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By Greg Stier
10/8/2007
Revolution: "A sudden or momentous change in a situation; to overthrow the current system for something radical and fresh"
Youth ministry needs a revolution. It needs to be overthrown, retooled and reborn. The majority of what passes as youth ministry is organized babysitting: songs, games, a short devo and pizza afterward...yippee!
Mark Senter III wrote in The Coming Revolution in Youth Ministry that there is no way which the programs and youth ministry tactics currently being used will ever stem the moral tidal wave of corruption that has encompassed our teenagers
Youth ministry needs a revolution. It needs to be overthrown, retooled and reborn.In his ground breaking book Mr. Senter emphasizes again and again the urgent need for a fundamental transformation of the way that youth ministry is done in America. I agree with him.
Do you?
If you disagree with the radical assertion that the overall approach to youth ministry is a failed experiment, stop and think about three stark realities:
Not only are we failing to reach the non Christian teens in our culture, we are failing to reach the "Christian" teens in our youth groups. Oops.
We all have bad, sad stories of teens who have forsaken their Christian roots for the tempting fruit of this world. We are not alone. Jesus had Judas. Paul had Demas. Who do you have?
Who is your Demas, your Judas? Think of that one student in your youth group who turned on Jesus. As I think of the teens in my youth group who became sad stories I have to ask myself if there was anything I could have done to have prevented them from going AWOL. Ask yourself the same thing.
I believe that, for the most part, the answers that typical 21st youth ministry thinking has proposed for these problematic stats and stories are weak. Most curriculum factories churn out dummied down tidbits of truth that barely challenge the thinking of the average Christian teen. Of course, there are exceptions to this (praise God!) But the average curriculum taught at the average youth group is producing average Christianity. And "average Christianity" is an oxymoron that ranks right up there with "jumbo shrimp" and "military intelligence." Average Christianity is not enough to give our teens the moral fiber they are going to need to serve Christ with passion in the temptation trap called the college life.
The same Christian teens going to your youth group every week are taking Calculus, Trig and economics at school. Their minds are being pushed by ambitious teachers, trying to expand the thinking of their students. Meanwhile we are giving them five reasons not to have sex before they get married! Don't get me wrong, I'm all for abstinence. But what about the character of God, the deity of Jesus, the doctrine of justification, sanctification and glorification??? Plunge a teen headfirst into who God is, what salvation is, all the great stuff of theology, and then abstinence and holiness, and practical Christianity will become a no-brainer.
Spurgeon (a preacher who lived a long time ago) said that "The key to great preaching is great subjects." Most youth leaders have taken the greatest subjects, hidden them behind the counter and fed their kids junk food Christianity instead.
Don't be afraid to push your teens. Push their thinking. Expand their minds through the amazing truths in the Word of God. Help them stop and meditate on the mystical, mind-blowing truths of God. Get a good old fashioned debate going over key theological truths. The fireworks will trigger spiritual adrenaline in your teens' minds and souls that will help them to know and own the truth for themselves instead of living off borrowed faith.
It's not just our curriculums that tend to be weak. Our strategies are weak too. Instead of challenging teens in and equipping them toward the fulfillment of the Great Commission we compress most of their outreach energies into the annual mission trip. Too little. Too late. Too bad.
It's time we believe in teens, motivate them to go for it and unleash them in real and viable ways to change the world. In so doing they themselves will be changed and youth ministry will be revolutionized.
Don't wait for the curriculum or the conference or the whitepaper. Revolution begins with a simple, radical idea. These radical ideas are often simple to understand yet hard to execute. Why? Because, as one sage put it, "Every significant break through started as a break with." If you join the revolution you will be breaking with mainstream youth ministry thought.
But the real revolution begins with you. If you are willing to live a revolutionary life then God will use you in powerful ways to launch the revolution in your teens. Revolution ultimately finds its epicenter, not in a revolutionized curriculum or youth ministry model, but a revolutionized life.
Let the revolution begin in you and me.
You know what I think teens need to know the most..That Jesus when accepted into their lives is a journey partner. He is not some far away being that lived 2000 years ago, He is here with them and they need to also know with a world full of hate, and honestly most churches aren't forgiving when you fail BUT Jesus ALWAYS is. This is what they need and prayer and the Bible help us see God's will but until they know they are accept by GOD no matter what..even in the future, you might see a change.
