What I Taught at Summer Camp 2000
Tom Shrader summarizes the teachings he delivered at summer camp, drawing four sessions from the life of Joseph in Genesis 37–50 to show students that the story is ultimately about God's faithfulness and sovereignty, not Joseph's heroism. Each session explored a snapshot from Joseph's life—his betrayal by his brothers, his service under Potiphar, his resistance of temptation, and his reunion with his family—to address themes of jealousy, bitterness, integrity, and forgiveness. The series culminated in Genesis 50:20, where Joseph tells his brothers that what they meant for evil, God meant for good, pointing to the truth of Romans 8:28 that God works all things together for good for those who love Him.
“You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good—this turns us right into Romans 8:28, and we know God causes all things to work together for good for those that love him and are called according to his purpose.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: Summer Camp
Recorded: 2000 at East Valley Bible Church
Duration: 36 min
Themes: forgiveness, jealousy, integrity, bitterness, sovereignty, faithfulness, temptation, suffering, teenager, student ministry, struggling with bitterness, dealing with betrayal, youth camp, new believer, navigating temptation, parent of teens
Scripture: Genesis 37, Genesis 39, Genesis 39:17, Genesis 39:2-3, Genesis 45, Genesis 50:20, Isaiah 8:13, Ephesians 4:31-32, James 1:13-14, Romans 8:28, Romans 12:1-2
Theological Themes: divine providence, sovereignty of god, sanctification, typology, romans 8:28, general revelation, redemptive history, biblical narrative
Full Transcript
Introduction: Why We Teach at Camp
We go through camp every year not just so kids can go and have fun — that is fine and okay — but we go primarily so that kids can hear about Christ. There are a lot of students who bring friends who don't know who Christ is. I want you to know that when your kids come back and talk about the fun they had, and I hope that they have fun, they also learn. One of the profitable things for us to do when we come back is to give you an overview of what we taught while we were there at camp.
I had three sessions with just the senior high students. With them we talked about what it meant to be a Christian. For three mornings we talked about sin and how it entered the world, we talked about Christ and what makes Christ unique, and then we talked about how you respond to that. Those were three morning sessions, each about 45 minutes.
I also had four evening sessions, again about 45 minutes each, with junior high and high school students together. For them we did a series titled "Snapshots in the Life of Joseph." Even though we had about three hours compared to the 25 minutes we have this morning, there was no way to give students an accurate view of all that happened in Joseph's life. So we took snapshots — four incidents — and from them we continued to drive a central point home.
The Central Theme: This Story Is Not About Joseph
The first point was this: we asked students to remember that this story was not about Joseph. It is so easy to get focused on Joseph as a character and miss the fact that he is but a mere mortal. From an encouraging standpoint, it is important to understand that the same God who works in Joseph's life works in your life. So we said every session, "Remember, this story is not about Joseph."
On the other hand, this story is about God. It is about His faithfulness and His love and His mercy and His power. It is about all that He is and all that He does. Our deepest desire is for students — and for you alike — to know and experience life in its fullest way. Jesus said it: that this is life, that you might know the one true God.
As we study Joseph, what we are really seeing is how God works in the life of a man, a woman, a student, or a child who is committed to Him and obedient to Him.
Session One: Genesis 37 — Joseph and His Brothers
In the first session we looked at Genesis chapter 37, where we are introduced to Joseph. Joseph is the favorite of his father's children. As a result, his father presents him a coat of many colors — an ornamented tunic, as one translation puts it. This coat was a symbol that marked the owner as one who had been selected by the father to be the future leader of the household. It was a gift usually bestowed upon the oldest child — not this time. It goes to Joseph.
As a result of this, his brothers hate Joseph. They despise him, so much so that the first chance they get, they decide to get rid of him. Here is the background: the brothers are out taking care of the flocks, and Joseph's father sends him on a reconnaissance mission to find out what is going on with the boys. Joseph travels 50 miles to where he thinks they will be, but they are not there. He is told they have gone another 20 miles.
Scripture tells us that as Joseph is coming, the brothers look up and see from a distance that it is Joseph. It may have been simply the way he walked — his gait giving him away. We all know people we can recognize from a long way off just by the way they walk. But part of it, no doubt, was that they saw the coat of many colors, and they hate that coat. When they see him at a distance, one brother says, "Let's kill him." Another brother says, "No — let's sell him. We don't want to be guilty of his death. We don't want to deal with the guilt of that. So let's sell him."
