality that there are things I cannot control helps reduce anger and anxiety. Accepting some people are not going to like me no matter how nice I am takes the pressure off getting everyone’s approval. Coming to believe and accept I am not always going to get what I want reduces depression and frustration in my life. Things are not always going to go the way I want or expect helps create a more realistic belief system.

If I am not in control of what happens then who is or what is? How we answer this is going to greatly impact how we live our lives. As a Christian, it is a great comfort to know the just and loving God is sovereign and in control. He knows me better than I know myself. Even though it is difficult for me to accept, he knows what is best for me, sometimes when it is not what I want.

Another thing I wish I had figured out early on was most bad things are temporary. Pessimists see bad things as permanent while optimists see them as temporary. This impacts emotions, motivations, thinking, and behavior. 2 Corinthians 4:18 (CSB) 18 So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. This verse helps us understand the significance of living with an eye on eternity. Things of this world are temporary, but there is going to be an eternity that is permanent.

Another desirable process I wish I had learned sooner is focusing on long-term versus short-term consequences. As we mature and the frontal cortex develops, we are more focused and base decisions on long-term consequences. There are so many areas of our lives that are impacted by whether we live in the short-term or long-term. For example, our health, our relationships, our careers, our finances and many more.

One final idea I wish I had discovered sooner is recognition that we are all equal – we are all sinners. This is significant in that it keeps me from seeing myself as worse or better than anyone else. I’m not superior nor inferior in any relationship. Everyone has strengths and everyone has weaknesses. We are all doing the best we can based on our DNA and our life experiences.

The thing that changes this projected outcome is a relationship with Jesus Christ. When that happens, we are no longer ourselves, but He is in us. We become more like Him and less like our limited imperfect selves. Paul emphasizes this in Galatians 2:20 (CSB) - 20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Also, I learned from the students. When asked what he liked about the panel part of the weekend, one student responded, “It was regular Joe Blows spitting bangers.” So, no matter where you are in your life you can spit bangers. You do not have to be a professional minister to quote the truths of scripture to impact others.

I would like to thank Mark Cole and Garrett Hodges, Student pastors at First West, for providing me the opportunity to participate in Spin weekend. It was fun but it also encouraged me to reflect on what I’ve learned, what I need to be working on, and my relationship with Jesus Christ.