This was my first Nazarene Youth Conference (NYC). My blog about attending NYC prior to the event is here. As a veteran of exactly one NYC, here are a few random observations:

• There were other old people at NYC. It wasn’t just youth and youth workers. District Superintendents, vendors, college representatives and assorted grey heads (like yours truly) were present and accounted for. 
• The students that I encountered either in the convention venue or in the hotel or restaurants were all kind, polite and a true blessing. We can be very hopeful concerning the next generation. 
• The old people (like me) that I encountered all had good attitudes too. I heard no complaints about the music being too loud or the students being too rowdy. No one yelled, “Get off my lawn.”  I love it when various generations love one another.
• The currency of NYC is not cash or credit. It’s t-shirts. T-shirts were traded left and right. Each district had its own t-shirt, and the colleges also were giving out freebies.  From my vantage point the most coveted (can I say people were covetous at a holiness event?) was the Eastern Michigan District hockey jersey. Canada, Hawaii and Prairie Lakes were also in the running for the champion t-shirt. 
• Ten thousand youth (and the smattering of old people) worshipping and praising Jesus was pretty great.
• The speakers were engaging and most connected well with the students. 
• It takes a lot of planning to put on such an event. NYI gets a big “Great Job Everybody!!” congratulatory award!

NYC became a community of grace and kindness and worship and service (the students all had a serve day during the event). All this to say, NYC is probably the best event hosted by the Church of the Nazarene.

Of course, the question becomes: Can other Nazarene events (General Assembly, M-29, even camp meetings and district assemblies) learn from NYC?  Is it possible for the other gatherings to have the same devotion and commitment and holiness and zeal? 

I hate to write what’s coming. You might hate to read it. Here goes: Old people need to learn from young people. No one was jockeying for position (unless it was to get a t-shirt). There were no church politics. No grumpiness. No phoniness. No “we-haven’t-done-it-that-way” attitudes. No sacred cows that had to be observed. None of the students that I observed, seemed to be worried about others noticing their devotion or expression of faithfulness. They were singing and leaning into a holy devotion that would have made Phineas F Bresee proud. 

I pray that we old timers at our next Nazarene gathering can likewise live out the holiness we say we believe. Let’s make our gatherings less like a political convention and more like NYC. Less like a fashion show, and more like NYC. Less like a funeral procession and more like NYC. Less look at me, and more look to Jesus (in other words).