Hebrews 2:1
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
I think one of my biggest fears being in youth ministry is having a student graduate from this youth group and go, "Man...that was crazy fun. I didn't really learn anything...or at least i can remember...but it was sure fun!" The kid goes off to college and hasn't really been transformed or shaped. Yeah maybe they remember some lessons about Jesus feeding 2000 (or was it 4000?) or that when the world ends, the battle of Satan vs. God takes place in some epic duel. Ok...maybe it's not that bad (yet) but can we just stop and evaluate what's going on with our teens? Somewhere in our ministries...either due to our ignorance and unwillingness to study for ourselves, or ingesting everything from everyone...our ministries have suffered from some fatal flaws.
1. Goodies instead of the Gospel: For the most part, we've sacrificed the totality of the Gospel for fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth sweets that might taste good for the moment but ends up rotting everything. We're guilty of teaching students what they want to hear rather than giving them what they need to hear. So we've painted this picture of every teen being a "good, perfect, kid" that Jesus loves and we stop there. We don't want to hurt their self-esteem because they have so much going on...so we tell them that they're good people and they're special. Yes, they're special...they're especially going to hell because they are sinners - like you and like me. They need to hear the full story. They aren't perfect and the good news is that they don't need to be. The Gospel explains that we're dead in our sins but Christ. But Christ took on our sins and gave us his righteousness. And our students must hear that. If we've traded out the Gospel for goodies...they might feel good about themselves for a little bit, but will wake up with a mouthful and heart full of cavities.
2. Pulled Away: We've bought into the lie that youth ministry stands alone. Either the church has pushed the youth into their own little world or the youth have voluntarily ran away from the church at large. Doesn't matter...they are both guilty. A lot of us have ran youth ministry so independent of the church that the only connection is fundraisers and passing by the hallways. Youth become the workforce of the church or the troublemakers that need to be taken care of. We haven't done a good job educating both our congregation and the youth ministry about the understanding of the local body. We've pulled them away from serving in other ministries and regulated them in only youth functions. We haven't equipped them to be part of the church. We haven't mentored them well. We don't put a lot of effort in building biblical community throughout the generations. And what happens is that our youth get this idea that they can be independent from the rest of the church. They go off to college where this individualistic herd mentality is reinforced and when they come back...they're completely lost as to how to function as part of the body. We must do a better job educating in ecclesiology and then giving venues for our students to live it out.
3. Advanced Placement: We've totally dropped the ball on educating our youth. While the youth are taking classes like Advanced Placement Physics-based Calculus in their schools...they come to our churches and are given fill-in-the-blank mickey mouse questions (and most of the answers are right in front of them). I think a lot of us are afraid to challenge them intellectually because either we don't know it ourselves or we feel like "it'll burn them out." And so it's no question why students will see their teachers at school or the universities as the authority. We haven't given them any reason why Scripture is relevant or even remotely intellectual. Why can't we teach them more than just 3rd grade level bible stories? What happens if we start introducing material that might actually be challenging? Church history? Systematic theology? apologetics and atheism? I know this is crazy...but what happens if we actually expect them to learn while they're at church? Like is it possible that we can hold them accountable for learning? tests? homework? I know it's crazy...but what if? It's a bit absurd that we refuse to challenge our students at church while the schools expects it. Why? because they can offer grades and scholarships? I challenge you to dream a bit bigger for your students...they deserve it.
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