Does Youth Ministry Work?

I have been involved in full-time youth ministry for almost 10 years. It's pretty amazing to think that I have been a part of so many young lives. Of course, many of those "young" people are well on their way to being "old" people! (What does that make me?)

Over the course of 10 years in a "specialty" field, you learn a few things. For example, I have learned that being in 7th grade and 11th grade are the equivalent to being in "No Mans Land". Why? Because in 7th grade you don't have the experience of being a 6th grader in a new environment, and you don't get to be the cool people on the block like 8th graders. Juniors in high school (11th graders) have it the worst! You're one year away from one of the greatest years of your life, but you're not their yet. You're not a freshman (who get to experience a new school), you're not a sophmore (who value their worth through not being a freshman), and you're not a senior (self-explanatory). You're just a junior. Nothing more...nothing less. Ho-hum...

Anyway, here is something else I have learned. Youth ministry doesn't work!

Wait...wait...WAIT!!!!

Before you click away from this blog let me explain myself. Of course youth ministry works...sometimes. I am a strong advocate for youth ministry. I believe that God uses youth ministers, adult volunteers, student leaders and more to make youth ministry one of the most positive influences on a young teenagers life. Leading a young person to Christ is an amazing experience. The passion and glimmer of hope (in Christ) that is ignited in a teenagers heart is one of the most wonderful things in the world to witness. As a youth pastor, I have had the honor of standing in the gap and being a "father" figure to a young person whose father had walked out on them. I have had the privilege of being a spiritual leader for a young person when their family didn't have anyone who would take on that role. I have laughed, cried, loved, lost, and been able to teach the Word of God to so many each week. God uses youth ministries in many ways, and HE can make them work!

So when does youth ministry not work?

Answer: When parents are not spiritual leaders at home.

There are amazing, God-sized, exceptions to this rule, but for the most part it's true. I was reading Think Orange by Reggie Joiner the other day, and he said something that I have witnessed time and again in my ministry. He said, "No one has more potential to influence a child's relationship with God than parents." And the reason for this can be boiled down to one thing...TIME! On average, parents spend 3,000 hours a year influencing their children. That's right parents! In that time, your children are learning your habits, seeing how you handle money (and what matters to you), paying attention to how you treat your spouse, observing your lifestyle, witnessing how you talk to people, figuring out if you really believe and live out that "Bible" stuff, and taking notes for when they become adults. Simply put, they will follow your lead! So where and how are you leading them?

How many hours a year do youth ministries get with your child? 40. That's it...40! That is the average. We get more time with some and less time with others, but that number should say it all. Compare that to the 400 hours a teenager spends playing video games each year and you will see how low youth ministry falls on the scale of influence.

Youth ministry is the most effective when youth pastors, like me, can walk alongside parents and reinforce the positive biblical truths that are being modeled at home. If the biblical truths we are teaching in youth group are not modeled at home, what example do you think the teenager will follow? (Again: 3,000 hours of learning one thing...or 40 hours of learning another thing)

God has given parents (not youth pastors) the primary responsibility of training and leading their children to a strong relationship with Jesus Christ. Intimidated? Take heart! If God has given you this amazing assignment, it means He believes you are fully capable of completing the task. And as a bonus, He has provided youth ministries to assist you in your task. THAT is what youth ministry is all about. ASSISTING YOU!

Parents and youth ministers must be on the same team and run plays from the same playbook (the Bible). Parents take the lead, and youth ministers can be the "other" adult voice that affirms the parent to the teenager. When a teenager recognizes that the same biblical message is believed, taught, and modeled from multiple directions...the seed takes root!

If you'd like to learn more about the 3000/40 principle, read Think Orange by Reggie Joiner.

Josh Huisman

Bright Lights

Could you imagine a world without churches?

Some people might read that question and believe that the world would be a much better place if that were the case. They would point to some of the horrible stories that have flooded our news in recent years, and what argument against Christians and the Church would be complete without mentioning the Crusades. Our society is quick to call for "the head" of something when things go bad, or mistakes are made. I'm not saying anyone has called for churches to end, but many are calling for people within the church to just be silent. "We know you love Jesus and that works for you, but please don't force Him on anyone else," is what we hear more and more.