When traders came by — they were on a trade route, so there was a steady flow of traders going to and fro, in this case on their way to Egypt — his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit they had placed him in and sold him for 20 pieces of silver. That was the average price paid for a slave. The Ishmaelite traders took Joseph to Egypt.
Discussion Questions: The Destructiveness of Jealousy
What I tried to do each night was end with questions — questions for students to think about, talk about, and respond to, and then questions that would launch them into their discipleship groups. Each student ended the night in a small discipleship group discussing who God is, what He is doing, what difference it makes, and what was taught that evening.
The first question we asked was this: what do you think motivated Joseph's brothers? The answer is right there in the text of chapter 37 — they were jealous. We talked about how destructive jealousy is. Jealousy is so hard to control and so easily overflows, and it will lead you to do destructive things, just as these brothers did.
One of the interesting things about jealousy is that it causes you to hate people you do not even know. Jealousy is so powerful that you can look at someone, see that they have something you want, and it will move you in a destructive direction. It may be a material possession — a car someone has that you want, or a house you would like to live in. It may be a gift or a talent. A student might look at another student and say, "This kid just gets it so easily, they are so smart," and become jealous of them. It may be something even deeper than that — a talent someone possesses.
A Lesson in Jealousy from the Golf Course
I watched golf yesterday, and there was one hole where Tiger was hitting a driver. Johnny Miller, who is just so good, said, "He's really going to rip this." Tiger took the club back, coiled, and came through so fast — all I could think was he ought to have a chiropractor on retainer. The ball went straight, 320 yards or whatever it was. Coming off a rather average round myself last Friday, I thought, I don't like Tiger. But isn't that jealousy in a nutshell?
What You Learn From Kids at Camp
When you're with kids, you learn a lot. Here's my theory — I'm not certain it's true, but it seems to me that high school students are dealing with the stuff we dealt with in college, and junior high students are about where we were in high school. These junior high girls are so narcissistic. All they think about is how they look — their hair has to be right, their makeup has to be right. I said, "Honey, you're about to dive head-first into dog food. Your hair is not going to matter."
The junior high boys, fortunately, are harmless in this process because they have no clue about anything. Someone with a sense of humor had me sleep in the junior high boys' dormitory this year. I learned that junior high boys have a kind of allergic reaction to soap and water. They would go out in that field covered in dog food or whatever it was, change shirts, and say, "I'm clean. I'm going to go eat."
But jealousy is destructive in a way that goes beyond the schoolyard. It may be that person who has the job you want — you're a local guy in the corporation, and this other person is the big regional or national shot, and you want what he has. Jealousy tears you apart from the inside.
What Joseph Felt — and What He Knew
The other thing we asked the students was: what do you think Joseph felt in this process? He was surely afraid. He was a young man thrown into a situation with no idea what was happening. But somehow he knew what Isaiah wrote in Isaiah chapter 8, verse 13: *"Do not fear anything except the Lord Almighty. He alone is the Holy One. If you fear Him, you need fear nothing else. He will keep you safe."*
You don't need to be afraid of what's going to happen in the future. You don't need to worry, because God has control. What you need is a healthy, reverential fear of the Lord — understanding who God is, how God thinks, and what God says to us. What He says to do, we do. What He says to avoid, we avoid.
Bitterness, Betrayal, and Forgiveness
What is interesting to me is that Joseph, who has every reason to be angry and bitter, demonstrates none of it. Have you had that in your life — where somebody just puts it to you? A coworker, a spouse, a family member, a friend you told your most intimate thoughts to because you thought you could trust them, and then all of a sudden they just disregard that and hurt you deeply? How do you deal with that?
Ephesians chapter 4 is what we talked about with the students. Here is what Paul writes in Ephesians 4:31: *"Get rid of all bitterness and rage and anger and harsh words and slander, as well as all types of malicious behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as in Christ, God has forgiven you."*
That becomes a very important thing to understand. I have no right to hang on to bitterness and rage, because it is destructive. I am called to forgive. How do you forgive somebody who deserves your wrath? By looking to the cross and understanding that God forgave you in Christ Jesus. That is what we talked about the first night.
Joseph in Egypt — The Lord Was With Him
The second session, we looked at Genesis chapter 39. This is when Joseph arrives in Egypt. He is sold to Potiphar, who is the captain of the Egyptian guard — the palace guard, probably the captain of what we would call the Secret Service. Here is what it says:
*"The Lord was with Joseph and blessed him greatly as he served in the home of his Egyptian master. Potiphar noticed this and realized the Lord was with him, giving him success in everything he did. So Joseph naturally became quite a favorite with him. Potiphar soon put Joseph in charge of his entire household and entrusted him with all his business dealings. From the day that Joseph was put in charge, the Lord began to bless Potiphar for Joseph's sake. All his household affairs began to run smoothly, and his crops and livestock flourished. So Potiphar gave Joseph complete administrative responsibility over everything that he owned."*
Do People See That the Lord Is With You?
