At our United Youth Camps we set as our standard the Word of God and the way of life it teaches. We strive to teach spiritual principles through an outdoor program which incorporates challenging activities. We set a standard based on the Word of God. Our goal is to help campers and staff gain a vision of the Kingdom of God and thereby give purpose and direction to their daily lives.

Because this high standard requires a set of rules and a code of honor which spells out in detail what is expected from campers and staff, we sometimes encounter questions like, "why be so strict?" or "why so many rules?" The answer lies in understanding a key element about the character of God, something that is easily forgotten in today's moral climate.

The coming Kingdom of God will be a time of peace and beauty. A quality life will be produced when the world begins to work according to the plan of God. God gives us a description of the new Jerusalem in Revelation 21. It is described as a city "having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal" (verse 11). Its walls will be made of jasper and gold will be throughout the city. Other gems such as sapphire, emerald, topaz and pearl will be included in the foundation and gates of the city. From one perspective this represents the spiritual quality of the life that is lived by those who inhabit the city and world during the time of Christ's reign. God's truth will produce a quality of life unparalleled in any previous period of history.

The lesson for us today is this: We should be pursuing excellence, a superior quality of life, in preparation for our role as leaders in the Kingdom of God. Our goal is to be like our Father in heaven. Notice Matthew 5:48, "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." God is perfect in both physical and spiritual realms and He teaches through a physical type. We have many examples in the Bible where God stresses excellence and quality in those things that teach us of His plan for human life.

When God had finished the physical creation, He said it was "good" (Genesis 1:31). The garden in Eden, created by God, needed constant care. God said to Adam, "tend and keep it" (Genesis 2:15). God intended man to use the physical creation and maintain it to the superior standard with which it was made.

God is decked with majesty, glory and beauty. When we pursue excellence in the physical details of life, we are emulating our spiritual Father, who is excellent in all His ways. It is God's nature to strive for excellence. Quality is a natural product of God's mind at work through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Tabernacle

Perhaps this can be best illustrated by looking at the architectural plan God laid down for building first a portable tabernacle for Israel in the wilderness and then later the permanent temple structure built by Solomon in Jerusalem. Both were built after what is described in Hebrews as ". . . the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle" (Hebrew 8:5).

Moses was instructed to build the wilderness structure out of fine quality materials. Offerings were to include gold, silver and bronze; fine linen and wood as well as precious stones like onyx (Exodus 25:1-9). Notice the design of the veil that was to separate the holy of holies from the rest of the sanctuary. "You shall make a veil woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen. It shall be woven with an artistic design of cherubim. You shall hang it upon the four pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold. Their hooks shall be gold, upon four sockets of silver. And you shall hang the veil from the clasps. Then you shall bring the ark of the Testimony in there, behind the veil. The veil shall be a divider for you between the holy place and the Most Holy" (Exodus 26:31-33).

The skilled artisans assigned to this building project were aided by God to do their very best. "And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship" (Exodus 31:3-5). When the project was complete it had been done according to the specifications given by God and Moses put his blessing on the work (Exodus 39:43).

Later when Solomon built the fabulous temple to God in Jerusalem, the same care and attention to quality was made. King David, who first desired to build the temple, passed on to Solomon not only the commission to build, but detailed architectural plans which included custom-made furnishings of gold and silver. "'All this,' said David, 'the LORD made me understand in writing, by His hand upon me, all the works of these plans'" (1 Chronicles 28:19).

Solomon understood that this temple could only be built by skilled craftsmen who were capable of working with such fine materials. Mistakes would be costly. The building project was undertaken in a genuine spirit of humility that sought to build a structure pleasing to God (2 Chronicles 2:3-10). God would dwell among the people in a sanctuary made only in a specific fashion, built by skilled craftsmen out of the finest materials.

The Physical Is a Type of the Spiritual

It is a biblical principle that the physical is a type of the spiritual reality. When we can grasp this fact-and that we should approach all parts of life with the goal of doing and being the best we can be-then we have a sharper view of how God is and how we should approach Him.

Quality items and workmanship usually cost more money and stand out. A person with character stands out because of his or her excellence. Spiritual character takes more care and attention as well. Our primary goal in life is to develop righteous godly character. That does not come cheaply or easily. It requires we pay a high price in care and concern for doing things according to God's way.

Solomon learned from his building experience that excellence took effort. He wrote, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going" (Ecclesiastes 9:10). To reach this level of performance we must determine never to settle for mediocrity. We must infuse quality into everything that we do and not settle for second best. This is the approach we have in our camp program because it reflects the way of God.

Last year our camp program became accredited by the American Camping Association. This came after two years of work to upgrade all areas of our program to meet the exacting standards required. The camp directors took the approach that we would come as close as possible to meeting all standards. Some presented quite a challenge.

ACA standards require that staff receive 24 hours of training before the start of the session. In our circumstances, with rented facilities and staff coming in from all over the country, it is not possible to get this done a day or two prior to camp's start. We could have taken a "no," deliberately missing the standard, and probably not jeopardized our chances of accreditation. But we decided that was not for us. Instead we designed a method of using audiotaped messages on various camp-related subjects to fulfill this training requirement. Tapes were then sent to staff members in advance so they could listen to the information. We were then able to score a "yes" to that standard.

This approach helped two of our camps to accomplish perfect scores when the ACA representatives visited. Not taking a "calculated no," a deliberate miss, carries an important spiritual lesson. On what part of God's way might we decide to deliberately take a "no" score and miss—sin? What could be the consequences of intentionally disobeying a part of God's law? All it takes is one mistake to change the course of one's whole life.

A Reason for the Rules

God sets a high standard of quality and excellence in both the physical and spiritual realm. That is why, when we bring the youth of the Church into a camp setting, we set rules for dress and conduct that help create an atmosphere reflective of God's way of life. That is why we ask young people to not bring drugs, tobacco or alcohol or use profanity or other coarse language that degrades and puts down another person. When we ask them to avoid extremes of dress, hairstyle and jewelry inspired by today's popular culture, we are saying that approach misses the standard of spiritual culture found in God's Word.

Experience shows us that when the influences of today's culture are removed we can focus, for the camp week, on more important spiritual values that help kids and their families. In this safe zone we can create a microcosm of how life will be in the Kingdom of God.

God continues to build a spiritual temple that is far greater than any of the previous temples. This spiritual house is not made of gold or silver. Today's materials are spiritual and are built through the crucible of life experiences. Notice what Paul writes, "having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit" (Ephesians 2:20-22).

God has shown us the way to spiritual excellence. It is up to us to seize the opportunity and follow in that path.