PHILOSOPHY OF YOUTH MINISTRY (Part 2)
Written by: Dennis Bailey, Jr.
The final area of discussion is developing a challenging teenaged curriculum that is directed at developing the faith of the students. Teenagers tend to be an idealistic group and are thus often naturally interested in justice work, desiring to make a difference in the world. If they do not have a positive Christian vehicle through which they can help others, they may seek out other ways to do it, but there is no telling with whom they may get involved. The proverbial wolves in sheep’s clothing are lurking in the world, and the disciple Peter wrote in his first epistle “[T]he devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”[1]
Justice work can take many forms, including contributing time to prepare meals at a homeless shelter, being a Big Brother/Big Sister, or spending time with the elderly. The experiences should be designed to be as positive as possible, that way the teen will want to do it again. Satisfaction, it seems to me, is a driving force of youngsters, and they will often do whatever it takes to get a feeling of satisfaction.
Before becoming involved in serious justice work, teenagers must be sufficiently mature in their faith, and there are several ways to accomplish this. In Sticky Faith, the authors posit that teenagers desire deep, spiritual conversations in a church setting.[2] Author Mike King confirms this with anecdotal evidence via a girl named Courtney which King summed up, “…students don’t just want games, slick programs and entertainment, they want to encounter God.”[3] When we provide a serious, respectful area to have these discussions we can show students that we care for them by taking the time to listen intently to their issues and search for Biblical solutions to their problems.
I think that a deterrent from giving teenagers what they really want may be that youth ministers fear the subject matter that may be discussed. A way to take on this challenge is what is described in Sticky Faith as the Bible Fight Club, wherein students are encouraged to ask any question that they wish, and they may even have the opportunity to do this anonymously.[4] Mike King warns those in youth ministry to avoid being judgmental in the face of any questions or comments that seem to reflect a lack of faith.[5] We must remember that some of Jesus’ own disciples exhibited doubt in Matthew 28:17, a text which implies that Thomas was not the only one who doubted.[6]
Once a student has a working knowledge of Scripture, then the next obvious step is to use Scripture to enhance one’s time in prayer. Author King refers to the fact that the word ‘Meditation’ is used in Scripture 760 times, so this is obviously a large part of practicing the Christian faith.[7] As youth ministers, we can do our students a favor by teaching them various methods of prayer, that way the students can feel free to experiment to see which suggestions give them the most comfort and give them the most spiritual experience possible.
I am a firm believer that in order to fully understand a subject, one must be able to teach it. Therefore, I suggest that teenagers periodically should prepare and present a Sunday school lesson for elementary children. This way the church can create interaction between groups that otherwise may not have much at all in common. Similarly, it would be interesting to have volunteer parents from the congregation do the same thing for both the younger students and the teenagers. This way the generations can interact and those from the congregation can see how their children are progressing in their studies, since there are typically no report cards and grades like a grade school. Another way to keep the church family together is to have teenagers stay in contact with those who have graduated and moved on. This sends an important message to graduates that they have not been forgotten, and they are always welcome in the family.
The most difficult concept in youth ministry in my estimation is determining how to properly measure the effectiveness of any program. I will provide several facets to analyze, but it is my belief that there is not a single method that encapsulates everything that should be analyzed. The first step is to identify the ultimate goal of youth ministry, and that is to teach and nurture children that will be born again in Christ and will maintain faith through the rest of their lives. Therefore, in order to completely evaluate on this basis, each student would have to be interviewed at the end of his/her life and determine if they meet the criteria. This is obviously impractical because we simply cannot wait so long to determine if there is success.
What can be measured, however, are the number of conversions among the youth, although there is a risk of falling into the trap of thinking that if there are not many public professions of faith, then the programs are not working. The church must be aware that in order for a conversion to become rooted and strong, oftentimes the person needs plenty of time to consider the magnitude of there decision to follow Christ, especially since the desire should be to live a life of Christian discipleship and not to fall into the tempting trap of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism (MTD).
Quite possibly the most important thing to measure is the spiritual maturity of the students as they progress in their knowledge and faith. It is true that this can be practically impossible to quantify, but in the immortal words of Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, “I know it when I see it.” It should be obvious to the majority of the congregation that the students are being spiritually edified through their time spent in the Word, and there can be no price put on those results.
In closing, it is essential to focus on the family unit primarily, because a strong family unit will pay dividends in the long run. Children and teenaged ministry programs should be tailored to the age and maturity level of the participants, because ultimately the focus is on edifying them and hopefully leading them to a decision to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. Parents, teenagers, and young children should all come into contact with each other on a periodic basis because they are all a part of the family of Christ, and an involved youth minister can encourage this. The implementation of even a few of these suggestions could bring more success, and a successful youth program promises to build strong leaders in the generations to come.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Beckwith, Ivy. Formational Children’s Ministry. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2010.
Dean, Kenda Creasy. Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers Is Telling the American Church. New York: Oxford. 2010.
King, Mike. Presence-Centered Youth Ministry. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press. 2006.
The New Student Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids: Zondervan. 1992.
Powell, Kara and Brad Griffin, Cheryl Crawford. Sticky Faith: Youth Worker Edition. Grand Rapids: Zondervan. 2011.
FOOTNOTES
[1] The New Student Bible: New International Version. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan. 1992), 1,110.
[2] Powell, et al, 141.
[3] King, Mike. Presence-Centered Youth Ministry. (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press. 2006), 63-64.
[4] Powell, et al, 147.
[5] King, 71.
[6] The New Student Bible: New International Version, 886.
[7] King, 33.
