Over the past eight years I have been able to minister to college students fresh out of their respective youth ministries and see how they have been prepared for the life that is ahead of them and the choices that they are being faced with. So much of the time the perspective I have gained is one of startlingly ill-prepared individuals who, because of the focus and organization of their youth ministries have entered into a world that they knew nothing of previously. These individuals come out of their youth groups having been coddled and milk-fed, taught simple truths such as Jesus loves me and I should be a good person, but the flesh and blood of a gospel that consumes the whole of history is left behind as too complex for a youth group talk, or the philosophical and theological underpinnings of the faith that show the depth and the majesty of God’s plan are deemed to boring or not enough to the point. Instead we teach them to love this man who lived 2000 years ago, and in so doing save themselves from the fires of hell. At most we send them away with the moral platitudes that gave rise to the WWJD movement and leave our need for a savior reduced to a moral example we must follow.
A strong emotional faith based on a few choice Christian mantras has been the foundation of their perspective on the world, and all of the sudden their perspective is being challenged on every level. This challenge comes from a variety of sources, some ill conceived and clearly bankrupt, but quite often these challenges come by way of schools of thought or philosophical perspectives that hold much more depth and merit than they have ever received from their Christian training in the church. These students are often individuals who proceed through youth ministry apparently dedicated and motivated to serve Christ, students who assume that when presented with other ways of thinking they would be able to quickly see through the mirage for what it really is because they “love” Jesus. When they begin to realize that these other schools of thought have depth and substance they don’t know how to proceed, and often abandon the faith because they have nothing to challenge these new perspectives with. Those who proceed with intellectual honesty often become the biggest proponents of a perspective that calls Christianity the mirage and the grand delusion of the masses.
If it isn’t the intellectual philosophical side that gets to them, it is the matter of emotional and pseudo-spiritual delusion. This is likely more present in our time. Our youth ministries are centered around the students so exclusively that we are teaching by deed, if not by word, that the center of the universe is our students. We create an atmosphere in which the students are kept entertained, held within their comfort zones, and given a social club within which to operate for the advantage of their personal happiness. By the time their experience with youth ministry is over, they have concluded that the purpose of church is to find spiritual and emotional fulfillment, and so “big church” is too boring and full of problems for their tastes. Lacking a youth ministry to turn to, they leave the church altogether. This is especially true when our youth find themselves out in the world and making choices for themselves, seeking to fulfill their personal desires and find a solid social foundation in which their happiness can be catered too. It is no wonder they turn to the pleasures of sex and drugs, or dive into easy spirituality of an I’m ok you’re ok variety that requires little to no depth of relationship with one greater than themselves, or even find themselves wrapped in the sustainable ease of money and business security, every i dotted and every t crossed, creating an image of a happy life and shoring up their walls in the name of caring for their family when internally they are rotting from a decay of the soul, returning to church only to appear socially conscious and morally responsible, so that their image is upheld and their future in society secure, an image that the church won’t be responsible for upholding before long.
But it’s not enough to simply critique the problem. We must look for an answer. I believe that answer, in large measure, must begin with the way we think about our youth ministries. If we are to show ourselves relevant and prove our depth, we must offer what only we as the church can: a deep and complex understanding of the world resulting from a deep and abiding understanding of the gospel and our need for it. We must paint the picture of a fallen world, show them its depravity and horror, and we must reveal to them the intense need for a savior that resides not only with the individual soul, but in the very fabric of creation. We must show how all the world is being torn apart by sin and death, and how Christ has come “to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth” (Eph 1:10b). All things are being drawn together, and the world only makes sense in light of these truths.