We looked closely at the key reference in Genesis 39, verses 2 and 3: the Lord was with Joseph, and Potiphar saw that the Lord was with Joseph. The Lord was with Joseph, and it was even evident to this pagan, Potiphar. How? He looked at him. In this case, it was a visible manifestation — things ran smoothly and things prospered when Joseph touched them.
Here is the question we asked that night, and it is the question we ask this morning: do people see that the Lord is with you? The Lord was with Joseph, the text says — but we have something stronger than that. You have in you the indwelling Holy Spirit. It is not just that God is around you; God indwells you if you are a Christian. If you say you are a Christian today, the Lord lives in you. Do people see it? Do people understand that? How would they know that the Lord was with you? We told the students — and we tell you — there are three ways.
What You Believe Shapes How You Live
What you believe affects three things: what you believe, how you think, and how you behave. It is so important what you believe, not just what you know, especially with students. Some of these students are brand new to church — I met a number of kids who had never been around any church at all. But the majority of them were church kids, and by age five, they are already getting stickers for the verses they know and the answers they can give. By the time you are in the fifth grade as a church kid, you could have learned all the answers. You may know a lot. You may be the one who wins all the Bible trivia games.
But it is not about what you know — it is about what you believe to be true. Now, you do need to know the right things. There is a common belief out there that sincerity is what matters, that as long as someone is really sincere, it does not matter what they believe. But that is not true. Payne Stewart gets on an airplane and believes with all his heart that it will carry him safely — he has faith enough to put his life in it. But he put his trust in an object that was not able to perform the task he asked of it. Your sincerity is not the issue. Do you know the truth?
The majority of people in this country believe that to go to heaven, all you have to do is be a good person. Here is the problem with that: it is wrong. The Bible says no one is good — no, not one. Some say, "Well, do the best you can." But the Bible says no one escapes sin: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." And the Bible says Jesus is the way, the truth, the life, and no one goes to heaven except through Him. I have to know it, and I have to believe it — that means I have to trust it and put my faith in it.
Belief Transforms the Mind and the Will
When I know the truth and believe the truth, it begins to affect how I think. I no longer look at the world like everybody else. All of a sudden, I see things differently. Romans chapter 12, verses one and two says, "Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed" — how? "By the renewing of your mind." You think differently. You see the world differently. You see situations around you differently. And ultimately, as we are going to see, it will affect the way you behave, because what you believe is inextricably linked to how you behave.
Here is a simple illustration. If you really believe that inside this monitor there is a bomb, and that bomb is going to go off in five minutes and blow out these walls, you would be out of here. Some of us were here during the construction of this building — they put in four or five 80-ton concrete beams across here, and they are resting on a ledge about this wide. You may want to run even without a bomb. I saw them put those things in and asked how they stay up, and they said they just rest right there. That is why whenever you see me, I always move toward the back — I figure they will fall that way.
But the point is this: if you genuinely believe there is a bomb in here and it is going to kill you, you are out of here. Or maybe a few of the really spiritual ones will say, "I am going to stay and trust God." Well, I will be over at Auto Body World praying for you when it goes off, because I am out of here — because what I believe affects how I behave. The same is true in your life. Adults, the people around you should be able to see that the Lord is with you.
Joseph and Potiphar's Wife
On the third night at camp, we talked about what is a famous event in Joseph's life: his encounter with Potiphar's wife. Joseph is in charge of everything — Potiphar has given him oversight of all that he has. Potiphar's wife comes to Joseph and says, "Sleep with me." Joseph refuses, telling her that is not the right thing to do, and he tries to avoid her. But the Scripture says that day after day she came at him.
Then one day, when no one else was around, she came to him again and said, "Sleep with me." He ran, which is exactly the right thing to do. She grabbed his cloak as he fled, and standing there holding it, she realized what had happened. She began to scream, the servants came, and she told them he had tried to rape her. When Potiphar came home, here is what she said to him — Genesis chapter 39, verse 17: "The Hebrew slave you brought into the house" — that is the card she tried to play — "he tried to rape me."
My personal belief is that Potiphar did not believe her. I cannot prove that, but consider this: this is a capital offense. Potiphar is, in one translation, the captain of the executioners — he is not going to put up with something like this for a second. Yet he did not have Joseph executed. He put him in jail. I think Potiphar may have known Joseph as well as he knew his wife and concluded that Joseph would not do something like this. Whenever something does not make sense, it does not make sense for a reason — you have to think about it more carefully.
