Introduction
Let’s begin by taking a look Jeremiah 1:4-10. Jeremiah was called to speak to the nation of Israel at a critical time, when they were turning away from God and needed to be warned of the coming judgment.
Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD.” Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
One of my favorite assigned readings when I was in high school was a book called, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding. How many of you have read it? If you aren’t familiar with it, just think of the TV show, Lost, but with young boys instead of adults and without the smoke monster. The book tells of a group of boys who are stranded on a deserted island with no adult supervision after their plane crashes. The boys in the novel struggle to establish order among themselves, and Golding excellently foreshadows the doom that is to come as the boys set up faulty leadership and behave more and more like savages as the book progresses. At the end of the book, when the survivors are rescued, the boys begin to weep. But their tears are not the tears of joy at being rescued; instead they are tears of remorse for the depths of depravity to which they have sunk. Lord of the Flies underscores that the problems we find in society are not the fault of society itself; at the core the problem is the human heart. As the boys moved further from their cultural moorings, they drifted into more and more aberrant behavior.
Society and Youth Culture
Our society today is in a situation that is not much different. The moorings of our society have been loosed. The Judeo-Christian values we were once tethered to are just a glimmer in the mind’s eye of American culture. For many teenagers, there is not even a glimmer. None of their experiences reflect Biblical truth. Good intentions still exist, but they are lacking. Morals have been replaced by values, and tolerance is substituted for conviction. Doing the right thing is no longer meant to reflect God’s standard of righteousness; it is simply portrayed as beneficial for both the smooth functioning of society and the personal satisfaction of individuals. When God is removed from the picture, though, there is no objective standard or truth. What we are left with is the opinion of society, and opinions can change with the wind.
Darryl Scott, father of Rachel Joy Scott, who was murdered at the Columbine High School shooting on April 20, 1999, testified before congress about the shootings. The following are a few snippets of his testimony:
“Columbine was not just a tragedy – it was a spiritual event that should be forcing us to look at where the real blame lies…What has happened to us as a nation? We have refused to honor God, and in so doing, we have opened the doors to hatred and violence…We…need a change of heart and a humble acknowledgment that this nation was founded on the principle of simple trust in God.”[i]
The need for objective standards
Darryl Scott is right. When we remove God and his objective standards from society, we are really left with circular reasoning. Students are taught that it is beneficial to them and others to exhibit certain character traits. When you really boil that statement down, they are told, “It is good to do good.” If you have children in public schools you might be aware that this past week was Character Counts week; some schools celebrate it more than others. Character Counts is a nationally-recognized program that educates students and others to strive for six universally-accepted ethical values that reflect humanity at its best. These values are Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship.[ii] I want to say that Character Counts does a great job and has a proven track record. I only think they do not go far enough; there is no objective standard for their character traits, except to say we all can agree on them. To be fair, pointing to God as the source of character values would essentially be impossible to incorporate into a program that is designed to be accepted by everyone in our society; but God is, in fact that source. We all agree on these values because they have been placed in our hearts by our Creator. C.S. Lewis affirmed this, when he said, “human beings, all over the earth, have this curious idea that they ought to behave in a certain way, and cannot really get rid of it.”[iii]
Tension among teens
But teens today are caught up in a tension between two teachings. The first is that morality exists, meaning there is a difference between right and wrong. Character Counts affirms this on their website.[iv] The second teaching is that our existence stems from billions of years’ worth of random, natural processes, making us no different from the savage animal world around us. So doing right is countered with anything goes; helping those less fortunate is challenged by survival of the fittest. It is really no wonder then when we see youth rebelling in some form or another. Their world sees contradiction from what they are being taught by the adult world, and contradiction – hypocrisy – is one thing this generation will not tolerate. They come to the conclusion that we adults cannot figure it all out, which makes them check out mentally. We might ask, “Why don’t they care?” but they ask, “Why should we care?” They want a cause that is worth caring about, but we haven’t given them one.