Beyond this central theme of our teaching, we have to prepare our students to engage with the world and to interpret this truth out of the theoretical and into the reality that they engage in every day. We show how this gospel penetrates the way we talk to a stranger, realizing that they are a part of a world that is falling apart, that they just like we are suffering in the darkness of this depraved world, and that it is not our place to judge their sin, but to bring hope in the form of a savior. We must teach them how it transforms the way we look to our communities, not as places that serve our needs but as opportunities to invest in the lives of others and in so doing bring glory to Christ. We must show them how it re-invents the way we think about the church, not as a place of spiritual self-satisfaction, but as a place of spiritual self-sacrifice in service of the other, how we are gifted through the Spirit each one in some way for the building up of the church, that this great bride of Christ might be spotless and pure before Him and be the picture of the very work of Christ as He unifies those that were once far off, as He gives loves to those who once only saw one another with hate. We must show how this gospel necessarily draws our youth out of themselves, as Christ was drawn out of Himself to come to this earth and take on human form, dying on a cross for the sins of many, and being raised in newness of life, a life that is granted to us as our hope and our longing.
To be a Christian means to leave oneself behind in radical self-abandonment. After all, one must lose his life to find it. If our youth ministries keep focusing our youth on having a full and happy life with a fun and entertaining group of friends, how will our youth ever lose their lives, and so, how will they ever find them?
A great deal more could be said about the nuts and bolts of youth ministry, giving our students a theological language with which to study for themselves rather than assuming they can’t understand, giving them opportunities to serve both the church and the world in ways that push them out of themselves, giving them the tools to study the Bible beyond pulling verses out of context and reading it like a collection of potent sayings, but that would take much time that you likely do not have. If we are able, though, to think through this vision and plant this foundation, how much of the future could be changed? God promises to work through His word, and his Word is Christ, not just what Christ did, morally, or how he saved us, spiritually, but who He was, and who He is, fully God and fully man, beautifully complex, but so beautifully simple. If we would just take the time to stop, to think, and to seek with every fiber of our being to understand how this Christ changes everything.
Theology in Community 
This is so good! I took a class called “The Ministry of Education” and our prof. taught us that our churches should have a PLAN for educating members. He talked about how college ministers always feel like they’re starting from scratch because youth ministers didn’t do their jobs. And youth ministers feel like the only thing children’s ministry gave them was a few stories–so they start from scratch. And children’s ministers think the preschool department just played with toys, so they start from scratch. What results is that very few ministries ever get past the surface and into the deep things. Our assignment was to develop a “Spiritual Growth Plan” for ages birth through 22. I know it’s not probable that we’ll ever get to use such a plan. BUT I think it is probably that leaders of different groups could meet together and be more intentional about digging deeper!
The preschool should be teaching truths to the children, and letting the children’s ministry leaders know what they’ve already learned–so that the children’s leaders can BUILD on it rather than starting over. I’m convinced it’s not just one group that needs to change or be more intentional. It’s that ALL ages of training MATTER! It matters that parents are making sure they are training their children according to God’s Word. And it matters that the training is consistent throughout their childhood, teens, and college years!
Wow, sorry that was so long–I’m passionate about this! 🙂
Zach, this is phenomenal.
Well said. It can be a tough road for the Youth Ministers that try, though. No doubt. The teen years are just so egocentric. It can be easy to become jaded. But I do wish more of them could see things your way, and hold fast to it.
😀 This post makes me happy. I remember in high school how on Wednesdays the adults would have “adult bible study” and the youth would basically have a concert complete with simplistic lyrics, video games, a coffee shop, and fill-in-the-blank culturally relevant activity. I don’t remember very many lessons from that time at all. I think having youth and adults worship and learn together would go a long way toward helping build a theologically mature college student. Like you pointed out, youth groups should be a great opportunity for service and engaging the world, not retreating from it. Thank you for writing this.
I’m glad my college room mate was so grounded in his faith; it helped me keep mine 🙂
Also, smileys are obnoxious and I did not realize that word press would make them look like that. Never again.
I know, right? Skype is even worse that way.
I think this touches on the root of why more and more young adults say they have no religious affilitation. No one swims in the shallow end of the pool very long, there is no fulfullment in it. However we seem to leave out the most important element when constructing a Christian…home. No matter what ministers do if instruction and example are missing from home it is quite an uphill climb for them. That is why scripture over and over admonishes us to teach the Word to our children in our homes. Then we need ministries that reinforce and build upon that as you say, forging a bond unbreakable. In the recent church environment this takes courage, but is well worth the struggle! GoZach!!