Fleeing Temptation and Sinning Against God
Here was the key verse for that night. Potiphar's wife comes to Joseph and says, "Sleep with me." And Joseph responds: "There is no one greater in this house than I am, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife." He gives two reasons for refusing. First, it is simply the right thing — Potiphar has entrusted everything to him. Second, he says, "How could I do this evil and sin against God?"
There is nothing wrong with temptation itself. Temptation comes into our lives and we cannot stop it. Jesus was like us in every way in that He was tempted — but He is unlike us in that He never sinned.
Four Things You Need to Know About Temptation
That night we talked a lot about temptation — James chapter one, verses 13 and 14. Here are four things you need to know.
Number one, don't be weakened by your situation. Don't put yourself in a situation, good or bad, where the situation dictates how you respond. Joseph is in a perfect situation where everything is going well, and sometimes we can be lulled into a false sense of security there. Don't be weakened by the situation you find yourself in.
Number two, don't be deceived by persuasive talk. There are a lot of fast-talking people out there who are trying to pull you into sin. They'll come along and say things like, "Everybody does it." You parents, listen and follow the same advice you give your kids. You tell them, "If everybody went down and jumped off the bridge, would you?"
Just because everybody cheats on their income tax, should you? Just because everybody in the office steals — well, they don't steal, they just take pens. They're the company's pens. You're a thief. You're Ivan Boesky with no imagination. You only steal pens, that's all you do. But everybody does it.
How about this one: "Just the two of us — forget the kids. We're consenting adults. This isn't going to hurt anybody. It's just between us." I can't tell you how many marriages and families I've seen ruined because two people said exactly that. Families are destroyed over it. Don't be deceived by persuasive talk.
Don't Be Convinced by Your Emotions
Number three, don't be convinced by your emotions. There's an old song: "It can't be wrong when it feels so right." But your emotions swing. I am so tired of hearing the phrase "I love them to death." I've got 13-year-olds saying, "I love them to death." Let me help you out here — you are going to have about 18 more loves to death before you ever get up here for a wedding. Your feelings change. They lie. They're confusing. Don't be convinced by your feelings.
Number four, don't be confused by immediate results. This is hard to talk to anyone about — hard to talk to junior high students about, and hard to talk to you about. Take personal finance as an example. You have a spending plan — some may call it a budget — that puts restrictions on you that you agreed to logically. But along comes something. For a woman, it might be a dress. For a guy, it's a boat. "I want a boat. That's what I want."
Here is a little wisdom: it is a lot better to know somebody who owns a boat than to own a boat. You don't want to own a boat. There are two best days in a boat owner's life — you know them: the day he buys the boat and the day he sells the boat. But why do we do it? Immediate gratification. The easy thing for Joseph would have been to say, "Come on, baby, let's go."
Joseph Rises — and Faces His Brothers
On the fourth night, we worked through ten chapters of the book of Genesis and talked about Joseph's life. Joseph is put in jail, and the jailer sees that the Lord is with Joseph. He rises in the ranks there, and then Pharaoh sees that the Lord is with Joseph. Joseph is put in charge of the land — only Pharaoh is over him. He is given Pharaoh's signet ring, and he has the authority and the power of Pharaoh behind him.
Then a famine hits the entire world, except for Egypt. So Joseph's brothers, needing food, come to Egypt — and there is Joseph. They come before him, and Joseph recognizes them, but they don't recognize him. He looks differently, he walks differently, he talks differently — talks like an Egyptian. He is different. A cultural change has taken place. So this little charade goes on for a while.
Then one day — I believe it begins in chapter 45 — Joseph sends out all the servants, brings his brothers in, and says, "I am Joseph, your brother." And they were petrified. Why? Because they would have been filled with rage, anger, and bitterness in his position. They would have been waiting for the moment to get back at him. If they were Joseph, they knew what they would do — they would kill him.
A Classic Passage: You Meant It for Evil
But here was the key passage. Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for I am in God's place. As for you, you meant it for evil against me, but God meant it for good."
There are certain cars that are classics. In sports, there are certain classic moments — that one iron Jack Nicklaus hits in the 1978 Open at Pebble Beach on the par three at 17. There is that classic move Michael Jordan makes against the Lakers where he goes up with one hand, shifts to the other, and lays it up and over. There are songs that are classics. This is classic Bible right here. Genesis 50:20 — "You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good."
