Re-Thinking Your Sunday Best: Why Student Ministry Needs to Reclaim the Centrality of Imputed Righteousness

Growing up, my parents made sure I wore my “Sunday best” to church—coat, tie, slacks, and on special occasions, suspenders!  After all, we were going to meet with the living God. A whole generation (or two) regularly used this phrase to communicate the reverence and awe of worship and to make sure our outward appearance reflected something of the cleaned-up heart we all embraced. Ironically, I didn’t spend a lick preparing my heart for worship.

Most of the time—during my early years—I only heard one side of the gospel. I heard that Jesus died on the cross as a payment for my sin, but I never heard that he lived for me. While I heard that Jesus died the death I should have died, I never heard that he lived the life I should have lived.

The point: Jesus has accomplished for us what God has required of us. He lived a perfect, sinless life, obeying all of God’s commands. That we are declared “righteous” by God (the doctrine of justification) is a declaration made on the basis that our sin has been credited to Christ and his righteousness has been credited to us.  We, therefore, stand accepted by God because of an alien righteousness, received by faith alone.

In reality, Jesus is our Sunday best. He is our righteousness. God is pleased, not with the fancy tie I received for Christmas, but with the righteous robes of his own Son, which I have received by faith alone—a “righteousness from God that depends on faith” (Phil. 3:9).

Why does this matter for student ministry?  Because the imputed righteousness of Christ stands as the foundation for the good news of our being justified by God.  In other words, without justification sola fide we don’t have the gospel. If you, like many who have loved the recent “gospel movement”—The Gospel Coalition, T4G, the GospelProject, among others—want to lead a gospel-driven student ministry, the imputed righteousness of Christ must take a central place in your teaching and ministry to students.

Nothing will free your students from the cyclical shame of sin like knowing and believing that all of our sin—past, present, and future—has been cast as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12). Similarly, nothing will spur them on to holiness and sanctification like knowing and believing that they are simply living out what they have already been declared: “righteous.” They are not striving to earn God’s favor; rather, they are striving to please the One who earned God’s favor for them.  The law of God, then, comes alongside, not to condemn, but as a friend, showing him or her how he or she can please God.

Nothing will give your students joy like knowing and believing that their righteousness isn’t found in being a good student, a good son or daughter, or a good soccer player.  Their righteousness is found in Christ alone.  Indeed, their hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.  Or, in the words of the hymn “Before the Throne of God Above”

Behold him there the risen Lamb

My perfect spotless righteousness

The great unchangeable I AM

The King of glory and of grace

One with himself I cannot die

My soul is purchased by his blood

My life is hid with Christ on high

With Christ my Savior and my God

With Christ my Savior and my God

May student ministries across our land embrace and love the doctrine of the imputation of Christ’s righteousness and may it free youth pastors and parents from the success-oriented, entertainment-driven models of ministry that undercut the very message they are seeking to communicate.

 

If you are involved in the discipleship of students, reclaim the centrality of the imputed righteousness of Christ as you teach and equip them.  May that, not self-help sola-boot-strapia, provide the true “gospel” focus of your ministry to students.

Brian H. Cosby is pastor of Wayside Presbyterian Church in Signal Mountain, TN and author of Giving Up Gimmicks: Reclaiming Youth Ministry from an Entertainment Culture (P&R, 2012) and Rebels Rescued: A Student’s Guide to Reformed Theology (Christian Focus, 2012).

The World’s Half-Truths for Teens Pt.6: The Power for Change Comes from Within

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When I first began working with youth, the first Percy Jackson series was all the rage.  Greek gods, adventure, and awkward teen drama had captured the imaginations of youth all over the country - and some at my church.

Being totally unfamiliar with the books, I was curious to read them to find out why these books had become so popular.  So I picked up the first book in the series and began to read.

It didn’t take long to figure out what kids found so alluring about Percy Jackson’s story.  As the story begins, Percy appears to be relatively insignificant, marginally outcast, and and uncomfortable-in-his-own-skin pubescent youth.

Before long, we discover that -despite appearances - Percy Jackson is anything but normal.  Much to Percy’s own astonishment, he’s really a demigod - the son of a human mother and a Greek god for a father.  And Percy doesn’t have just any Greek god for a father, his dad is Poseidon, one of the “big three” in the Greek Pantheon.