Shevonne 4:05:54pm on 5/12/2009
OffensiveThis comment is for Alex Slade: If the bible is not literal, then Jesus didn't literally die on the cross, and you and I are, quite literally dead in our sins with no hope of redemption. Thank God that is not the case, however. The good news is that Jesus Christ was an actual person, was fully God and fully man, lived a sinless life, died in our place as payment for our sins, and rose again on the third day, defeating death and the grave. Historians and archeologists have time and again backed up the authenticity and realiability of the bible. By reducing it to a collection of spiritual platitudes and inspirational stories, you deny its true power: that of salvation. I know this didn't have anything to do with the curriculum, but I felt it needed to be said. Alex, there is a very real God out there who loves you. I pray you don't let your faith in science and your intellect keep you from coming to know him.
Tim Akin 5:05:32pm on 5/10/2009
OffensivePerhaps the problem lies in the misinterpretation of Christianity. We live in the 21st century not in a world where we can continue creating the illusion that the Bible is literal. Instead of talking about a literal seven day of creations for example or a literal figure of Moses dividing the Reed (Red) sea look instead for the mystical insights. The same needs to be done with Jesus, when he's healing the blind is this literal? Of course not its a refrence about Spirtual blindness and those who walk only by basic material instinct. The Bible is a never ending resource of inner sight of the human condition, it asking us to explore ourselves by harnessing imagination. Teach the youth the fuller mystical aspect of the faith not the external literalism that the Church teaches because it couldn't understand the deeper significance. Catch my drift. PS is that maths question some esoteric joke?
Alex Slade 1:05:22pm on 5/06/2009
OffensiveI agree our church needs a revolution. I am a parent of a freshman and am ready to get involved with our youth. What do I do to get this started? What ideas do I infiltrate into the existing structure? What is the "revolution" in terms of nuts and bolts, not just the lofty idea of bringing more substance to the kids? What are some specific ideas of the substance you are talking about? Thank you so much for your help.
Ken Wrobel 9:04:53am on 4/07/2009
OffensiveI agree completely! In January my wife and I will start Pastoring our current youth group. This is the exact thing we were discussing. Drawing from Kirk Franklin, we need to ask ourselves, "Are you ready for a REVOLUTION?!"
Ryan Richmond 5:12:02pm on 12/26/2008
OffensiveLooking around the nation how could anyone disagree? I have recently finished the book "Do Hard Things" by Alex and Brett Harris. These are 2 teens who are challenging other teens to rise above the low expectations of their culture. To those of you looking for some ideas of a place to start this type of revolutionary ministry- you may find some of the ideas helpful.
Becky 11:10:17am on 10/15/2008
OffensiveYou've hit the real issue. Youth ministry has failed repeatedly because it disconnected the youth from the church by segregating them out of the body not engaging them in ministry in the body. The church I serve has two missing generations: Baby Boomers and their kids. A sizable group of gen-x come and bring their kids and a huge group of elders is there too, but when it comes to youth and their parents its a ghost town. We see the kids come, just like the parents not to be part of the whole church but just to be dropped of for the special "youth" ministry activities like confirmation and fun stuff.
Unlikely Conversation 2:10:10am on 10/15/2008
OffensiveI agree 100%. Great subjects, real subjects have profound & lasting impressions on the youth. When I was a teen in the 80's, my youth leaders taught us on awareness of the Satanic cult. Our eyes were opened really wide, and go figure, God brought into my path a teenager (just my age who was into that) to minister to her about what she was involved in and how much God still loved her. She was shocked that I understood. Thanks be to God that he gave me such remarkable youth leaders. We need to be such as these now more than ever.
Shali 10:03:58pm on 3/13/2008
OffensiveI am an Anglican in America and I am with you, brother. I read Senter and Devries 15 years ago. I've been out of the fray for ten years. Now, by God's grace, here I am again. Andrew is correct. We are feeding kids garbage. I am using the 1928 prayer book and going from Genesis to Revelation in Anglican fashion -- with a Psalm, two readings -- and expounding them in a liturgical manner. I would say to Ryan, go deep fo yourself. Read Hooker, Law, and Lewis; Chesterton, Churchill, and Packer; read Catholic authors like Scott Hahn, Orthodox authors like Schmemann, Meyendorf and the Philokalia. And then point the bazooka at the kids and blow their minds. I'm getting good response myself. The parents are hard to convince (baby boomers...).
Loren Michael Byelich 10:11:38pm on 11/08/2007
OffensiveI am a youth pastor in Worcester, England. I am keen to start a discussion and teaching group for our 15-18 year old. I want dynamic resource to assist in teaching tthem theology. Any ideas for books?
Ryan 5:10:30pm on 10/13/2007
Offensivei agree. I'm an evangelist in Ukraine. when i come to the U.S. and look for curriculum, I want to puke. I remember knowing more in 7th grade about my faith than what i read in senior high/college age material being published now. help where do i turn?
andrew green\ 5:10:50am on 10/12/2007
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