Apologetics for Teens: You Asked: Your Questions. God's Answers.

Answering students’ questions about God, life, Scripture and Christianity is like walking a tight rope. On one hand, students deserve clear, thoughtful, and simple but not simplistic answers. On the other hand, the questions often reveal deeper, unspoken, concerns present in their own heart. The challenge is to provide answers for the spoken questions while also recognizing and addressing the unspoken questions.

For that reason I am delighted that William Edgar’s You Asked: Your Questions, God’ s Answers is now available. The book may rightly be described as “apologetics for teenagers” and its format is straightforward: each chapter begins with a common question middle and high school students ask, and then provides clear guidance and instruction enabling students to discover answers from the Bible and a Christian worldview. It is a work Edgar is uniquely qualified to write, having expertise in apologetics, a deep grasp of culture, and experience as a high school teacher. Furthermore, as an apologist in the tradition of Cornelius Van Til, Edgar skillfully answers the spoken questions while gently exposing and addressing underlying heart issues.

The direct audience for this book is students themselves. Edgar has provided a reliable guide for them in language they will find accessible. However, it would be a mistake to assume that this book is only for students. Youth pastors and parents will also find it a useful resource guiding their own interactions with their teenagers.

I am thankful this book is available and would encourage youth pastors, parents, and teens alike to make use of it. As Michael Keller wrote in his endorsement, the book will help students navigate the “minefield known as adolescence.” I agree with Mike, and commend You Asked to teens wrestling with tough questions, and to youth pastors and parents helping teens along the way. 

Bijan Mirtolooi is part of the youth ministry staff at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City.

What Are Youth Ministries For? - Pt.2 - Biblical Foundations of Youth Ministry

I remember one particularly galling Wednesday night several years ago. The previous days had brought a familiar mix of high-effort, low-response, excitement, frustration, and discouragement, all in one package. And when I walked away from a house that night I had just one simple question: Why? Let's face it: There are times in youth ministry when you walk away from a small group study or a conversation with a family or a late-night program, and the thought occurs to you ... "Why I am doing this? Is there any good or compelling reason that I continue to pour heart and hands, effort and energy into this work of youth ministry … or am I just keeping the car running?"

 

A few months ago I was at a conference where I got to hear Simon Sinek give a short talk on "The Power of Why." His thesis: Why drives the how, how results in what. But this is the reverse of our normal practice where we focus on what, argue over how, and rarely figure out any justification for the whole enterprise.

So is there a clear "why" for youth ministry? Why this work with students, this endeavor within (or without) our churches to seek out and minister to teenagers? What do we find in Scripture that convinces us that this work matters and God calls us to it? 

The more I reflect on these 15 years in youth ministry, the more convinced I am that youth ministry is really just one of the manifold ministries of Christ and His church. It is highly-contextualized ministry to adolescents that can take a myriad of local forms that all look to Scripture for both guidance and goal. I make no claim to have THE biblical theology for youth ministry, but I can attempt a few words of call, challenge, and comfort that have lead me to a theology for it for our day in the church. This is my why. This is what I believe.

1. Youth ministry is mission work. The reality is that we have been called by a missionary God: A Father who sent His Son (for us!) and His Spirit (in us!) that we might be adopted into His family, united to Him as sons and daughters, renewed in His image and participating in His kingdom. I'm growing to love 1 Peter 2 more and more: "you are a chosen people, a royal priestshood" ... to what end? "So that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."  We in youth ministry get to stand at the foggy adolescent intersection of childhood and adulthood, family and friend, church and wider society. We stand and say it, sing it out: The praise of God to those who are adrift in the fog and lost in the dark.    

2. Youth ministry is corporate work. It is the church's work. The Church is the body of Christ, and where He is working, there the Church is to be found.  This family of God, this fellowship of Jesus, is sent (via the Son's command! Matt 28:18ff, John 20:21-22) on the mission of making disciples to Jesus. Though we love the church and are passionately committed to it, we point to Christ, not to it (or ourselves) - we want to see students called to a robust, sticky faith in Jesus Christ that is poured out in love for God and for people. 

3. Youth ministry is family work. God desires for these broken human families to play their part in telling his story of redemption. God has designed the family such that parents have the primary spiritual responsibility of telling the story of God's grace in creation, redemption, and restoration and then leading kids to know God, to love him heart, soul, mind, and strength with an everyday faith (Deut. 6). 

