To Whom It May Concern

You may see me as young, rash, hot-headed, and impulsive—a young man who can't see clearly because of my youth and who doesn't think before he acts.  You may see me as a threat to what you know as truth, a counter to your carefulness, a rebel against righteousness.  You may think I dilute definites, circumvent concretes, and promote post-modern thinking.  You may think I trade standards for status quo, simplicity for satisfaction, and self-denial for selfish pleasure.  You seem to notice that I don't walk your way and miss the fact that I walk His way, that my beliefs differ from your beliefs but do not disagree with His truth, that my lifestyle is more "liberal" than yours but not more liberal than His Word.  Assume not that my youth implies rash, thought-less actions and philosophies.  Assume, rather that my one greatest desire is to know Him even as also I am known.  Assume not that I desire to destroy truth, but rather that I desire to sift it to its purest form and live and present it as such.  Do not force me into your mold, but rather, help me shape my mold as Christ would have it shaped.  Do not attack my views and philosophies, but rather use the wisdom of your years to guide my thoughts in Godly paths.  Confront me, but do not condemn me.  Guide me, but do not guilt-trip me.  Mold me, but do not manipulate me.  Do not forget that that you, too, were once at this place of decision where relationship with Christ became a love affair of choice rather than a lifestyle standard of obligation. Study me.  Do not assume that I think as you do.  I respect your wisdom, but only if you show that you have wisdom.  I'll give you a chance; please don't waste it.  My youth may limit my wisdom, but it increases my openness to new ideas.  Do not present new ideas as fact unless you can back them up with fact; then, I am forced to deal with fact, and not someone's interpretation that I can write off as flawed.  Please understand: I desire not rebellion but true righteousness, not to reflect an image but to be an image, not to renounce the truth but to revive the truth.  I desire not to release my heritage, but to revolutionize my future.  Do not confine me in your man-made nest; teach me to fly borne on the God-made winds of truth.