That verse turns us directly to Romans 8:28: "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose." This is a statement of fact — God intervenes in a person's life. But not everybody's life. Listen to the verse carefully: it is those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
If you are not a Christian, things are not all working together for good for you. But for a Christian, we understand that no matter what comes — even our own sin — God uses it ultimately for our good as He teaches us.
Three Closing Points from Camp
After three hours and four nights with them, we made three closing points. Here they are.
Number one, God is sovereign. God's sovereignty works all things for His glory and for our good. Ultimately, all the world will bring honor and glory to God. Even the sinners, even the pagans that die hating God, who hate Him right up to the end — their condemnation and their eternal damnation in a place called hell brings honor and glory to God. How can that be? Because His righteousness is upheld. All those people that come and say, "God's a God of love, He'd never send anybody to hell" — well, He's not just love, is He? He's a God of justice, and a God who is just must punish sin. God's sovereignty always works for His glory and our good. There's a sense in which ultimately no bad thing can happen to us in an ultimate sense, because God continually works in our life. We know God causes all things to work together for good.
Live Free of Bitterness and Anger
Here's the second thing: you need to live your life free of bitterness and anger. It is so easy, as your pride creeps in, to have a sense of entitlement, a sense of envy, a sense of jealousy — or simply as you just live life. These 14-year-olds are so fun to be with, because they'll talk about how hard life is. I have a dichotomy there, because on one side I know they have real toughness, and on the other side I know they haven't even sniffed tough yet. But I'll tell you what — they will. They will have people that deal them dirty. They will have people that take advantage of them, people that hurt them.
When that happens, Ephesians 4:31 and 32 — get rid of all that, and forgive them. How? By remembering how God forgave me through Christ. I deserved hell, but He gave me heaven — not because of me, but because of Christ.
Be Right Before God and Right with One Another
Here's the last point. These are hard points to make to students, and they're hard points to make to you, but life seems to teach us this: when you get to the end of your life, be right before God and right with one another. It is so important for us to understand that we can have peace with God. We preach that in here week after week. When I come to Christ in repentance and faith, I have peace with God, and because I have peace with God, I have the peace of God.
One of the ugliest things to watch is somebody who doesn't know Christ — who is old, who is dying, and who knows it. It's an awful thing to watch. And what's interesting is that at the time they need people most, they'll be so obnoxious that they drive people away. The nurses will say, "I don't even want to go in there. I don't want to be with this person." You know why? Because they know the end is there, and instinctively they know they're lost. They spew profanity. They relive every bitter moment and how ugly and hard life has been. My theory is that you die the way you live, and if you're a hard, bitter, angry, lonely person, you somehow die that way.
Lay that down and contrast it with somebody who knows Christ. Even when you visit them when they're ill, there's a sense of joy there. Because they understand exactly the opposite truth — that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
Why Joseph
That is why I picked Joseph to talk to those students about for four sessions. I wanted you to see — very quickly, in 25 minutes, what we talked about over three hours — so that you could talk to your students and know that they have this same material, and so that you could take these snapshots and examine your own life. These truths have such universal appeal for us, don't they?
Gratitude for the Ministry
As you pray, be thanking God for what He has done and what He is doing. With the vision and direction of Walter as he oversees that area, and the hands-on work, vision, and tenacious preparation of Jamie and Tim, God is changing and touching the lives of students. And important for you — not just the lives of students who are on this campus, but as we move off into the school campuses. We were in Mesquite and Dobson this year, and we think next year we could be on as many as eight high school campuses leading Bible studies.
Dozens of volunteers gave up their vacation time to go over there, to take boxes and water and dog food and meet with kids. You know why? Because they love these kids even though they don't know them, because they know how important that time is to finding Christ. As you think of East Valley Bible Church, you ought to be thanking God for Walter and Tim and Jamie, for Brenda and the staff, the C2 staff, and the fathers that went. We made an appeal to some dads — we said we want some dads to come with us this year. And to watch these dads line up, and not just go over and oversee, but be in there working, and at the end of the day laughing and loving as they see God work — it's a terrific thing. God is so good.
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for Your Son Jesus. Thank You for His work in our life and what He has done in our life. God, we pray for these students, especially those who made commitments to Your Son Jesus. We pray that they were not just swept away with emotion, but that there was a real converted heart there. God, we pray that You would continue to move in the hearts and minds of Your people to bring forward even more volunteers for staff in junior high and high school. God, let these students know the truth. We want them to give evidence before You that they know You — by what they believe, how they think, and how they behave. God, we pray to You in Christ's name, amen.