4. Youth ministry is student work. The church faces a world in which many adolescents are both far from God and in the dark - and yet none less than Jesus Himself is seeking them through the work of His Spirit.  Where possible, the church must partner with the family for the sake of declaring the gospel to the next generation (Ps. 71:16-18). But just as the church doesn't forsake the parents but must equip them to (re)discover their God-given role in the discipleship of their kids, it must not also forsake the kids and students who do yet know Christ. That means the work of training and equipping adults and students from the church to go out and share in the mission: Seek students, stand with them, speak out for them, love them, and bear witness among them to Christ at work in their midst. 

5. Youth ministry is welcoming work. The church must welcome kids/students into its communal life of worship and witness and BE the extended family of God to those who have been abandoned. If Paul can talk about the church as the place of new humanity in Christ where Jew and Gentile stand before Christ together, it damn well better be the place for adults and kids together, too.  As the church welcomes kids, it welcomes the Lord Himself (Mk. 9:33-37). Our welcome here is our worship (Rom. 15:7-9). Part of making a home for them means taking pains to teach them and make the long-term commitment to walk beside them into maturity as a whole human being renewed in Christ and ready to take up their vocation in this world. 

6. Youth ministry is desperate work. To persist in this ministry you must heed the call of God to know him for his sake, to follow him in full knowledge of the cost, and to boast only in his cross,. You must loosen your control, let go of outcomes, and lift your eyes to the risen Christ who speaks to your timid heart: "Take courage! It is I: do not be afraid… and I am with you. Always." Fix your eyes on Him, make your prayer that of Paul in Phil. 3:9-14, and devote yourself to the work of the Lord because none of it goes to waste (1 Cor. 15:58).

Andy Cornett is the Director of Student Ministries at Signal Mountain Presbyterian in Chattanooga, TN. Andy earned a Masters in Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA and has over ten years of experience in youth ministry.

What Are Youth Ministries For? - Pt.1

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Hitting a moving target requires an ever-changing aim.  This is as true in youth ministry as anywhere else.  The aim of youth ministries historically has shifted as the needs in society have changed.  It’s hard for us in the 21^st century to imagine a world without adolescence, a world that would not understand the concept of a full time youth pastor.  We only need to turn the clock back a few centuries to find our role in the church completely irrelevant.  Why is that?  In the early days of youth ministry, specifically the 19th century, much of the efforts toward youth were devoted to children.  Most teenagers were in the work force at that point.  Later in the century the public high school emerged and by the early 1900’s the concept of adolescence was first described by psychologist G. Stanley Hall.  So, it’s not surprising that the aim of youth ministries historically has changed.

In a blog post for The Gospel Coalition, I looked at the history of youth ministry from the middle of the 20^th century forward to see significant developments.  In this post we will look at just a few purposes or aims of youth ministries in the past.  For a more comprehensive look at the history of youth ministry, I would suggest Mark Senter’s book “When God Shows Up: A History of Protestant Youth Ministry in America.”  Meanwhile, let’s look at just five purposes that youth ministries have served or are serving at some point in history.  I am sure you can think of more.

1.     To keep kids off the streets.  Several ministries to young people emerged in history for the specific purpose of keeping kids off the streets.  The YMCA is an example of an organization that formed because rural young people were moving into the cities to find work and needed support in their new life in the city.  A gospel opportunity was seen and the YMCA became a place to gather young men and provide Bible studies, fellowship, and prayer meetings.  Many American youth ministers today would not describe this as their primary purpose for youth ministry. The typical suburban teen has more activities in their life than they have time for. Yet as I spoke with an Egyptian pastor recently I heard of a real need for the church to provide a safe haven from life on the streets.  He described to me how seven days a week loads of teens show up at his church and they feed them, help with homework, provide Bible studies, prayer, activities, etc.  What might not be viewed as a currently relevant purpose in one context may be vital in another.

2.     To keep a vibrant faith in the lives of young people. In the late 1800’s, Christian Endeavor emerged as an international movement that sought to help young people grow in their walk with Christ. Several mainline denominations soon formed their own organizations for similar purpose.  The denominational versions could take on a more catechetical approach as they brought to the table their own particular theological and ecclesiological emphasis.

3.     To provide Christian fellowship for teens.  Following the formation of denominational organizations that promoted Christian faith, local churches began fellowship groups for young people. These in some cases shifted the focus from discipleship to training in churchmanship. In many denominations over time these fellowship groups became a holding place for youth to be involved until they would be old enough to participate in the full life of the church.

