Jesus Was a Teenager

Jesus was a teenager once

Not much about those years are known

                But you can best believe

                He had more up His sleeve

And even then, His light brightly shone

He lived then in a much simpler time

No Limp Bizket to idolize

                No Duke Nuke ‘Em games

                No Kool Rap’R names

No vampire slayers to feast the eyes

And I often wonder what Jesus would do

If He were a teen today

                He’d have Metalhead peers

                The kind with “No Fears”

And I often wonder what He might say:

“The things of this world, the things you are into

Are corrupting, negative and vile

                You may think they’re cool

                But your lives they will rule

If you expose yourself to them awhile

“Throughout world history, it’s always the same

And it happens again and again

                You may think you’re fine

                But only I am divine

And you are in the lion’s den

“Teens often do not see what they like with the

Discerning eye that comes with age

                The teenage years

                As adulthood nears

Are the hardest upon this world’s stage

“So I tell you, beware of the fashions and trends

So awesome, radical, and new

                Don’t just join the crowd

                Make both you and me proud

And ask yourself, ‘What would Jesus do?’”

- Written by Gary Van Buren, August 1999