Along with the revelation of his lineage, Percy also discovers that as Poseidon’s son, he inherits some of Poseidon’s power.  Percy discovers he can breath under water.  Water gives him strength. And most importantly, Percy can control water, bending it to do his will.

How awesome would it be to discover that a god-king was your father and that your father-god shared his power with you...?

Yeah, pretty much that’s the gospel - isn’t it?  Pretty amazing.

In Christ, haven’t we become children of the One True God, king and ruler over all things? (cf. Galatians 3:29, 1 John 3:1-2)  And what’s more, because we are his children, hasn’t God shared his power with us, filling us with the Holy Spirit as a downpayment of our inheritance? (cf. Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 1:13-14)  Isn’t this the source of our joy and delight? (cf. Ephesians5:18-20, Colossians 3:15-17)

Familiarity with these truths sometime blinds us (and the youth) to their sheer awesomeness.  Sometimes it takes something like Percy Jackson to wake us up to the sheer wonder of the story in which we find ourselves.

Obviously there are some difference between Percy and the Christian.  First, and most importantly, Percy Jackson and the Olympians is fiction whereas our adoption and inheritance are reality.

Secondly, there is a fundamental difference between the power of Poseidon at work in Percy and the power of Yahweh at work in us: Percy seeks to control Poseidon’s power to wield the god’s strength for his own ends, while we seek to be controlled by the Spirit to be wielded by Yahweh for his ends.

It’s here that we begin to see the lie that underscores Percy Jackson’s interaction with the world.

In the end, any difference that Percy makes in the world or change that happens in himself emanates from his own willpower and ability to control the power of his father god, Poseidon.  Ultimately, and change is of his own doing (the gods are rather disinterested in the affairs of their children and the human world).

For the Christian, however, meaningful change cannot begin with our own efforts but with the grace of a God who cares deeply about us and this world. 

Biblically speaking, the power to redeem doesn’t come from us learning to control the Spirit of God, but the other way around.  The Holy Spirit is not a weapon or tool that we wield, but that wields us even as the Spirit works to renew us into the image of our creator, Jesus (Colossians 3:10).

Certainly we are called to participate in the Spirit’s work as we seek to put off the old self and put on the new self - but even this is done by faith as we learn to rest in Jesus’ finished work and receive from him the inheritance he secured for us in the Spirit as the Lord bless our time in Scripture, prayer, Christian fellowship, and the sacraments.

So concerning the world’s half-truth of the power to change coming from within, I say, Amen! Let us find the power for change within...but not within us as ourselves, but within us as children and temples of the One True God who is generous with his grace.  And let us cling to his grace by faith - not as a reward for our personal effort, but as a gift of the Spirit works within us to conform us to the very likeness of Jesus.

Mark Howard is the Youth Director and Assistant to Pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Covington, GA. Mark has a Masters in Theology from Wheaton College Graduate School. 
 

Essentials in Youth Ministry: Others

We want to feel necessary.  We want to feel important.  An easy way to fill these desires as a youth worker is to make our youth ministries about us.  We even do what I just did -- call the youth group “ours” and come up with clever tricks to make the kids want to come be with us.

But it’s not really about us.  Youth ministry is about our Triune God - giving glory to the Father, in Christ, by the Spirit.  Certainly we’re actively involved in the work of God in these kids’ lives, but it’s God’s work through us - not ours in which to boast.  Ultimately, these kids are God’s. The glory is His.

What these kids really need, then, is not more of us, but more of Jesus and His grace.  Certainly they need to see more of Jesus in us and through us, but we are not the only - nor the primary - means through which the Father by the Spirit points the youth in our churches to Jesus. 

The primary means through which - by faith - the Spirit roots our youth in the grace of Jesus is Scripture, prayer, the sacraments, and fellowship with other Christians.

And the primary community through which God has ordained to practice these means is the church - the family of God.  And though we serve the church in a very unique capacity as youth ministers, we are not the fullness of the church in and of ourselves.

The youth need to see and experience God at work in others. They need to see and experience the wisdom of God through others. They need to see and experience the fellowship of God with others.

And “others” as I’m using it doesn’t refer only to other youth in the youth group.  They need to know their senior pastor(s). They need to know other parents. They need to know seniors and other adults in the congregation.

 

Though it has many flaws and downsides, one of the helpful correctives of postmodernism is that it reminds us that we all see things from a perspective.  This includes how we see God.  I am much too heady for my own good.  I need people in my life with passion and emotion in their worship and relationship with God.  They help me see aspects of God that I can’t on my own.