Christian Youth Today
So where do Christian youth fit into this picture? In 2005 the National Study of Youth and Religion completed a 4-year longitudinal survey of over 3,200 teenagers in major US denominations. These teens were all 13-17 years of age. Here are some of their findings:
- 75% of teens believe not only in a God who created the universe, but that He also is personally involved in their lives.
- 49% of teens feel very or extremely close to God.
- 60% of teens believe in some sort of afterlife.
- 72% believe that faith is very or extremely important in shaping everyday life.
- 39% of teens read the Bible on their own at least once a week.
- 67% of teens pray a few times a week or more. 56% pray with their parents (other than at mealtimes).
- 61% are in families that discuss their religious beliefs.
- 86% feel that adults in church are fairly easy to get to know.
- 41% do not believe in an absolute right or wrong.
- 24% are confused regarding right and wrong.
- 58% have cheated during the past school year.
These numbers might be encouraging if they weren’t from Christian youth. We might hope for better results to this survey. Now for a bit of bad news: The percentages I just gave represent teens not from various denominations but specifically from Southern Baptist denomination. That makes this information hit very close to home. Why do Christian youth have these struggles? Well, they are caught in tension, too, similar to what we already mentioned. Every day they hear the pluralistic message that beliefs are personal and relative, and it makes them question the trustworthiness of God’s word. This message is communicated at school, on TV, online, through their music, and through their friends. The voices of this message in their lives speak longer, louder, and more in number than the voices speaking God’s message of truth to them.
A Biblical Portrait of Youth Culture
I have, so far, painted a bleak, but realistic, picture of what youth – both Christian and non-Christian – are up against. But this would be a lousy place to leave things, because our God has a plan for young people today. He has a plan for teens, and it is no small one at that. Awhile back Pastor Mark asked me if I would be willing to give a message about youth culture, which brings us to this message. I think this is a subject that impacts each of us more than we realize. I won’t be simply giving a report about youth; my goal is to encourage you to find ways that you can come along our young people who face tremendous amounts of pressure. Youth, I hope you will be encouraged by this, too.
The Bible has a great deal to say about young people. In fact, the pages of Scripture are littered with examples of youth being used by God to have a big impact on the world around them. Joseph was probably in his teenage years when his brothers sold him into slavery; David was about the same age when God used him to slay Goliath, the giant that the entire Israelite army feared; Daniel and his friends were young teens when they were deported to a foreign land, only to rise to prominence as followers of the one true God; Jeremiah, too, was a youth when God called him to be a prophet to the Israelites, as we learned from the passage above.
Jesus, the first youth leader
You may be surprised to learn that Jesus was actually the first full-time youth leader on record. Most of His disciples were teenagers. While the text does not explicitly convey this, Matthew 17 records that only Jesus and Peter were required to pay the temple tax, even though all the disciples were present. Exodus 30:14 decreed that this temple tax was applicable only to men 20 years of age and older. That makes the rest of the disciples teens! Greg Stier, founder of Dare 2 Share ministries, says, “If I’m reading that right that means that Jesus was a youth leader with only one adult sponsor…and one really rotten kid!”[v]
I do want to clarify that this is a deduction based on the facts, so I don’t want to put too much stress on the text. Assume for the moment that this is true, however, and think about its implications. Jesus deliberately chose the disciples. He could have picked anyone – well-educated Israelite businessmen, adults already in a position of authority, people with more experience, respected religious leaders – you name it. Many other types of people would have logically made more sense, at least to us. As a local church body we reflect this in the way we operate: we elect people as ministry heads, deacons, and committee personnel based on their established character and abilities. But Jesus took a completely different approach. He selected young people, without experience, without reputation, and without training, to be His disciples.
Ability and Malleability
Now, he did not do this because the task was small. In fact the task was monstrous. These young guys were to carry on Jesus’ work after He ascended into heaven; they would need to found the church and establish new teachings and doctrines; they had to weather the early storms of disputes, factions, and persecutions that were to attack the early church.
