Huddled in a circle at a church in Minneapolis are seven young men, their lives beaming with potential. They are all seniors in high school, preparing to graduate in just six months, and their expressions are more serious than usual.

The youth pastor has just finished speaking about yielding to God’s will and His way in decision-making. For these seniors, the conversation does not turn to dating, sports, alcohol or the like. Instead, their comments and questions are more existential in nature:

• “I have no idea what to do with my life.”
• “I’m thinking of heading into the military. I just want to make a difference.”
• “How do I know what college to go to?”

The teen years are often described as a search for identity—a consistent, durable sense of self that gives youth confidence that they will not disappear, enabling them to live for something worth dying for. These young men, like their peers, are looking to define where they are, who they are, what’s gone wrong and how they can contribute to the solution.

Whether they know it or not, they are in search of a Story that explains their story.

Today’s social media world has turned everyone into a storyteller. Each post points to a different main character. Each new entry clamors for attention and recognition. Every photo depicts another snapshot from a different competing storyline.

Immersed in this social media, which is often devoid of a biblical framework, young people are left to find their identity in what can be endless, echoing stories of brokenness, selfishness and idolatry.

But the pages of Scripture tell quite a different story. In this Story of all stories, there is only one main character (Genesis 1:1; Isaiah 42:8). Everything in His world was designed to reflect the greatness and graciousness of His glory (Isaiah 43:7). Out of the overflow of His eternal love, God has created us to be supporting actors in this never-ending, epic tale (Colossians 1:16-17).

Bringing our story back on-track

Sadly, instead of following God’s agenda, we have hijacked center stage; following our own agenda, we have sought to make His story about ourselves (Genesis 3:6-7). Disconnecting ourselves from God’s rule and reign has brought all sorts of separation, distortion and destruction (Genesis 6:7).

Amazingly, God responded to our rebellion with extravagant grace by sending His Son to die for our sins (John 3:16). We’ve been rescued to have the privilege of living on-mission with Him (2 Corinthians 5:14-20). As God’s people centered in Christ, we are now agents of restoration sent by His Spirit to bear witness of the gospel in word and deed (Acts 1:8).

It is within this story that our stories find their meaning.

Many students in our churches today know that Jesus came to save them from their sin. They have heard and even memorized Ephesians 2:8-9, where Paul celebrates “it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”

But many don’t realize that Jesus died to save them not only from something but also for something, and that “something” begins now: “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).

As pastors, parents and adults, we need to help students understand the storyline of the Bible, awakening wonder in who God is and what He’s up to in the world. We need to help students discover and live out their unique Ephesians 2:10 calling in God’s eternal story.

My prayer is that as young people (like those seniors in Minneapolis) ask the big questions of life, they will find in our churches a plethora of adults coming alongside them who are telling God’s story of restoration both with their lips and with their lives.

Shane Stacey is national director of EFCA ReachStudents and a member of First EFC in Minneapolis, Minn. As a young teenager, Shane learned from many adults around him what it means to live a life shaped by the Story: first his mother, but also her 80-year-old mentor, his youth pastor, a truck driver and a local businessman.