I grew up in a small church. It was a place where young people were shifted to some far corridor to participate in “Wee Worship” or “Junior Church” while the adults sat through “Big Church.” I never missed Sunday School and had more than one decidedly un-cool youth minister. I can attribute much of my early spiritual formation to one of those “t-shirt-tucked-into-jeans-with-no-belt” mentors. His investment in me led to my pursuit of ministry as a vocation. Well, him and some Thursday night message at a summer youth conference.
After enrolling myself in college to prepare for ministry, I was blessed to get the opportunity to study the Word in an in-depth kind of way. I was surprised to find no mention of “youth ministers” anywhere in the Scriptures. In fact, I soon discovered that there seemed to be only one group set apart to minister to young people: their parents. Think Deuteronomy 6: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children (NIV). And that got me thinking: Did my parents let me down? Did they forfeit their God-given responsibility to some corn-fed 20-something who drives a Jeep and listens to The Newsboys?
I found myself harboring this great bitterness toward all things related to youth ministry. I’d take advantage of every chance I could get to extol the virtues of Godly parenting and branding the youth ministry enterprise as cut-rate babysitting. Youth ministers were scum who enabled the perpetuation of a never-ending cycle of kidulthood and indulgence. “Wii Worship” even.
Then something happened. God opened doors of opportunities for me to serve, coincidentally perhaps, alongside young people. I began to hear stories. I went to my college’s ministry job fair and found a booth where two high school students were trying to find someone to come and be their youth minister. They hadn’t had one for like two years. After getting married, God’s call on my family’s life took us to England. It was there that I met four sisters who regularly came to our church having just been dropped off by their dad who never came. I started working with young people in schools and was gripped by the faith of these youths whose belief was staunchly opposed by their atheist teachers.
God brought about a shift in my perception. I was humbled by what I was experiencing. While I was busy throwing the baby out with the bathwater, students all over the world had no mentor and kids were going to bed discouraged and hungry.
We definitely need to equip parents to do the Deuteronomy 6 business. Meanwhile, we also have a responsibility as the Church to pass on our faith to the next generation (71st Psalm: v17-18).
Since joining YouthHOPE I’ve been overwhelmed by the way God’s using us to meet the needs of young people all over the world. I sheepishly look back at my immature and angst-driven perspective on what God’s preferred method of reaching youths was. Not everyone can say what I mentioned in my opening sentence. Therefore, we at YouthHOPE are keen to be proactive. Surely, the holistic needs facing young people today being met by the Church head-on is one issue we can all agree on.
About Kyle
Good stuff… Love to see you sharing good thangs. Keep on keepin on.
cheers matey!
Honest reflection. My perspective is that youth ministry, while is has done a world of good, has created a path that allows parents to delegate spiritual formation. Not suggesting that youth ministry should go the way of the dinosaur but youth ministry as a whole needs to connect youth and parents, youth and their church communities, youth and mentors. Perhaps this might help correct the issue of so many students graduating high school only to go off to college and graduate without faith in God. At the same time church communities can stop patting their youth on the head and telling them that someday they will be the church. They are the church right now and need their imaginations feed as to new ways of living. That is my 2 sense. I need a Coke.
I love the idea of feeding imaginations and connecting youth in a variety of ways. How does YM in the future look different to today’s? What are the access points for young people to the Gospel? And how does the connections of youth translate in the busyness of Jr/High School students and their parents?
Good questions. I think one thing Christian parents can do is give their children/teens a grammar of faith. Recently, in my family, we has started to use the short Westminster Catechism. It has its roots in the Reformed Churches. For a look at one try this link: http://www.reformed.org/documents/WSC.html I think a grammar of faith gives parents “something to talk about around the table” beyond just Bible stories. Also praying the Lord’s Prayer connects with the gosple as well. It would also seem helpful for the church to help parents, children and teens cultivate the spirit of patience admits the new and hailed virtue of productivity.