Jesus’ selection was also not because He planned on systematically teaching young people in a safe, sterile environment. They travelled all the time! I wonder what He would have given for an old, rickety church van! I will admit that when it comes to travel we tend to have the advantage…at least if we exclude modes of transportation such as walking on water and miraculously teleporting a boat to the other shore of Galilee. The part the really bothers me, though, is that Jesus never had to deal with permission slips. No youth leader likes to deal with permission slips, and I suspect that this was the same for Jesus. I am especially amazed at Mark 6:7-13, where Jesus sends out the twelve, two by two, on a preaching and healing ministry across the region. Parents, how would you react if I were to plan a similar event? I use the word ‘plan’ loosely, because I wonder if this event had more than 3 minutes of advance preparation. Imagine if I announced that our youth would be pairing up with each other and hitching rides across the state to tell people about Jesus. The cost of the event would be free; as a matter of fact, no money of any kind was allowed to be brought along. Accommodations? Not my problem! They’ll find out where they’re staying when they get there, wherever “there” is. Now, what to pack? Nothing!
So why would such young people be chosen to carry out Jesus’ mission? I think the answer lies in the fact that teens have a unique blend of both ability and malleability. They are competent, yet shapeable. They have grown out of childhood dependence and are increasingly independent. At the same time, with all of their rapidly expanding skill sets, they still have yet to become entrenched, set in their ways, if you will.
I think Kenn Owens described this truth quite well once when he was talking with me about the youth hand bell group here at Redland. Kenn noticed that the youth bells group is very adept at picking up new techniques, making them much more open to change. Because they are used to learning new things and have less of a fear of making mistakes, they are able to approach ringing with different energy and enthusiasm levels.
Whether you buy into the theory that the disciples were mostly teens or not, the concept that God chooses to use teens to do big, courageous things is clear in the Bible. The examples mentioned of Joseph, David, Daniel and his friends, and Jeremiah, all give evidence to this truth. We might think entrusting this much responsibility to teens is foolish, but then it is wise to remember, as 1 Corinthians 1:25 tells us, that “the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
When the Spirit of God came upon the apostles at Pentecost, I think they proclaimed the Gospel with a vigor and enthusiasm that is not naturally found in the rest of us. They had an advantage because of their youthfulness. That is not to say that any of us cannot be enthusiastic, but we need to be more intentional about it. The truth is that we often are too focused on other things to really let go and be enthusiastic about Christ. There are lessons that we need to learn from the youth.
Learning from Youth
Do you remember the story of Mary and Martha? Luke 10:38-42 records their story.
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
These two sisters had Jesus into their home. Martha was the sister who I think kept a tidy house, knew all the right manners and customs, and set about to make the perfect accommodations for their guest, which included getting the food ready. Mary, on the other hand, probably hadn’t made her bed that morning. When she got dressed, she found the first thing lying on the floor and put it on. When Jesus came in she sat down with him and didn’t even bother helping Martha with all of their preparations. Martha was trying to get everything together, bringing some finger foods from kitchen and setting them down in front of Jesus; she didn’t look at him, though, so much as she glared at Mary. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Mary’s sandals and thought, “That’s the one thing I asked her to do – put away her sandals – and she couldn’t even do that!”
While I’m speculating, I also think Mary was oblivious to the obvious signals Martha was almost certainly sending her. Since Jesus knows all things, I think only Mary was surprised when Martha voiced her complaint. But his response to Martha was unexpected: Martha was the one who wasn’t doing what she should be doing.
Teens tend to do a great job at enjoying life. They usually don’t mind kicking back and relaxing or playing. As adults, we know a bit more about responsibilities. There are things that simply have to get done, and those teens aren’t doing them! Did you ever stop to think that maybe we are doing too much? Maybe we are the ones who need to enjoy this life God has given us? Other things should be said to balance out this concept; things like the fact that God has given us responsibilities, and things like the Puritan work ethic that says work is a gift from God and a way to please him. We will get to those in a bit. So, without giving our youth a free pass to constant R & R, are they setting an example that perhaps you need to follow sometimes?
