In my last blog I wrote about the incredible experience that Camp Zoar was for me and how much I loved it. But I also know that its not enough, this one weekend isn't going to build strong Christians who seek to know more and more about their Savior, its a start for sure, but it can't be the only way we reach youth today. For a long time youth ministry in the Church has been, in most places, a continuous cycle of fun and exciting events which brought in crowds but not always grew up disciples of Christ. In a 2006 Time Magazine article the writer says this:
"Youth ministers have been on a long and frustrating quest of their own over the past two decades or so. Believing that a message wrapped in pop-culture packaging was the way to attract teens to their flocks, pastors watered down the religious content and boosted the entertainment. But in recent years churches have begun offering their young people a style of religious instruction grounded in Bible study and teachings about the doctrines of their denomination. Their conversion has been sparked by the recognition that sugarcoated Christianity, popular in the 1980s and early ’90s, has caused growing numbers of kids to turn away not just from attending youth-fellowship activities but also from practicing their faith at all."
I hope this change is truly happening, I hope that the young men and women who are growing up in the church families of today are being taught in a Scripturally sound way, that as they make their way into the world outside of their home churches they have an established faith that will continue to grow rather than wither away in the spiritual desert that college and young adulthood can often be.
My heart was broken so many times this past weekend as I sat and listened to young men and women, some of whom I've known for years, discuss difficult issues that I think most older people don't even realize they are facing. The pressure to have sex at extremely young ages(pressure from both sexes, this isn't a girls only issue), pressure to drink, do drugs, watch porn, use profanity, disrespect their parents and other adults, to accept or practice homosexuality, and a multitude of other issues. Our culture is telling young women that they can never be good enough, skinny enough, pretty enough, etc. and is telling our young men that respect can be gained by being disrespectful to adults, by having sex, and breaking the rules. We have to combat this with the truth of the Gospel.
We, as Christian adults, have a responsibility to recognize these struggles and discuss them with our youth, in today's world of limitless information we have to present Scriptural truths that combat these pressures and cultural ideals. Matt Chandler discusses this and says,
“And I have to wonder how any of you are stuck in this habitual, nominal Christianity, all the while…Here’s what I think did it to the 20 year olds. I think we just absolutely jacked you up with youth camp and “disciple-nows.” Because we taught you that your faith is event driven. Which means you go from motivation to motivation to motivation, and never learn steadfast following. So you went to youth camp, God knows we sang for 120 minutes and you got are wrapped up…”Yeeesss”…and then we did “after-glow” afterwards, talked about how we did, and then you know we did well for a couple months and started to fade…but its OK because Fall Retreat was here. Went to Fall Retreat. And then did well for a couple months, started struggling, and BOOM, Disciple Now. Went to Disciple Now and started to fade…BAAM…back to youth camp. And no one ever learned what it was like to steadfast follow the Lord, to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Instead they lived from steroid shot to steroid shot to steroid shot, until the steroid shots are gone. And then you shrivel up. And in your mid-twenties, point back to when you were 16 as your glory days in Christ. I’m wondering how many of us are the farmer sitting on his couch, all the fields are ravaged, producing little to no fruit. And we just keep going “God please do something here, please do something here.”
We need more than just these events and these spiritual highs, while they can have a place in certain situations they can't be the whole of our youth programs. There has to be more, more discipleship, more accountability, more about Jesus and the Gospel and less about pop culture. I know that each generation has its struggles and they will have spiritual leaders that rise up and become examples of Christ, some already have. I just want us older folks, myself being all of 21, to remember what its like to be young, to respect our youth and preach to them the one true Gospel, feeding them, growing them, not presenting them only with what we think they can handle. There are tough issues surrounding Christianity, always have been and always will be, and we need to prepare our youth for that.
Youth groups are a great place to learn to be a leader, to learn how to learn, to build relationships, serve others, and most importantly to learn about Christ. These things are necessary for the continuation of our faith and should be an important part of every church family.
I'll leave you with a few words from John Piper, “Churches shouldn’t do play youth ministries. They should do passionate ministry ministries. Give teenagers a vision for what they can be and what they can accomplish”.
Lindsey
