A Principle for Ministry

seWhat you do to hook them is what you will have to do to keep them. Windsor Hills Baptist Church in Oklahoma has made the news by giving away an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle to encourage young people to attend their youth conference. The goal is for "teens to find faith".

My main disagreement with this is not necessarily giving a teenager a gun. That could be done responsibly--many of our teenagers are responsible hunters. My main problem with this is that it rejects the sufficiency of Christ and his Word to bring about "teens finding faith". Apparently God's Word is no longer sufficiently the power of God unto salvation but it now requires giving away semi-automatic rifles.

Remember this; what you do to hook them is what you will have to do to keep them. You cannot slide the gospel in the backdoor--unless you intend to ALWAYS slip the gospel in the back door. Here is a suggestion: believe God enough to draw people to himself--yes even crazy lost teenagers.

I also should mention that my "problem" is not with the people at Windsor Hills Baptist Church, their staff, their people, nor anything of that sort. I wholeheartedly affirm their passion to bring about "teens finding faith". My "problem" is with the theology and dangerous philosophy of ministry that brings about such events. It is unnecessary and actually hinders the glorious gospel, and I hope that they turn from this and find more confidence in the gospel. I say this with much humility.

A Biblical Philosophy of Student Ministry (Part 1)

I have the wonderful opportunity on Tuesday evening to discuss a philosophy of youth ministry with a local church. I am very excited about this opportunity and have discovered in putting this together my passion in developing a biblical approach to student ministry. (Some, I understand would say that biblical and student ministry cannot be in the same sentence--for those of you that this describes, please bear with me). Over the next couple of days I hope to discuss a few of the components that I will be discussing at this church. Today I want to share with you a few statistics and explain why a change in philosophy may be needed.

Before we discuss these statistics let me tell you a little about my "journey" to where I am today in regards to student ministry. Needless to say, my views on youth ministry have changed since I first began doing youth ministry. My philosophy in the beginning was more of a youth focused—program driven ministry. Certainly, Jesus was to be honored, the word was to be proclaimed, parents were to be considered, and all of this was to take place within the context of the local church. Now, I no longer believe that youth ministry should be “youth-focused” nor should any aspect of the local church be program driven. In fact doing such a thing, I have found, will undermine such things as "honoring Jesus", "proclaiming the Word", "considering parents", and it will not fittingly take place within the context of the local church.

Now, how did this change come about in my philosophy of ministry and why do I feel that it would be wise for not only your church but any church to adopt this philosophy of student ministry?

First of all, even though I am going to start by giving you some statistics let me say that this has been driven by a theological/doctrinal change instead of a statistical change. What I mean is that the catalyst for such a change in my philosophy of ministry has not been because I have seen problems, or read books, or read statistics. The locomotive for this change has been the Word of God. Today I want to show you why such a change is needed--then we will look at 5 foundational elements of a biblical philosophy of student ministry.

If you are the typical church my guess is that there is only a handful of people in their 20's. Unless of course you are in a college town and have a "vibrant" college ministry that runs like a glorified student ministry. I would also guess that statistically speaking you have more than a handful of twenty-somethings. There are plenty of twentysomethings in your area--the Church simply is not reaching them. I would almost guess that many of those twentysomethings that you now see in the community were at one point "reached" by your student ministry. But something happened and they stopped coming shortly after their graduation. If this is the case your church is not alone.

Across the board, between 70-88% of Christian teens leave church by their second year of college. If you are in a small community, like myself, I can hear one of your excuses right now. "We do not have enough jobs in our small community and our kids go away to college and get a job elsewhere." And that could very well be why some of the kids that were active in your youth ministry in years past are no longer active. Allow me to reword that previous statistic: 70-88% of Christian teens leave church altogether by their second year of college. It is not just that they move to another town and join another church or hook up with another denomination. No, these teens will leave church altogether and probably not be back.