After our youth meetings I frequently see Rick Leister embody this. He is one of our workhorses who keeps things in the barn running ship-shape. If it weren’t for him and our many hard-working youth workers, I would have a lot more on my plate. But I also see Rick take the time to play with the youth after the meetings. In the summer he is either chasing youth with water or being chased by them. Other times he is chatting with students. Every time he is staying later to continue the cleanup work that he could have finished sooner if he had simply kept working. But he has seen the value of stopping to enjoy life with our youth. Our other youth workers do similar things, too. Patricia Hollowell and Kristin Sullivan are known for finding time to spend with their small groups outside of the normal meetings. These are just examples of the fact that we have lessons to learn from our youth.
In reality, as adults we should enjoy life more than the youth do! As believers increasing in maturity, we should be able to find that balance between work and rest. The youth might tend toward the rest, but we too often tend to be workaholics. What can you do to balance the two?
Rising to the Challenge
In studying stories from the holocaust, I remember learning that in some camps, prisoners were required to move large piles of stones from one side of the camp to the other. The following day these same prisoners were forced to move those same piles back to the original side. The futility of their work was incredibly demoralizing to them. I don’t mean to be extremist, but in a similar way, teens do not often see the importance in doing things that are expected of them. Maybe you have heard the statement, “Why should I have to make my bed? It’s only going to get messed up again,” or “I don’t see why I need to do these math problems. I’m never going to use it in real life!” Well if you have heard or said things like this, then you understand that there is not much motivation to do things that seem pointless.
But I believe that youth will rise to meet the challenge of high expectations. As I mentioned before, they want a cause that’s worth caring about, worth living for. We just have to give it to them. A month ago 14 of our youth went to the Rebelution Conference, a one-day seminar that challenges teens to rebel against the low expectations placed on them by society and instead live for the ultimate cause – a life of commitment to Jesus. The whole premise is that we do not expect enough out of our teens. We set low expectations for them which aren’t met because they aren’t compelling. The response of society has been to further lower the bar. What if the bar is going in the wrong direction? I think that challenges set before youth today are so small that they don’t see a point in doing them.
Last weekend we took a trip with the youth to a corn maze in Thurmont. For years this place has boasted being the largest corn maze in Maryland, and for years I have been taking groups there. It wasn’t long ago that the place to check in was just a table. Now it’s a small building. Other changes have been made to enhance the maze experience. Concessions have been added, mazes are based off of movies – this year’s maze is based off of Ironman 2, and the movie was playing there on a big screen – a pumpkin cannon was put in place, a great looking website was introduced, and now groups can get a campfire there, too. But on this past visit I learned that the vision for most of these changes came from a now 17-year-old girl who is essentially running the whole program there. I am amazed to see the progress that has been made because this family run farm decided to give their daughter the opportunity to handle much of the business. Who would have thought cutting a path through a field of corn could be so lucrative?
About the Father’s business
Well if teens can rise up and do big things with the family business, imagine what can happen when they catch the vision for God’s business! As I look at this culture, I and many others see that this country is ripe for a spiritual awakening. Greg Stier, who I mentioned earlier, shares that if an awakening is going to come to this world, it isn’t going to come through adults but from young people! Well I agree with Greg. Ultimately, revival is going to encompass all generations – that is the only way for it to truly be healthy – but our generation of youth and young adults is the one that is most likely to have the enthusiasm to bring about the change.
Setting the example
Personally, I am amazed by the talents and abilities God has given our youth. This past Wednesday, in between an excellent worship set from our youth praise band, Brandy Todd, another youth of ours, shared her testimony and favorite Bible verse, 1 Timothy 4:12: “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” Brandy did an amazing job reminding us that youth will rise to the level of their expectations, which ultimately come from God, who transforms them.
Youth Need Your Involvement
We have mentioned that youth have a combination of ability and malleability; we have also realized that we have lessons to learn from their example, as 1 Timothy 4:12 implies; we also discussed that youth will rise to the level of their expectations. But now it must be mentioned that Youth need your involvement. Our youth ministry will be the healthiest when the most of us are investing in them. 1 Thessalonians 2:8 puts it this way: “So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.”