If the only picture of God that our youth see is from our preaching and teaching, then they are missing out.  Involving other adults in youth group -- or better yet, involving the youth in the fuller life of the church -- is one of the ways God uses by his Spirit to nurture our walk with him.

It might feel like a slap in the face to be told we’re not as important as we think we are, but really, this is good news.

We can’t do it all.  We can’t be all things to all people -- we aren’t meant to be.  There are kids with whom we have difficulty connecting.  But the same Spirit at work in and through us and our ministry is also at work in and through other Christians and the other ministries of the church.

If a kid doesn’t want to meet with us, maybe they will want to get together with someone else from the church.  If they don’t want to come to youth group, maybe they will want to join the choir or the praise team.  If they don’t want to come to Sunday school, maybe they will want to join an adult Bible study.

As Paul puts it in a beautiful passage on the unity of the one church in the one Spirit, “Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” (Ephesians 4:15-16)

The family of God is an incredible blessing for those of us who can’t do it all (which is all of us).  Let’s not neglect the body of Christ in our ministries that we might together be built up in God’s love.

Mark Howard is the Youth Director and Assistant to Pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Covington, GA. Mark has a Masters in Theology from Wheaton College Graduate School. 
 

Why Kids Abandon the Church (audio)

In the following audio recording, Cameron Cole offers parents explanations of why students abandon the church and how grace-driven ministry seeks to foster life-long disciples of Jesus.

Link: Why Kids Abandon the Church

Cameron Cole is the chairman of Rooted: Advancing Grace-Driven Ministry and serves as the director of youth ministries at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, AL.

Remembering What's Important: Part 4 - The Holy Spirit

-->“Youth Ministry - NOT a DIY Project!  Remembering the Role of the Holy Spirit”

I love DIY (Do It Yourself) projects!  As a result, I love Home Depot, and the show Home Improvement with Tim Allen!  In a strange and nerdy way I find fixing, building, and maintaining my home quite satisfying.  But in our culture that praises DIY projects, independence, and solo work, we as Youth Ministers must fight every urge to treat ministry in the same way.  Youth Ministry is not a DIY project!

So if it’s not done alone, who is it done with?  I’m convinced that without the empowerment and participation of the Holy Spirit our ministries will be weak, impotent, ineffective, and void of the spiritual fruit we so badly want.

As part of the “Remembering What’s Important” series, I’ve been asked to reflect upon the role and ministry of the Holy Spirit.  Let’s consider His role in Scripture, in us as Youth Ministers, and at Youth Group.

 

The Holy Spirit in Scripture:

One of the most concentrated teachings on the Holy Spirit comes from John 14-16.  Consider again what Jesus taught there:

·       John 14:16 “[The Helper will] be with you forever,”

·       John 14:17 “… he dwells with you and will be in you.”

·       John 14:26 “… he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

·       John 15:26 “… he will bear witness about me.”

·       John 16:7 “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.”

·       John 16:8 “… he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:”

·       John 16:13 “… he will guide you into all the truth...”

·      John 16:14 “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” 

The Holy Spirit in Us

The most unexpected passage is John 16:7 where Jesus says, “… it is to your advantage that I go away”.  This runs against my natural assumption that Jesus’ physical presence is better than his absence.  But since Jesus is absent, the Spirit is present in all believers.  The Spirit then “teaches us all things and brings to remembrance all that Jesus taught” (John 14:26), and “guides us in all truth” (John 16:13).  Great courage and boldness should result from knowing that we are empowered by the greatest and most powerful Person youth ministry has ever seen!

How contradictory it is when we fail to express our dependence upon the Spirit!  We portray a powerless Holy Spirit when we depend upon our own wisdom, effort, and passion.  We imply our personal efforts are more effective than the work of the Spirit.  If Jesus intended ministry to be a DIY project, He would not have given the Holy Spirit.

We must regularly express our dependence upon the Holy Spirit, especially in study and preparation for Youth Group, counseling, meetings, etc.  The Holy Spirit can give in 6 seconds the insight and direction that would have taken 6 hours on your own.  He can give perfect words in the moment that you hadn’t previously read, heard, or prepared.  Are we depending on Him to do such work?

