What Youth Ministry Is

I've been a pastor to teenagers for 15 years now. I'm not sure how that happened, but it is apparently what the Lord had in mind.

There are many things that youth ministry isn't, and shouldn't be, however there are plenty of articles out there that will tell you what those are (I have my own list).

Therefore, I hesitatingly (because I'm not sure what relevance this has to anyone's life but my own) submit my own thoughts about what youth ministry is:

Youth ministry is preparing people to leave, not to stay. Teenagers are on a launch ramp. When they reach graduation, they take off into whatever trajectory they've chosen (or life chooses for them). My practice has been to continually remind our teens that there's a whole lot of life ahead of them. I urge them to imagine themselves as a 25 year old Christian, a 40 year old Christian, an 80 year old Christian. Biblical wisdom regarding a proper perspective of life is invaluable at this age.

Youth ministers deal with a constant and certain attrition. Both exhilarating and heartbreaking is watching a young person grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, become a student of the Word and even begin to fulfill a role in ministry as they mature through the high school years . . . and then leave our group when they graduate. Many teens that have moved on I would have loved to keep around in order to watch them grow and to become more established in ministry. But that task falls to the next shepherd.

Youth ministers have new "congregations" every year. With seniors leaving and new kids moving up, the chemistry of each passing year is different. Adult congregations change, to be sure, but not as rapidly as youth groups. In many ways, I think this helps keep my creativity and strategies fresh. Praise the Lord, my message will never change.

Youth ministry is an opportunity to share eternal truth with hearts and minds that, although often conflicted and confused, are still quite pliable and eager to learn. I love teenagers because they are so malleable. Where others see stubbornness and rebellion in teens, I see kids just trying to figure things out. It's an inevitable process. While others see teens as shifty and dishonest, I see some of the most honest people I know. That is, if they're depressed, angry, manic, sad, excited - it is written all over their faces. Adults become masters of disguise. As for me, I would rather work with a bunch of crazy teenagers than a crowd of adults who are well set in their ways. Not that I'm cynical ;).

Youth ministry is about building bedrock and motivating maturity. Over the years, my teaching has become less and less topical and more and more expository. Instead of chasing every teenage issue and trying to apply Scriptural band-aids, I've realized (mercifully) that it's more effective and God-honoring to simply preach the Word and bring it's Truth to bear on their young lives. My observation is that this is a far superior tack for teaching and preaching.

Youth ministry may seem more energetic and loud than adult ministry, and it usually is, but its core is the same. There is a time and place for milk and meat when preaching the Word. When dealing with teens, the meat should not be withheld. The fiery truth of God's Word invigorates young believers and convicts young sinners. Consider the young men of Scripture regenerated and called by God: Gideon, Samuel, David, Timothy . . . there is no easy-believism or soft-pedaling in these accounts.

So there you have it, some quick observations about pastoring the teenage crowd.

I'll wrap this up with a couple of quotes from Tim Kimmel:

"Do we measure spiritual conviction by focusing on the behavior of the Christian teen or the character of the Christian teen - which one should drive the other?"

"It's difficult to keep Jesus as a priority in our kids' lives when their relationship to Him is, among other things, based on answers to a test. There's a fine line between knowing God and knowing about God."