If everything I know about church was learned in youth group, I’d be inclined to think that:
- Church should be a good mix of games, singing, a short devotion, and pizza.
- Accountability is meeting with a “grownup” who asks me if I’ve been reading my Bible.
- Socially, it’s easier to be a big fish in the “small pond” of church.
- All the hype is to get me in the door. This all happens for me.
- Discipleship happens through events and programs- Camp, Mission Trip, Lock-ins, Disciple Now Weekends.
- Spiritual maturity is measured in terms of event attendance.
- The space in which we meet is very important.
- Evangelism means inviting my unbelieving “friends” to church.
- Missions is backyard Bible clubs with poor kids one week every summer.
I’m not against youth ministry. But I suspect a generation (or two!) of pastors and church leaders who are products of youth group have heavily influenced the way church is done. So we’ve traded “pizza, games, singing and a short devotion” with, well, “donuts, drama, singing and a slightly longer devotion.” But the idea is the same- events, programs, attraction, and t-shirts are not what church is about.
We need to grow up.
Grown up doesn’t mean boring. It’s not the opposite of attractive. Grown-up church is unabashedly intrusive. It’s boldly personal. It’s radically Christ-centric. It fills in the gaps between “mountaintop experiences.” It replaces accountability groups with discipling relationships. It moves beyond “lend a helping hand” mission trips to entire churches taking spiritual accountability for unbelieving people groups. Grown-up church survives economic recession, moral failure on the part of the leadership, tragedy, marginalization, and persecution.
Is your church growing? Is it growing up?
Ernest,
I may be the exception to the rule…I don’t know if it was the church I was in, the calling of God on my life at an early age, the people I hung out with or a combination of them all.
I remember in a discipleship training class when I as 7 that I said, “it’s time I got baptized.” Two weeks later I walked the aisle and made my profession of faith. I had my first study Bible when I was not yet a teenager, my first commentary at 12, and was regularly watching Charles Stanley on TV and taking notes. I even studied my sunday school lesson as a teenager with my commentary!
I had an uncle who discipled m and a 25 yr old who would eventually go into ministry that hung out with me and mentored me as a 12-18 yr old. When I was 15, a couple took our youth discipleship training class through DiscipleYouth, a discipleship program that was MasterLife for students. I would be the only one to finish both terms out of 15. I was teaching sunday school at 17 or so and adult discipleship classes at the same time. That couple would be called into ministry, give up a nice engineering job and go to seminary. In fact, the husband’s first sermon was the night I knew God called me into ministry.
We didn’t do a lot of games or retreats or weekend stuff…we just shared life together. I know it’s different 20 years later. Culture is different, we need to teach in a way that is best for folks.
But in doing youth ministry during college and seminary, as well as spending almost 5 years in campus ministry in college, the greatest impact came through life together. I had the privilege of leading 2 MasterLife groups in college. All but one of those 7 guys ended up in ministry full-time at some point and the one who didn’t is so involved in his church he might as well be.
I remember coming home from summer missions in college, at age 19, and our campus ministry had a let’s-reconnect-before school-starts-back party at a home. I remember how a small group of 5 quickly turned into a group of 25 college kids sitting around a table and on the floor as we answered questions about God, about our fears, our hopes, and life in general. That group was a unique group during the next 3 years of our college existence.
Maybe that’s why I will never lead the masses. I’m too concerned about investing int the 25-40 and believing they will change the world. Of course, I guess that lack of games and pizza and parties is also why I didn’t make a good youth minister, though I did some incredible things happen with some of those kids…
Oh well…sorry for my rambling…
Deeply appreciate the insights (of both blogger and commenter). Perhaps David is the exception that proves the rule!