I can testify, He is faithful!  NEVER – in 5 years of doing youth ministry (the past 3 years being weekly expository preaching) - have I ever arrived to the start of youth group unprepared.  God has ALWAYS been faithful to give me words.  Admittedly, I’ve often felt underprepared from a delivery standpoint, but I’ve never been unprepared and speechless.

The Holy Spirit at Youth Group

I think the single most important passage from this section is John 16:8 “… he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.”  As we effort to faithfully preach the Gospel and see sinners saved, the Holy Spirit is working in our hearts by opening our blinded eyes to our need for a savior.  We can’t convict student’s hearts.  We can’t make them run to Jesus as their treasure.  But the Holy Spirit can!  Are we depending on Him to do this work?

One of the greatest challenges for me each week is to apply the message to the heart.  I aim to teach insightful, relevant, and specific ways that the text intersects with their lives.  But let’s face it: None of us can comprehensively apply a passage to the lives of all who hear.  But the Holy Spirit can!  Are we depending on Him to do this work?

Depending on the Holy Spirit

When I’m discouraged by low attendance, irritated when students aren’t listening to my message, worrying that the few remaining hours are insufficient to finish sermon prep, and failing to consistently pray throughout my day, I’m not depending on the Holy Spirit.

In a culture where DIY projects are praised, and independence and self-sufficiency is esteemed, we ought to model for our students how to avoid self-reliance and how to depend on the Holy Spirit.  For example when we pray before our messages, let’s recognize the Spirit's constant presence, and ask him to be the teacher, to give us words to say, and our students ears to hear.

As Youth Ministers, we are weak.  But the Holy Spirit is our ever-present strength for all God has called us to.  Let’s regularly pray, and ask for help.  Let’s show our Youth through our neediness that the Holy Spirit is all-sufficient.  Let’s with Paul depend upon the Holy Spirit and have his attitude from 2 Corinthians 12:9…

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

May the Holy Spirit comprehensively apply this post to our lives and ministries.  Because while I can’t, He can!

David Brashler has served since 2007 as the Youth Pastor at Living Water Community Church in Vancouver, Washington. He holds a bachelors degree in Industrial Engineering from Oregon State University.

Ministry Around America: New England Edition

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1. Please describe the context in which you minister (geographically, ethnically, socio-economically, etc.)

I am a proud, life-long New Englander.  I attended college and seminary a little over an hour away from home, and now I serve in a church only thirty minutes from where I grew up.  I serve in a church of 250 that's about half an hour south-west of Boston.  New Englanders are generally well-educated, brutally honest, and traditional people. 

The suburban towns Emmanuel Baptist Church pulls from are largely upper-middle class, mostly white communities where many commute daily into Boston to work (most commuters work in the financial world or in one of Boston's many hospitals or universities).  In New England, it is simply assumed that not only will you go to college after high school, much of your teenage life after freshman year revolves around getting high enough grades and excelling in enough extra-curricular activities to get into a good college with a scholarship.

There are two general assumptions most New Englanders make (especially in my area around Boston): You will go to college and you're Roman Catholic.

2. How do teenagers in your region feel about the Church and Christianity as a whole?

My wife teaches eighth grade in our town's public school and frequently gets questions about being married to a priest.  A few weeks back, something about church came up in one of her classes and since she's not Catholic she was asked what religion she was, as if being a Baptist is like being a Buddhist.  She had to explain what "Protestant" and "Baptist" meant, since "Christian" and "Church" simply means "Roman Catholic" to most unchurched teenagers.  It's simply assumed that if you're religious, you're Catholic. Many parents have a difficult time agreeing to let their teen attend anything a Protestant church is doing - in some ways the changes of Vatican II are still being worked out.

Even though many will identify themselves as Catholic, they rarely attend Mass and dread attending CCD. The Roman Catholic Church is viewed with skepticism because of the clergy sex-abuse scandals, and all other Churches are untrustworthy because they aren't Catholic. Religion simply isn't something that should affect real life. In many ways, it wouldn't be unfair to make the observation that the universities (which were ironically founded by the Church to train up the next generations of pastors and missionaries) have taken on the authority the Church used to hold in public life.

3. What perceptions and reactions do teenagers in your area have to Christian morality?

When I was a teenager, I remember classmates getting drunk and partying hard on Friday and then going to confession on Saturday.  Religion is thought of as something peripheral and pretty insignificant.  Disappointingly, "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism" is a very accurate description of teen spirituality - God exists but doesn't impose himself on you, he's just there to help you when you need him to and help you do good things for others.  

