9 Marks of a Healthy Youth Ministry
I loved my years being a youth pastor. To this day, I still am viewed (and see myself) as a spiritual father to many of them. 10 years ago I wrote this blog post, as I began my last (and final) stint in student ministry. I admit that I tried, but often failed implementing some of these marks you will see below. Nevertheless, I am confident that these 9 marks should be in the fabric of every youth group.
Here are the 9 marks:
Discipleship
Every Christian has one simple goal: To become more like Jesus. To accomplish this goal, God has set up that the other Christians (in the context of the local church) achieve this task through the means of relational interaction. In other words, every youth ministry must embrace both informal and formal means of discipleship. This may be seen through the means of one-on-one mentoring, small groups, bible studies, phone calls, texting, e-mails, social media, etc. Here is the point: A youth ministry that is not intentional in their discipleship is in essence starving their students, which is a clear sign of an unhealthy youth ministry.
Fun
This mark is actually quite provocative. Some youth ministries seem to embrace this aspect too much and others not enough. Some reject this aspect as a sign of worldliness and others embrace it to intentionally draw in those “unchurched” kids.Theologically, the issue is simple: God created us to enjoy His creation, which means to have “God-centered fun”. Enjoyment (i.e. fun) is assumed to be part of the life of the local church and outside of it. Does this mean young people shouldn’t get serious, quiet, reflective or meditative sometimes? Of course they should. Scripture is clear that God desires this to be a “both/and” not an “either/or”. Let us be intentional and teach our youth that the Christian worldview not only explains, but frees us to embrace our innate thirst for enjoyment.
Parental involvement
The involvement of parents in the fabric of a youth ministry cannot be overstated. God has placed direct responsibility on the parents, not the church for the privilege of child-rearing (Deut. 6:6-9). Therefore, the biblical position of youth ministry is that we function as a supplement or a secondary voice in the life of a student. This means that communication between the youth pastor/youth staff is supremely important if both God-ordained entities (the family and the church) are to function towards the goal of guiding students to become more and more like Jesus (Romans 8:29).
Age-sensitive teaching/preaching
The implications of God’s Word are clear: Any church ministry (including youth) that neglects the preaching of the Word is a ministry built on sinking sand (Matthew 7:24-27). Furthermore, a lack of biblical preaching/teaching reveals a fundamental rejection of doctrine of the sufficiency of the scriptures. Every Christian, regardless of age, must be constantly nourished on the very words of God or they will linger in spiritual infancy.And yet there is another factor that is almost as concerning. Any ministry that neglects the practicality of age-sensitive preaching is woefully ineffective. Too many churches with a high view of biblical preaching neglect the principle of accommodation, which in the most profound sense, is seen in God’s accommodation to us. The triune God sent the Son to put on humanity so God could talk to us, live with us, suffer with us and ultimately die in our place. God came down so that we could come up. So when we teach, let’s come down to help them reach up and taste the sweetness of Jesus Christ.
Theological development
The natural byproduct of comprehensive, age-sensitive biblical teaching is theological development, whether intentional or not. This is because theology is always built on the foundation of scripture (not the other way around). Yet the sad reality is that most youth ministries leave this development to collegiate Christian education, specialized seminars or para-church organizations. Therefore, it shouldn’t surprise us that the rejection of Christianity comes during the college years because they lacked a theological foundation and quickly slid into the quicksand of spiritual uncertainty.Does this mean every youth ministry should be function like an age-appropriate seminary? No, of course not. But when consistent theological meals are served with creativity, freshness and cultural relevance, our youth will be both spiritually nourished and apologetically prepared.
Local church integration
Youth ministries are often condemned as being “a church in a church”. This is because they often have their own music, their own mission trips and even their own pastor. Though I believe this criticism is unwarranted in most cases, the reality remains that without purposeful engagement in the local church, the youth will lose their sense of identity and family when they enter into the dreaded 18-30 category. There seems to be two main ways to prevent this detachment: Multi-generational mentoring and service opportunities. Empirical evidence suggests that these areas build balance, reinforces a correct view of the church and combats the selfish tendencies and entitlement of today’s youth.
Leadership development
This mark is closely related to discipleship, because it is out of this mark where true leaders are discovered. To be clear, there are many youth that exhibit the seeds of leadership, but they need guidance to grow into a mature plant.Someone once told me that developing leaders is like the role of a farm team in baseball. If the farm program is effective, their professional team will be competitive for years to come. In a similar way, having a youth ministry that develops young leaders assures effective ministry into the future for both your local church and the universal church.
Evangelistically-driven
The mission given to the church is to “evangelize the lost”. Pure and simple. If this is neglected, the church is not only unhealthy, but disobedient to the Great Commission. Therefore, a biblical youth ministry should be about instilling a personal evangelistic ethic and also bring exposure to the Christian’s responsibility to both local and global mission endeavors.
Culturally-current
Some readers may view this mark as unnecessary, worldly or even unbiblical. They might ask, “Are you saying that youth pastors and workers must drink Starbucks, use only Apple products and be proficient in the latest social media method?” No, not exactly. But the Bible does seem to emphasize a responsibility to be observers of our culture so as to find common ground and/or avoid unnecessary offenses (Acts 17:16-34, I Cor. 9:19-27). Therefore, an effective youth ministry will be knowledgeable of the current philosophical and technological trends, with the goal of engaging their culture with the unchanging message of the gospel.
Conclusion
It is unfortunate that some conservative churches/pastors argue that youth ministry is unbiblical or the age-specific teaching is unbiblical. They usually make this claim because they are either sold on the concept family worship as exclusive and normative or they set up the parents as the primary (and only) authoritative voices in their students' lives. Though I certainly believe that the primary voice ought to be the parents, there are many teens that don't have Christian parents or live in a single-parent home. Quite frankly, there is a lot that the local church does that is not specified in the Scriptures. Frequently of communion, commitees, childcare and yes, even membership is not explicit stated (though I believe it is wise and helpful).
If you are going to have a youth ministry, pray and strive to implement the marks shown above. This generation needs the truth. May the gospel continue to invade this world, through our mouths and the mouths of our students.