Now let’s do a little math. Our birth rate is currently around 2 children per family (and decreasing), our biblical worldview rate is below 10%, and roughly 75% of our teens leave church by the end of their freshman year in college. (Most will never come back). That means that it currently takes 2 Christian families in one generation to get a single Christian into the next generation. If we started with 4 million believers then using these statistics we see that in the world that your great grandchildren live in there will only be 62, 500 Christians. Perhaps our evangelistic strategies can over compensate. If we continue following this departure rate and hope to offset it by evangelistic efforts that means that to break even each Christian must reach 3 people. That sounds feasible until you realize that in the SBC we reach 1 lost person per 40 Christians. This is not a new trend or something that will be fixed by new strategies, new methods, new programs, big evangelistic crusades, etc. This will require a complete shift in the philosophy of student ministry in many churches.

Let me share a few very sad statistics about our church; and also say that we are not an anomaly. Churches all across America are experiencing this very thing. In our church we presently have about 450 inactive members. This means that 450 people that at one time professed Christ, we baptized, we agreed with them that they were indeed saved, stood up with them and said that we would support them—are now gone. We do not even know some of their names. Again this is across the board and not just a “youth ministry” issue. The SBC boasts 16 million strong—the truth is we are closer to 6 million. On an average Sunday only 33% of the SBC population will be in church attendance. One of the most foundational elements to the Christian walk is fellowship with other believers. If I can be blunt; more than likely we have 450 people that are convinced that they are right with Jesus but are headed to hell with our baptismal waters on their head. Now where did these 450 members come from?

Let me submit to you that one, again I stress one, of the problems is in the area of children's and student ministry. Of our 450 inactive members 112 joined the church before the age of 18. That sounds like a pretty fair statistic, until I tell you that 150 of those 450, I have no clue of their age when they joined. So a more accurate sampling would be that 112 of 300 (nearly half) of our inactive members professed Christ and were baptized before the age of 18 and currently have nothing to do with our church.

We have a significant problem. And let me humbly submit to you what I believe the problem to be. Youth ministry in its present form is unbiblical. In its present form youth ministry caters to the perceived immaturity of youth. It focuses on students. It attempts to reach them by what attracts them. It often is a separate entity within the local church body, fragmented and separated from parents and other mature believers.

What happens within the current paradigm is that students are fragmented from the overall life of the church and do not make an appropriate assimilation into church. Also, the teaching in many student ministries is so shallow and youth focused that they never catch the big vision of who God is and what He calls all peoples to do. What happens then is that students get a minimum exposure to God and the life of the church. These are only a few of the problems or fruits of the fragmented, youth focused, program driven student ministries.

Why then am I suggesting a change in the typical philosophy of student ministry? One reason is that it is not working. Next time we will see an even more important reason to reshape our philosophy of student ministry. Comments and questions are welcome.

I am indebted to Voddie Baucham in his work Family-Driven Faith for the statistics cited above.

Refocusing Student Ministry

A couple of weeks ago I made mention of Lifeway's new promotional program which contained this statement:

"By focusing on students and helping them become all God wants them to be, student ministry leaders, coming alongside of parents, can help students know God, own their faith, and make their faith known"

We had decent discussion on this, although I would have welcomed far more discussion. My question was whether or not you agree with the statement. It seems that some liked parts of it, and others pointed out a few things that are not so good. Let me attempt to put a few thoughts down. First the positive:

1. The statement of "coming alongside parents" is very welcome. The sheer acknowledgment of the importance of parents in the lives of students shows a major growth in "cutting edge" student ministry. Finally youth ministries are being encouraged to not only involve parents but assist parents in leading their own children. This is welcome indeed, perhaps we will see less lone ranger youth ministries that are divorced from parents and the local body in which it serves.
2. "Owning their faith" is also a pleasing development in student ministries. In years past we would have heard know God and make God known. Of course that "knowing God" step was another way of saying "get saved". So, the principle was "get saved then go get others saved". We have seen the deadly results of this. Students really never got to know God. So, focusing on students owning their faith is welcome.