In a culture so dominated by both secularism and Roman Catholicism, the Gospel of Grace is not easily understood and is often under attack from both groups of people.  The Gospel is either stupid and unnecessary because God, sin, and judgment aren't real anyway, or the Gospel is a New Law declaring what we ought to do without giving us the ability to do it. 

Practically speaking, most teenagers around here don't seem to think too much about moral decisions.  It's not that they're more thoughtless than other teens, but they're simply postmodern and think with their feelings and impulses.  As the Ben and Jerry's Bumper Sticker says, "If it doesn't feel good, why do it?" 

4. What approaches have you found helpful in dealing with the aforementioned stumbling blocks such that you effectively can share the Gospel with students in your area and bring them in to the life of the Church?

One of the most effective things you can do is to invest your time to gain the trust of parents.  Evangelical churches (especially Baptist churches like mine!) are often viewed with suspicion and distrust.  This makes earning the trust of parents both difficult and essential.  I've had a number of students get plugged into the youth ministry who wanted to attend our Sunday morning worship services; but they have been told they aren't allowed to come "because we're Catholic" (even though they rarely attend Mass).  I've had students drop off the map for a season because they had to attend CCD in order to receive their first communion.  It's becoming a bit "trendy" to emphasize parents today, but I'm increasingly convinced that we need to minister to the whole student, and that means we need to reach out to the whole family... parents included. 

I often hear youth pastors from around the country talk about the importance of plugging into the local schools, and I agree that's really important, but in New England it's extremely difficult to do.  I'm not allowed to eat lunch with students, and even if I was, I'm not sure how many students would be willing to put such a huge target on their back by allowing me to sit with them and their friends.  I've been a volunteer coach for one of the local high school's Track & Field teams and that's been a great blessing and a great challenge.  A few years ago one of the students I had already coached for a whole season was surprised to find out I'm a pastor (I have no idea how she didn't know, since it comes up quite a bit) and proceeded to ignore me for the rest of the week because she was so weirded out that one of her coaches was a priest. 

5. What encouragement would you give to other youth pastors in your area trying to reach teenagers?

Don't give up, and stay somewhere long enough to make a difference!  We've all heard the statistics about how short most youth pastors stay at a church before moving on... I want to encourage you to try breaking the record as the longest-tenured pastor in your church's history.  I've been serving at my church for seven and a half years, and it wasn't until year four that I felt that I really had gained significant trust from the parents at church (so how much more of a challenge will it be to gain the trust of parents from the unchurched community!). 

You will see mini-revivals break out among families, churches, schools, and communities through your ministry the longer you stay, the more consistently you model the servant-love of Christ, and as you continually proclaim that amazing grace of the Good News.  Don't set out trying to be Jonathan Edwards or George Whitefield or whoever else... set out to be faithful in your calling to serve the students and families God has given you and trust Him to bear the fruit as you scatter the seed.

Besides, we all know New England is the American Church's best-kept-secret... God is doing a mighty work here!  Friends, stay faithful.

Remembering What's Important: Part 1- Student Ministry and the Sovereignty of God

Some youth ministers labor for years on end without ever seeing a conversion or they see very little spiritual growth.  Others, however, seem to have it all together—big crowds, mass baptisms, teens singing Ke$ha to the tune of Kumbaya.

How much of the success of student ministry is up to you?  Where does your ministry and God’s sovereignty connect?  And if God is completely sovereign (which He is), does it affect your daily approach to working with youth?

Sovereignty “Displayed”

The sovereignty of God is one of his holy attributes.  It means that His divine will is omnipotent and supreme over all (Eph. 1:11).  God’s sovereignty is displayed or expressed in two distinct ways.  First, God’s sovereignty is displayed in his eternal decrees—God has decreed the end from the beginning (Isa. 46:10).  All things come to pass according to his eternal purpose and plan.

Second, His sovereignty is displayed in his temporal providences—his eternal decrees executed in time and space.  For example, God has decreed salvation for his elect (“predestined”), but it comes to pass when the Spirit of God performs divine heart transplant and causes His beloved to be born again (1Pet. 1:3).  That is the sovereignty of God displayed and nothing—not even the tiniest molecule, as R. C. Sproul would say—falls outside of the sovereign control and plan of God.

So where do you fit in?  How does this relate to student ministry?

