We look down upon our youth. We keep from teaching them any sound theology and we are obsessed with making things “relevant” to them. Relevant basically means, “Don’t have sex, don’t smoke, and don’t do drugs… but if you have to do one of those things then smoke.” And this is what we hand them, the most doctrinal truth we give is some distorted view of God’s love or some story about Moses or David that they have heard for years. I kid you not, I once had to go over curriculum with High Schoolers and the questions were “What do you feel Jesus’ view on drugs is?” and “Do you think Jesus would go to parties?” On one hand we look down upon our kids as if they are not able to handle any sort of deep thought, and on the other we are so worried that they may become one of the “bad kids” that that is all we ever talk to them about, and thus that is all they think Christianity is. Here are some examples of things churches look for from youth pastors, which means what they view youth ministry as, and I didn’t make these up either, these are from job postings…
“if you find yourself at home in a downtown music venue as you do within the margins of a City, if you are fluent in the indie music scene, resist eating at big box establishments, exegete the arts to find Life, then we might want to talk. ”
Hmm, indie music… not eating at Mickey D’s… hip venues…. yep that sounds exactly how I would describe what is needed for ministry. If you didn’t catch the sarcasm in the previous statement then let me just tell you that this sort of garbage has more to do with pushing the “Christianity is cool” idea than anything else. You can love indie music, and be a frickin’ vegan, those are fine for life choices, but that has nothing to do with being a pastor. How about instead of looking for someone who is just going to be trendy, we look for someone who is going to steep himself into the word and is going to guide our children into the truth like he should. Someone who realizes that parents are not antithetical to youth ministry and that you are not going to do anything by being a big kid that never grew up so he can fit in. It gets better…
“[our Church] is well aware of the countless excuses lurking around present-day teenagers, and our leadership team is committed to providing the solution – excitement.”
Excitement? Really, that’s your solution… excitement? If I sound dumbfounded it’s because I am, however I really shouldn’t be as this is honestly what most church’s philosophy of youth ministry is, they just don’t encapsulate it so blatantly. Our solution isn’t Christ, Biblical teachings, doctrine, or Christian community, just something exciting; which is a battle the church will always loose. Let’s see, the world has sex, drugs, sex, alcohol, sex, parties, and did I mention sex. What excitement can we offer? Bible study and late night Volley Ball, ooo color me excited! We are so scared that our kids will go be bad that we will do anything to stop them from doing so, and unfortunately our strategy is to just distract them from sin long enough before they can get married. None of this changes lives. The way of Christ can be earthy and messy, but it is the only way. Sure we can have large crowds by having Xbox parties, and while I am not against fun, it isn’t going to change lives if that is all we have.
These examples arn’t even the worst ones I have seen. We need to realize that these people are on the verge of being adults, heck in another time or culture they would be adults. But in our youth obsessed culture we expect people to be kids until after they finished college, if then. We need to instill into them what Christianity really is and none of it is about excitement, being cool or even being happy, it’s about sacrifice to Christ, and if we don’t sacrifice, then we are not Christians. (Matthew 10:37-39) There are kids out there that are hungry for that message, they have been getting milk their whole life and now they need something more. It won’t bring large crowds, it never has, but biblical truth is what people of all ages need. In the end, if a youth ministry isn’t about discipleship, then it isn’t a ministry at all.
He he…I invite Jesus to all of MY parties. He’s my drinkin’ buddy!
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That is incredibly frightening. Excitement as gospel. Yikes.
I would ask the question:
Is there even a Biblical precident for youth ministry? If you find one, I’d wager it is very different from the perspective that you describe the church currently engaging in, but surprisingly, it differs from your attestation as well (though i agree more or less).
First of all thanks for your post, it is great to discuss such topics. Secondly, yes there most certainly is a precedent for youth ministry in the Bible. What I attest to on the matter is not necessarily given in the article, as it is largely negative about what it isn’t, so let me give a few passages that show what it is.
“Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.” (Proverbs 13:24)
“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)
“You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” (Deuteronomy 11:18-19)
“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4)
Ministry is about discipleship and that is exactly what all parents are commanded to do in raising their children. When I teach my daughter who she is supposed to be and who God is I am performing youth ministry, which is simply ministry to young people. The most direct responsibility to minister to young people are parents to children and God has given the responsibility to them. If parents are not ministering to their own children then any sort of “youth ministry” is at best handicapped, and at worst harmful. This is not to say that the church has no part in the discipleship of young people however, for we are commanded…
“Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled.” (Titus 2:3-6)
The older Christians train the younger in how they should live, this is not against parents but alongside them and supporting them. This also does not stop at adulthood, for it is not “the adults teach the kids” it is simply the “older teach the younger” and where you fall on that spectrum should dictate your position. The short summary of my view is, parents have the primary responsibility to minister to their own children in discipleship and the church must also come along side them to train the younger by the older. Hope that clarifies a bit, and I welcome any feedback.
I struggle some with the format that the church as a whole has in ministering to kids. They segregate them all into different grade levels, take them away from their parents, and teach them dumbed down lessons (the book I used this last sunday for the 5 year olds at my church had a message I was supposed to read that summed up the Lord’s Prayer as “Dear God, thanks for good food. Help me to be good. Amen.”
Much of that is unbiblical. Not necesarily bad – once in a while kids hanging out with other kids who are their own age can be ok, but this should not be the norm for learning, but we the church have followed the culture. The idea of segregating kids into age groups for instruction comes from the culture, and not from the word, yet we do it. I get the impression that kids who hang out with older kids become more mature, and kids who hang out with younger kids learn how to be leaders. Kids who hang out with kids their own age learn to goof off.
So I am pretty much in agreement with your response. The church is supposed to be directing kids to their parents for instruction. THAT is the precedent for youth ministry. But with the parents and fathers in particularly so anemic scripturally, that would typically amount to an epic Phail. Thus, instead, we pay a youth pastor to teach our kids for us. Sad state of affairs. How do we fix it?