Now the negative:

1. The first four words of this promotional pamphlet, "By focusing on students", tells me that nothing much has changed in "cutting edge" student ministry. Maybe this is being too harsh, if so forgive me. To me, such a statement negates everything they say after it. How do you suggest "coming alongside parents" and still "focusing on students"? Does this mean that you work with mom and dad to make much of their kid? If so, that is idolatry. More than likely it is marrying the old idea (you've gotta focus on the students) with the new--actually classical and biblical--idea (parents are the primary educators of students). What happens in this case is that "coming alongside parents" is given lip service and student minstry continues to focus on students.
2. Furthermore, is it really a good idea to "focus on the students"? Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean that we should not be concerned for students, that our heart should not beat for students, that we should not love students, that we should "just preach the Word" without looking at the crowd. No, we ought to model Jesus in this regard. He loved people. Paul loved people. Look at Romans 9:1-5. Paul basically said, "I'd go to hell for you". This ought to be our heart. But our focus should not be on those we minister to. Our focus ought to be on God. If our primary driving force is students then do we not by our example neuter everything we tell them about "knowing God, owning their faith, and making God known"? The key to student ministry, as it is with any ministry, is being so enthralled with Jesus that you "struggle with all his energy that he powerfully works" within you. The more the leader (parent or student minister) is enamored with the glory of Jesus Christ the more that will catch.

Until we understand that curriculum, preaching, teaching, missions, fellowship, worship, and anything else you want to add, is to be about proclaiming and relishing in the excellencies of Christ we will continue to be focused on man to the peril of their souls. And I mean giving that more than lip service. I mean what John Owen said "If the Word does not dwell with power in us, it will not pass with power from us".

I will be blunt. And maybe this is too either/or and it ought to be a both/and. If so, then I deserve the rebuke. But my thought is that we are so entrenched in man-centered semi-Pelagianism that a "both/and" is next to impossible. Simply put, what we need is not Lifeway curriculum to help us get students to know God, own their faith, and make God known. We need student ministers and parents (as well as students) set ablaze by the Spirit of God, and so enamored with Jesus Christ that He bubbles out of us and the fire he has cast in our soul causes sparks to fly onto another so that they too are lit aflame by our glorious God.

Perhaps that is what it means to Know, Own, and make Known. But it doesn't happen by focusing on students. It happens by focusing on Jesus.

Borrowed Light: Today in Blogworld 02/11

Alvin Reid has some insights on Students and Student Ministry.

Phil Johnson asks, and attempts to answer, a much debated question: How Can we be Held Responsible for our Inability? In the conclusion he states, "our inability is no excuse for our sinfulness. It is precisely the opposite. It is the very reason we are condemned. Sin flows from the very core of our souls. The heart of who we are is evil." Go there and find out how he got to that conclusion.

Dr. Mohler has a wonderful article for prospective preachers. He helps us asks, "Has God Called Me to Preach". Important to this consideration will be Mohler's statement here: "One key issue here is a common misunderstanding about the will of God. Some models of evangelical piety imply that God's will is something difficult for us to accept. We sometimes confuse this further by talking about "surrendering" to the will of God. As Paul makes clear in Romans 12:2, the will of God is good, worthy of eager acceptance, and perfect. Those called by God to preach will be given a desire to preach as well as the gifts of preaching. Beyond this, the God-called preacher will feel the same compulsion as the great Apostle, who said, "Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!"

David Powlison gives excellent advice in counseling others. “Don’t ever degenerate into giving good advice unconnected with the good news of Jesus crucified, alive, present, at work, and returning.” (HT: Of First Importance)

Justin Buzzard reminds us to put the gospel in everday conversations.

Bob Kauflin the Soveriegn Grace Worship Director, enters the conversation begun by Greg Gilbert on the place of music in worship today. He has great insight to add to the conversation.