#211. The Youth Group Hot Seat
It is very possible this was something invented by my youth minister and no one else on the planet ever did it. But that, is a risk I am willing to take.
The hot seat was simply a folding metal chair, one of those depressing looking models that is painted in like “emo gray.” On the last night of any retreat or any big youth group meeting, our leader would place the seat in the middle of a big circle. Then someone that needed to be “loved on” would sit in the seat and receive compliments from everyone else in the crowd.
It was a really awkward experience. The people “pouring into” the person in the hot seat usually didn’t honestly have anything nice to say. (And yes, pouring into or pouring on needs its own post.) I mean have you ever heard a seventh grader just spontaneously say to another seventh grader something like, “Hey, I just want you to know that I appreciate the transparency we’ve developed in our relationship.” No, you haven’t, so for 15 minutes we’d all sit there while a parade of, at best flimsy compliments were aimed at the sweaty person in the middle of the circle.
And they were sweaty because most Christians aren’t great at taking compliments. Plus, for a lot of people the idea of being singled out is a nightmare. One of my greatest fears is opening presents in front of people. I was once forced to attend a wedding shower for my wife to be and it quickly became clear that my role was to act dumbfounded and confused by all the “lady gifts.” My wife would open a candle holder and hand it to me, at which point the room would eagerly await me saying something like, “what is this a hat?” I’d put it on my head and then the women from our church would throw treats at me. OK, I made up that last part.
To add further insult to injury, we also had a mandatory hug count sometimes. One of the youth leaders would yell out, “mandatory hug count of five.” Before you could leave the room you had to hug at least five people. Now clearly I’m a smooth type of fellow now. At the age of 32 I know how to treat a tender Roni. But when I was a teen, the idea of hugging girls made my liver hurt.
I love youth group.
Update: Kristan makes a good point below. She recently did a hot seat with the seniors in her youth group. I am a big fan of sending off the seniors with moments like this. Honestly, in some ways a chapter is ending in their lives and I think it’s important to note that. That’s why in the post above I only mentioned that the hot seat didn’t work well in seventh grade. Kristan, you are not a cheesball. I am a dork for not clarifying my point in the post.
