Show Me What I'm Looking For

"Show Me What I'm Looking For" by Carolina Liar
(play the video while you read, or listen to it before you continue reading...)

Over the past few weeks, I've been hearing this song on the radio. After really starting to listen to it, I went and found it on iTunes and bought it and have been listening to it over and over. (I then found out that the day before I bought it, they were giving away free downloads of it...) Last week in our Youth Group class, I played it for the teens and asked them if they could hear any of their friends singing the words of this song.

"I'm wrong...should've done better than this...save me, I'm lost...save me from being confused...I've learned to love abuse...oh Lord, please show me what I'm looking for"

I told the teens that over the past several months, I've been reading several articles and even books that have written about the subject of teens today and what they are really looking for. There have been some really insightful articles, but there is one problem that all of these books and articles have in common...they've all been written by adults. I'm sure all of those adults did some great research and surveys and things like that...but almost every article I read was by an adult trying to "explain" what teens were looking for...rather than just asking teens and giving their answers. So that's what I asked the teens in class to do, was to tell me what it was they, their friends, their generation, were looking for. I got some GREAT answers. Answers that were really insightful, answers that were a little scary, but most of all, answers that were honest.

Right away, the first answer was that this generation was looking for "acceptance". But then Kaylee said that it wasn't just acceptance...but that it was the desire to "be known". And not really in a popularity kind of way...but in a way that they are known by people and known for something. That they would be missed if they weren't there any longer. And then someone else said that their generation would probably define that "being known" idea as being "loved".

Then Justin said that he felt like his generation is pursuing a self-fulfillment of sorts. One that comes only from themself. And that they try to find "that one thing" that will fulfill them. For some teens, that will be school & their grades; others it will be drama or choir; others it will be soccer or another sport; for most of them, it will be a relationship of some kind. And they will pour their whole self into whatever they think that "one thing" is and hope that it fulfills them. That it gives them an identity, security & comfort.

Nathan said that he thinks his generation really wants "independence", but not just the "away from my parents" kind of independence. He said that he sees his friends really just wanting to be off on their own, able to do their own thing, without anyone judging them or telling them what they should or shouldn't be doing. Someone else said, "Yeah, we just want to do whatever makes us happy."

The final answer I got from the teens was that this generation is just looking for answers. They just want to understand why things are the way they are. They're tired of all the arguing from everyone else. They want answers that sound right to them, and they'll take those answers from whomever sounds like they know what they're talking about. That was the scary answer.

Nicole shared that she has several friends that come to her, seeking advice about relationships and other things, and even if those friends don't take her advice, they still come back a week later asking what they should do next. So my question to the class was, as teenage Christians, how can they direct their friends to God, and show them that He is what they are looking for? That He is the one who will give them that fulfillment they are looking for...that He is the one who will give them the real acceptance and love that they so desire...that He is the one with the only true Answers to their questions. And man, are they smart teens! They said that sitting down and having a Bible study with their friends is probably not going to work right away. Instead, it was going to have to be them just living their life as an example to the other teens around them.

To me, this song sounds like a prayer. A prayer that the singer is saying without even knowing that he's praying. I think its a prayer that our teens today are saying, without even knowing who they are praying to. They are searching, they are longing for answers and acceptance and fulfillment, and they know they're looking in the wrong place...but they don't know where else to look. What a challenge to those of us that have found what we were looking for! We must find ways to share God and His love with the people who are readily admitting that they are lost. And we need to pray and love those that aren't ready to admit yet that they are lost. And as Caren pointed out with the last comment of the night, we have to admit that we were lost, and that at times we STILL look to the wrong things for our own acceptance, fulfillment, and answers.


Get Real & Live It!