Inevitable it is Not – The State of Youth Ministry in Decline (2024)
Boredom leads to cynicism. Growing old, we realize the importance of youthful hope and idealism.
But only young people can spark and sustain a true revolution. Older people can only help and guide them.
Young people in the age of social media saturation are growing more cynical and bored because they are being told and pressured to pretend. They agree and comply. This is not youthful.
So who of the young will stop pretending and revolt from the social media trance and once again grow curious? Choose life.
Ashley Denton
Boredom’s Cynic
A Poem about the State of global Youth Ministry (2024)
There is no question that young people need to be discipled to grow in their leadership abilities. The implications of the pandemic have disoriented and discouraged many leaders. I encourage you to rest on God’s sovereign involvement and leadership of your life as a leader. Scripture shows us the Lord determines your place, people, and purpose, even when you may not understand or have planned for it.
Friendship is powerful. During adolescence, it becomes central to almost everything, especially trials. One of the privileges of discipling young people is being able to walk through trials with them and point them to Jesus when they need healthy support. From our smallest needs to our most epic feelings of desperation, we all long for someone who loves us, is reliable, is capable, and is willing to humble themselves enough to help, even if it requires sacrifice. The Gospel of John shows 4 reasons why we should turn to Jesus in times of trouble that you can use to point young people to Christ. He is the best friend and ultimate support in times of need.
The people in your life are there under God’s sovereign authority. As a disciple of Christ, it is important to intentionally invest in the relationships around us and to be verbal about what we know about Jesus.
There is an immense challenge in Jude 12-13 to not let our knowledge of the Gospel go to waste. “These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.”
People who have not put their trust in Jesus Christ are like withering plants who desperately need water for their roots. In the same way that plants need rain, people need a personal relationship with Jesus. Imagine how plants respond when their roots are watered. Being verbal with what we know about Jesus is like rain to a dry soul. We can communicate the hope people need and will nourish their roots. As a disciple of Christ, we must be responsible to make sure we are not clouds without rain. To be intentional and loving in our relationships we must not hold back the rain that their souls need.
Photo by Herbert Grambihler on Unsplash
Step Outside of Your Comfort Zone and Be a Cloud that Rains
Here are some questions you can ask to help you think of creative ways to share the hope of the Gospel with others.
What would I want if I were ________ (person’s name)?
The answer to this question is what we can strive for and pray for. Assume more often than not that we might be the one to provide the need rather than think it is someone else’s calling.
Don’t assume that this person will care about you and your needs at first. Focus on asking them probing, preplanned questions and actively listen to their responses.
What does _________ (person’s name) want that Jesus has to offer? What do they need that they might not realize?
How can you creatively show the person that what they want and need can be found in a relationship with Jesus?
How can you restate their objections into a goal?
An example: “I would lose so much freedom if I became a follower of Jesus.” You can consider ways that you could show this person that freedom is gained by following Jesus. Our life expands and opens up when we follow Jesus, it does not narrow and become boring like some might think it does.
This takes prayerful consideration and creativity. It is important to also remember that people will always have concerns that we strive to address, but it is ultimately God who draws people to himself (John 6:41-44). He will use you in the time, place, and community he has placed you in. Remain in Him, and you will bear much fruit.
Stay Accountable
Evaluate your own roots. Are they healthy? Do you need rain?
In my last post, I offered a worksheet to identify your 12/3. How have you been intentional with those people?
Who in your life needs to hear the Gospel? Humbly choose to step outside of your comfort zone and be rain to dry souls.
Understanding Jesus from the perspective of the Father’s love can really inform the way you abide in Him, serve others, and pray. The Gospel of John tells the story of the relationship between the Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus and their indescribable love for you and for me. It is a story about Jesus Christ’s extravagant and extreme love for the lost. I challenge you as a leader to ponder this truth and consider how it may change you by fully embracing it.
The Greatest Opener of All Time
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1-5)
Loneliness At Record High, Trust in Religious Institutions At Record Low
Recent studies from the Pew Research Centerb and Springtide Research Institute show something significant happening in peoples’ spiritual lives. People are turning from religion. Millennials are raising their children without the church. People have lost trust in religious institutions. However, even though people are walking away from religion, they aren’t necessarily abandoning spirituality. How are faith leaders going to meet this reality as they evangelize and disciple young people in their relationship with Jesus?
Springtide Research Institute has one of the largest datasets on the state of youth in America. The data undeniably points to the need for discipling leadership from adults. Springtide summarizes their enormous dataset like this:
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. – Mark 1:35
Blue Zone is the category of Full Spectrum Ministry that brings life to all the rest. Sadly, Blue Zone (rest and retreat) is the type of ministry that leaders neglect the most.
Photo by Matt Gross on Unslpash
The consequence of neglecting our need to retreat from the busyness of life is painful. Leaders who don’t develop a regular rhythm of rest and retreat suffer from emotional, spiritual, and physical burnout. They lose their ability to share grace and truth with the people around them.
You’ve probably heard this before: “Everyone has a story.” For some people, telling their own story comes naturally. But for others, it can be a real challenge. One of the main things that keep leaders from sharing their personal life story with students is insecurity. If you’re a leader who wants to witness the relational power of your life story, you can combat your storytelling insecurity by intentionally building 3 things into your life:
Confidence in the value God gives to your story
Practice with telling your story
Dependence on the Holy Spirit to help you share your story
If you simply invest the time to build these three things, you can share your personal life story (and help other people share theirs too!) the way it was meant to be shared: as a gift that changes lives and deepens relationships in ministry.
Leaders who tell the gospel story and their personal life story are off to a great start with becoming impactful storytellers. But there’s one more story type that’s worth keeping in your back pocket: the symbolic story.
Photo by Carter Canedy on Upslash
What’s a symbolic story? A symbolic story uses simple language to convey a complex point. A few examples of these are Jesus’s parables, personal word pictures, legends, or historical anecdotes. In a previous post, we looked at the way Nathan the prophet used a symbolic story to gently confront David about his sin. Using a symbolic story that represented David’s situation (rather than exposing it explicitly from the get-go) softened David’s heart and brought him to a place of repentance. Symbolic stories are powerful!
