The Magazine

Paintings of the nativity and even crib figures often depict Joseph as an older man though it is not at all unlikely that he was a teenager too. We have very little idea how old the disciples were but James and John still had parents alive (and in their father Zebedee’s case still working as a fisherman) so they may well have been teenagers also. In any case, average life expectancy was no more than 40 at the time.

In the gospels we read a story featuring many young people. We tend to imagine the main participants are of mature years, wise and venerable. Yet God calls the young to be witnesses to him as the story of our salvation unfolds.

Jesus Christ still needs young witnesses to him. The passage of years does not in itself bring spiritual wisdom and maturity. This edition of The Magazine illustrates beautifully the depth, courage, imagination and curiosity within the faith of young Christians in this Diocese. They are a huge blessing to us.

Sometimes the image of the Church is of a venerable institution. In our diocese, with a Cathedral more than 900 years old and many church buildings inherited from centuries past, that’s inevitable. But the good news of God’s saving love in Jesus Christ is ageless. Read the Sermon on the Mount and you do not think it is an antique address. ‘Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth’ challenges a culture of power politics. ‘Blessed are the poor for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs’ reminds us that those with the least in this life are specially favoured by God.

Those of us mature in years and faith sometimes forget the radical edge of the gospel and the way it should provoke us to rethink our priorities. That’s why I always find encounters with teenagers in school refreshing because I am often asked questions people of my own age rarely think to ask their bishop. For example, in one sixth-form group I was asked what I thought I was doing when I prayed, and what image of God I carried in my mind. These are often the sort of questions which fascinate the young. It is that sort of curiosity which leads to faith in Christ.

There are many images of God. In the Bible he is called ‘the ancient of days’. However, at a festival in a northern cathedral I once saw a banner produced by some young people which proclaimed ‘God is forever young’. So he is.