Paul says here that he and his fellow workers did not simply share God’s teaching with the Thessalonians; they shared themselves. They built relationships with them. Teaching is important, but it almost always needs an adhesive in the form of a relationship, a relational bond. As they say, people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care; if ever this statement were true, it is when it comes to our youth. They crave relationships and acceptance, and it doesn’t matter if you feel inadequate…all they need really is love!
I know it looks like I am the perfect guy to be working with youth, but few are the days that I feel that way. I have been self-diagnosed with AONCD – Almost Obsessive, Nearly Compulsive Disorder. I’m fairly meticulous. I like things neat and tidy; I like to plan out my day down to the minute; I LOVE proper punctuation, capitalization, and spelling, complete with a gratuitous use of commas. Most days things aren’t neat and tidy. If there is unused time on the microwave, I have to clear it before going to bed. When the dishes go in the dishwasher the knives have their basket, the forks have theirs, and so do the spoons. I know – they’re less likely to stick if you mix them, but I can’t handle it that way. Rarely do my daily plans work out perfectly. When they do, it’s fabulous! But most often, life gets in the way. I have distractions during my day. Sometimes youth have the audacity to ask questions about things that don’t deal with the lessons I teach. And have you ever read one of their text messages? Not grammatically sound. So the world of youth doesn’t always match up with my ideal environment.
There are days I think that I would be better off ministering to people who are near the padded cell where I belong. I remember once after speaking in front of people, a man approached me and told me he wanted to become a youth volunteer. His reasoning was that if I could do it then he certainly can. I didn’t and still don’t quite know how to take that. It does remind me though that I do not serve by my own strength. As a matter of fact, if I have some glaring weaknesses in the area of youth ministry, that’s just where God wants me, because it’s where God’s power will fully shine. 2 Corinthians 12:9 talks about this truth when it says, “But he [God] 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.” We could always use more youth volunteers, maybe that’s a consideration for you.
Be involved
But either way, I encourage you to be involved in the lives of our youth. Talk to them. Walk up to a circle of them in the foyer and introduce yourself. If you don’t know what to say, use me. You could say something like, “So what dumb things has Kevin done lately?” Instant conversation! Our youth have real needs, and they need to know that real people here care about them and support them. So many of our trips have life-changing value, but they aren’t affordable to everyone in our group. We set aside funds just for that in the youth budget, but we also created a youth sponsorship fund designed to help families with financial struggles. You could impact the direction of a teen’s life in that way.
Prayer warriors
Above all, I am trying to develop a team of people dedicated to pray by name for our students. This all came about through the help of a man named Forest Deal. Forest was a member of Halethorpe Community Church where I used to serve, and he stopped into my office a few times trying to give me resources. They were resources I didn’t particularly want or even ask for, but Forest was a bit pushy with them. There was a sense of urgency in his voice as he tried to give me materials. One day I asked him about it, and I learned something very powerful. Forest used to go down to the rescue mission and preach, but he gave it up. You see, Forest was 90 years old, and he knew he wasn’t having an impact on others. In an effort to feel used by God, he was trying to help me grow. After I learned this, I told him about a ministry opportunity – I wanted him to pray by name for our youth ministry every week. Forest took to this right away. Not only that, he decided to pray for the youth twice a week. Then, he became a cheerleader for our new youth prayer ministry and recruited a dozen more people to commit to the same task. This prayer goal is one that I have adopted here, but I wonder if a few of you would be willing to be like Forest and pray for our students.
We have talked about a lot here. I hope I have challenged you to think differently about our youth ministry, maybe even to further support them. You have the opportunity to help mold a generation of students to be more like Jesus. It is that Jesus who offers life-changing power. What is God telling you? How would he have you respond?
Works Cited
Lewis, C.S. Mere Christianity. New York: Walker and Company, 1987.
Scott, Darrell. Urban Legends. 27 May 1999. 14 October 2010.
St. Josephson Institute. Character Counts. 19 October 2010. 19 October 2010.
Stier, Greg. Why Teenagers? 13 October 2010.
[i] (Scott)
[ii] (St. Josephson Institute)
[iii] (Lewis) P. 9
[iv] (St. Josephson Institute) http://charactercounts.org/overview/faq.html.
[v] (Stier)