4.     To reach unchurched young people with the gospel.  The para-church movements of Youth For Christ and Young Life took a decidedly more evangelistic approach.  The emergence of a distinct youth culture created a context to reach teens that were not being ministered to in the church.  Youth For Christ began with evangelistic rallies (Billy Graham being one of the main evangelists) and Young Life took a local club approach where groups met in students’ homes.

5.     To make disciples of young people.  In some ways reacting to the para-church movements, a number of organizations emerged that either sought to disciple teens or created resources for the church to make young disciples.  In some contexts this has meant resourcing or partnering with parents.  Most American youth pastors would likely describe their purpose in youth ministry as primarily making disciples.

Looking at the aims of youth ministry over history helps us see how context shapes the needs and opportunities for ministry to students.  My friends who do urban youth ministry speak of the need to get students off the streets while those doing suburban ministry complain that their students are far too busy for youth group meetings. Most of us however would deplore the idea of simply providing fellowship for youth because we have seen the need for making disciples and evangelizing the unchurched. Some would argue that there was a time in recent history when it appeared as if youth ministries existed merely to attract large crowds and make the church leadership feel good about the future of the church.  Fortunately things are changing in the youth ministry landscape both here and further afield.

Dave Wright is the Coordinator for Youth Ministries in the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina and blogs at http://fusionmusing.blogspot.com

Incarnate

Christmas: Where rubber meets the road.  Where God enters time and space.  Where the kingdom of God intersects earth.

I watched the movie ‘The Nativity Story’ several nights ago, and I had a really interesting experience of having my mind’s construction of the incarnation disrupted.  In the best way, I was taken aback and challenged with new visuals and different potential depictions of Jesus’ birth.  Living inside the story the way the movie painted it yielded the tilling of years of a certain way my mind had related to it.  And it made me think: Thank God for the incarnation, for a God who puts skin on to rescue us not only from death but from the trappings of our minds.

One of the beautiful elements of Christianity is the embodiment of faith: God creates the earth and dwells with His people.  God humbles himself and takes on a body - that we might know Him specifically and intimately as a Person.  And God lives in His people through the Holy Spirit.  Mankind isn’t left with an abstract, disembodied spirit or philosophy to theorize about; they are offered beauty, hope, meaning, and salvation through a Man/God who broke into the timeline and lived a life connected to the history of years and years before him, and years and years to come.  Whether anyone likes it or not, Jesus came, made super scandalous and important claims about Himself, and left a mark on history.

Youth ministry is a unique adventure of rubber meeting the road; information dissemination isn’t the primary purpose.  We are not ministering to a herd of brains-on-sticks.  Relationship is at the heart of the incarnation (which manifests God’s continued desire for reunion with His creation, mankind), and it is also best placed at the heart of youth ministry.  There is an enormous amount of mystery involved in the incarnation, and I believe there is similar mystery in mind meeting mind, spirit meeting spirit, and body meeting body.  How much is actually going on when you place your hand in someone else’s in meeting them, share a moment of eye contact, and offer a little bit of who you are even in sharing your name?  It’s actually pretty intimate when we let it be, and it’s a moment of connection not unlike the way God encounters us (and we Him) through the incarnation.  This continues through the telling of the Great Story in and through Scripture, through the living out of the Story in worship, and through the sharing of His Presence with one another through love.

Teenagers are in a unique, transitional phase of existence where they are growing and changing, and they are constantly formulating their understanding of relationship.  To encounter one of them with the welcome of the incarnation, the pursing grace of Jesus, and the understanding forgiveness God offers each of us can be one of the most profound honors a youth minister gets to experience.  I pray that each of you as youth ministers or volunteers are also experiencing that intentionality from someone else.  It’s a particularly poignant picture of the Spirit’s continual playing out of the incarnation, and of our joining with Him in that.

It is just as important to tell and teach the Great Story of Jesus’ incarnation, death, and resurrection as it is to read and hear it for ourselves, and to live it out in our lives and ministries.  Blessings this Christmas as you continue on your journey with Incarnate Love who has pursued and is pursuing you to the utter most.  

Liz Edrington previously served as a youth minister at Christ Episcopal Church in Charlottesville, VA. Liz presently is pursuing a masters in counseling at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, FL .

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.