Your Part: The Means of Grace

God has not only ordained (“decreed”) the ends, but the means by which He would accomplish those ends.  This can be illustrated in both evangelism and prayer.  While God elects His people by sheer sovereign mercy, He sees fit that those people come to faith in Christ through the hearing of the gospel message.  Thus, He has ordained both the means and the ends.

A similar theme can be found with prayer.  I sometimes get asked, “Does prayer change things?”  My answer:  No, God changes things, but He uses your prayers to do it!  Both the outcome in time and space as well as the means to accomplish that outcome are wrapped up in His eternal purpose and the “secret things [that] belong to the LORD” (Deut. 29:29).

The usual and ordinary means by which God saves and sanctifies His people—including teenagers—are the Word of God, prayer, and the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  Historically, these have been called the “means of grace.”[1]  However, God also uses other means to save and grow His people, including gospel-motivated service, grace-centered community, and worship.

While God remains sovereign, He calls you to plant and water the gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 3:7).   But how do we faithfully plant and water the gospel?  Through the means of grace that God has already provided His church.  We don't have to invent new foundational paradigms and strategies for saving and sanctifying teenagers.  We have a role and responsibility:  to simply be faithful to the various means—the six listed above—that God uses to grow his people.  In fact, the early disciples “devoted” themselves to such a ministry (Acts 2:42-47).

Two Common Pitfalls

As youth pastors and those working with teenagers, it is easy to fall into one of two theological and pastoral pitfalls, when considering the sovereignty of God and ministry.  One is to think that—because God is sovereign—it really doesn’t matter what I do; the ends all turn out the same.  While it is true that “faithfulness” is always more important than “success” in ministry, we should heed Timothy Keller’s plea for an emphasis on fruitfulness as well.[2]  As noted above, God uses our ministries of the Word, prayer, sacraments, etc. to accomplish His eternal decrees, in time and space.  We have, therefore, a great responsibility in our ministry to students.

The other pitfall is to think that the “success” of my student ministry is really determined by my programs, special events, or my cool soul patch.  This, I’m sad to say, is the default ministry paradigm in student ministry in the American church.  There is so much emphasis on creating the greatest show on earth, that we have lost the centrality of the sovereign grace of God in saving sinners.  Instead, we gimmick and game students to the point that the youth themselves are left confused by the essential character of the gospel.  In the end, what’s missing is God himself!

Some Practical Suggestions

Let’s put this together.  Let me give you three practical suggestions for leading a student ministry in light of the sovereignty of God:

1.    Study the attribute of God’s sovereignty.  Yes, study!  Scripture is replete with references to the sovereignty of God and many books have been written to help us explore, discover, and take delight in this holy attribute.[3]  Such a study and focus will undoubtedly lead to a greater daily reminder and awareness of the truth that we serve a God whose sovereign will reigns supreme from all eternity.  My failings in ministry, therefore, will not thwart His plan.  Rather, my failings and weakness are used by God as part of His sovereign plan—often pointing to the reality that God’s grace is sufficient and that His power is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).

2.    Evaluate your student ministry by the means of grace.  These include the Word of God, prayer, sacraments, gospel-motivated service, grace-centered community, and worship.  Do these provide the backbone of your current ministry?  If not, the pitfall of self-reliance might be lurking up ahead.  But a faithful and fruitful ministry will seek to plant and water the gospel of Jesus Christ through these divinely ordained and established means.

3.    Don’t Apologize for God.  I hear this all the time: “I’m sure God wouldn’t let that happen.”  There is a temptation to apologize for God when bad things happen, or when things happen that we don’t understand.  No, “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job. 1:21).  Just because we don’t understand why something happened doesn’t suddenly render God impotent.  Just because all of your event planning and financial resources didn’t provide the desired effects, we must not say, “If only God could give a little help here!”  Nothing is sweeter and more comforting than serving in student ministry for a God who is, at once, good and sovereign.  Let God be God and praise Him for His sovereignty!

Brian H. Cosby is pastor of WaysidePresbyterian Church in Signal Mountain, TN and author of Giving Up Gimmicks: Reclaiming Youth Ministry from an Entertainment Culture (P&R, 2012) and Rebels Rescued: AStudent’s Guide to Reformed Theology (Christian Focus, 2012).

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[1] See The Westminster Larger Catechism, Q. 154.

[2] Timothy Keller, Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012), 13.

[3] For a true classic, see A. W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1976).