So, what if the church followed that advice and stopped trying to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ? What if the world could just flip a switch and the Church would be shut "off"?

In the book "Think Orange", Reggie Joiner tells an interesting story about an English professor he had in college. The professor was an agnostic and very much anti-Christian. Almost every day the professor would bring up some horrible atrocity that Christians were a part of. Joiner says, "He seemed to include all Christians in the same category, painting them as the most ignorant, narrow-minded, and prejudiced people in the world." As a result, many students in the class began to view Christians and their beliefs as a danger to society.

One day a student made a comment that he thought would be sure to please the professor. "Everybody would just be a lot better off if we just got rid of all the churches!" Joiner recalls how shocked he was when the professor responded, "That would be a tragedy! If we got rid of the churches, it would be like turning the lights off in our society. We need churches like we need our consciences."

The Christian church is second to none in meeting the needs of its community. The message of Jesus tells us to be a light in the world, and to meet the needs of others. How?

Matthew 25:35-36  "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."

Yes, there are Christians (and Christian leaders) who have done (and will do) horribly bad things. But the amount of good that is done by Christians because of the gospel of Jesus Christ dwarfs the bad. Our country is littered with Christian food shelters, rescue missions, adoption agencies, care/support groups, and millions of other generous acts that occur every day to show someone in need the love of Jesus. Lets not forget the millions of people who are lost, hurting and believing that they have no place to turn, and then a Christian friend invites them to a Sunday service where they hear the healing and restoring message of Jesus Christ. But for some reason, only the horror stories grab the headlines.

You see, if Christians (and by extension, the church) followed the advice of society and just kept the message of Christ to themselves, millions and millions of lights would be blown out in the world, and what comes when there's an absence of light?

So I'll ask again, could you imagine a world without churches?

Well that would be a world without Jesus, and I wouldn't want to imagine that for anyone...


Josh

Foundations

Outbreak!

Hey Everyone,

I started reading a book by Greg Stier called 'Outbreak'. It's an eye opening experience to the ins and outs of youth ministry. The book gives an inside look at what made Christianity go "viral" in the years that followed after Jesus ascended into heaven. Let me explain what "viral"means...

Remember the movie Outbreak with Dustin Hoffman and Cuba Gooding Jr.? It was about a deadly virus that infects an American town. A little monkey brought the Ebola virus to the United States and infected a small group of people. Over time that small group turned into a large group, and before you knew it, the government was trying to figure out how to stop the spread of the virus before the whole country was wiped out. It's an interesting movie.

Greg Stier talks about that movie quite a bit, and then asks why can't a move of Jesus spread through our youth groups in a similar fashion. Think about it. What would happen if our young people became "infected" with the gospel of Jesus Christ? What would happen if every where they went (school, sporting events, movies, etc.) they spread that gospel to their friends and unchurched teens? The number of people who came to know the Lord would grow exponentially!

One shocking bit of information that Greg points out is that over 75% of high school students will go off to college, and/or find a job, and then walk away from their faith...never to return. Why is that? I believe it's because students never actually make their faith their own. Sure, they attended church and youth group (although some don't) but the gospel of Jesus Christ was never truly a part of them. They were never "infected" with it. It was never a part of every fiber of their being.

Well, as I look at the youth ministry God has placed me over,  I think it's time for a change. I want the teens in our group to catch this virus. I want their parents to catch it as well. After all, the only way to catch a virus is to be exposed to it...so parents...it's time to step up and expose your kids to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Who knows, maybe this whole Jesus thing will catch on and change the world. Do you want to be a part of the Outbreak?

Josh Huisman

Doors

Celebrity Apprentice has Christians?

So a week or so ago I was watching Celebrity Apprentice. It just happens to be one of my favorite shows on television right now. Anyway, Lisa Lampenelli (I know I spelled that wrong) has been this season's biggest annoyance. She swears so much she could make a sailor blush, and she calls people names that are humiliating!
Well, in one particular episode she was negotiating with one of the other cast mates over which model they would use for a photo shoot. That's when Lisa said it..."You're lucky I'm a Christian, and a God-fearing woman." It slipped through her lips just as easily as every expletive and hurtful word she has said to every person this season.
Keep on being a light in the darkness Lisa. Let it shine.