What Are Alien Youth?

I heard the term years ago on a Skillet CD my brother loved to listen to. The song, called “Alien Youth”, calls for youth to take over the world for Christ. And, so, I recently got the song stuck in my head again, and then began thinking over the meaning of it.

Jesus had a special heart for the youth. John, the youngest of the disciples, thought to be between the ages of fourteen and sixteen by some, was called “the disciple whom Jesus loved” and was included in his inner circle. Together with Peter and his older brother James, he got to see things none of the other disciples did and was often sent with Peter on important errands such as fetching the colt he rode into Jerusalem and making sure they had a place to celebrate Passover. He saw the Transfiguration and followed Jesus all the way to the cross even when the all the others left Him. John was most likely an energetic, passionate young man (Jesus didn’t call him a “son of thunder” for nothing) and Jesus realized what great potential this teenager had to further the kingdom. And John didn’t let Jesus down. After Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension, John:

·         took Mary, Jesus’ mother, into his home and cared for her (John 19:27)

·         healed a lame man with Peter (Acts 3:6)

·         wrote 5 books of the New Testament (John, 1,2, &3 John, Revelation)

·         endured persecution including dealing with his brother’s beheading, getting boiled in oil, and being exiled to the island of Patmos (after the boiling oil and several other things failed to kill him).

This fisherman-turned-apostle did much for the kingdom of God despite all the odds, Roman emperors, and Jewish leaders stacked against him. In a way, you could say he started the alien youth movement through his devotion to a wandering, penniless preacher and his willingness to drop everything and go at two simple words from his Master-“Follow me”.

After John came John Mark and Timothy, two companions of the Apostle Paul. While not much is said about either of them, both accompanied Paul on missionary journeys. While in prison, Paul wrote to letters specifically to Timothy encouraging him to be an “alien youth” (not his exact words; I can guarantee those two words, at least not together, do not appear in the Bible, no matter what your translation is). Before them all came Mary, Jesus’ mother, believed to be only fourteen at the time of Jesus’ birth. In faith Mary stepped out and agreed to be the Messiah’s mommy, even though it could mean her death. As the story goes, Mary was betrothed to Joseph. By Jewish tradition, that meant they were married but Mary couldn’t enter Joseph’s home and had to remain pure for a year. Then they could have their official marriage ceremony.

This gave Joseph time to build her a home and make things ready for her. It gave Mary time to embroider the swaddling bands that would be wrapped around their hands during the marriage ceremony and later would swaddle their newborn children. The only way the betrothal contract could be broken would be through divorce and only for very severe reasons, such as adultery. If Mary was found to be pregnant, she could be accused of adultery and stoned to death for it. Not an easy thing to deal with. But she went through with it any way, and because she did, Joseph took her for his wife early and Jesus was born safely without his mother being stoned.

In a nutshell, alien youth are young people who give up everything to follow Jesus, down to their very life. He has the say, not them. He calls the shots and they follow them to the letter. They take up their crosses and follow Him daily. They answer the call to help “the least of these”. They pray for more than just their meals and their problems. They’re sold out, radical, Jesus freaks.

Take a look around you and try to count up the number of teenagers you know who fit this description, who could be counted in with the likes of Mary, John, Timothy, and John Mark. You can probably count them all on one hand. But here’s the other thing-can you count yourself as one of them?

If you can’t, there’s a problem and it’s a big one.