“Rebelize” Your Youth Group
I would like to focus, in this post, on the need for a specific type of reformation. The big focus of A Shining Salty City On Stand was the necessity of both individuals and community. While I did not directly mention this in that post, what we were talking about was a perfect description of the Body of Christ, the Church. A body has many different parts, all of which have different strengths and weakness, different functions and responsibilities, but who work together to accomplish the purpose of the Head, Jesus Christ. This is also true of a rebelution, which is why our first step must be to awaken the church.
It’s flattering when the world admires your maturity and vision. It’s incredibly gratifying when people jokingly say, “Wow! Whoever is taking the Democratic presidential nomination in 2040, watch out!” The problem with this is that it places you into the category of a “statistical anomaly.” We must not be satisfied with simply being better than the average teenager. Such a classification reinforces, rather than combats, the myth of adolescence. As the old saying goes, “The exception only proves the rule.”
When we’re an individual exception, we stand out as an individual. The tendency is to get comfortable with being “one-of-a-kind.” We then fail to encourage others to reach their full potential, because we don’t want them to steal our limelight. Such an attitude goes directly against the heart of a rebelution and is detrimental to its cause.
We cannot be elitist. We must fight for humility. Even while we decry the state of our fellow youth, we must not condemn or separate ourselves from them. The heart of a rebelution is the truth that all young people have the ability to accomplish much greater things than our culture would have them to think. Because of that, we must be constant encouragers. As Jesus said, “Let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.”
To be a rebelutionary, we must constantly strive to reduce the focus on ourselves as individuals, and to place the focus on the community of the Church. The only way to truly combat cultural expectations is to create a culture that results in an entire community of mature and responsible young people. To effect widespread change, we must produce such a communities in churches across the nation. Sadly, the average youth group in the U.S. today is falling incredibly short of this calling.
I challenge each of you to become a reformer among your church’s youth. Change the cultural expectations of young people in your local church. Create a local community that defies our culture’s expectations. The homeschool movement started with a vision to change the culture by reforming the home. The next step is to reform the church.
I want the comment section to be brainstorm central. Start by thinking about, and then pooling your answers, to the following preliminary questions:
1.) What is the current state of the youth culture in your church? Does it embrace or resist our society’s expectations?
2.) Who do you need collaborate with within your church in order to bring about change?
Please do not limit yourself to the above questions. Further questions and thoughts on the posts are encouraged. Soli Deo Gloria!
[Continue to Rebellion vs. Rebelution.]
September 10th, 2005 at 8:32 pm
Well, as one who homechurches (and believes it to be the best model), I would say that homechurches really don’t have the same problems that regular churches have with their youth groups, since, by nature, everyone is together in a homechurch (at least in most of them). “Those who walk with wise men will grow wise…” I have immensely enjoyed fellowshipping with my ‘elders’ as well as with my fellow youth; I would not trade that for a youth-only environment.
So….that’s my thought on this issue.
September 10th, 2005 at 8:45 pm
I wholeheartedly agree… My family started a church in our home back in 1998, and I cannot overstate the benefits it has had on my life. The problem, however, is if we allow ourselves to be isolated in our little home churches, and fail to reproduce and reform the Church as a whole. I know there are several others who read this blog who attend similar churches… Your thoughts?
September 10th, 2005 at 9:43 pm
Let me clarify…I am not talking about “family worship,” but a group of believers who meet in a house. Hebrews tells us to not give up meeting with other believers. I just think that the house model is best.
It is also better for evangelism, as most people would feel more comfortable coming over for a meal than ‘going to church.’
September 10th, 2005 at 11:26 pm
I am member of a home fellowship as well. We’ve been growing at an incredible rate lately, and it’s forcing us to define our vision and goals more clearly than ever. For years, God brought other homeschooling families to our church, and all the members were incredibly like-minded. Now, however, many of the people interested in our fellowship are believers who do not homeschool or who do not have school-aged children. This growth is exciting, but it raises new questions about unity and diversity. We definitely don’t have it figured out yet.
It’s fascinating that the discussion about what it means to be a rebelutionary is beginning to focus on the philosophical issue of the one and the many. I didn’t realize how far-reaching that philosophical dilemma was. I recently read the following quote in Fit Bodies, Fat Minds , by Os Guiness. It fits well with this discussion.
“The loneliness of the solitary genius was one of the false fruits of nineteenth century romanticism…Thinking Christianly, however, is different. It is inescapably individual, as all discipleship is. But it is also inescapably collective. For all discipleship is communal because every disciple is part of the body of Christ.”
September 10th, 2005 at 11:41 pm
Addendum - that was a beautiful post, and so very relevant. I’m really thinking about what the youth in my church could do as a group to participate in the rebelution.
An idea other readers could consider - my cottage school (one day/week tutorial school cornerstone-cottage-school.com) started a student service club for its teens this year. We are meeting once a month, going through a leadership course by Jeff Myers, and participating in various service projects. The club is run entirely by teens and the goal is to combat apathy by inspiring servant-leadership.
September 11th, 2005 at 1:34 am
1.) What is the current state of the youth culture in your church? Does it embrace or resist our societys expectations?
First of all, I’ve been very lucky in this regard. There was wordliness in “The House” (my youth group) but it was not NEARLY as bad as it is in others. In general, youth (and their leadership) embrace the culture, are in fellowship with it, and encourage it.
2.) Who do you need collaborate with within your church in order to bring about change?
Well, at the moment, we are looking for a new church (odd, the youth pastor - the reason for the near-lack of “culture” in our group - was moving out as well), so I can’t speak for myself. However, if it’s a standard church model, I would say try to start with the youth themselves. It’s a radical idea, I know, but perhaps it will work. If not, go to the youth leadership and other adults in the congregation. If all else fails, go to the elders/pastors and give it into their hands. All the while, never stop working for it among the youth. Persistence is the key.
September 11th, 2005 at 2:30 am
1.) What is the current state of the youth culture in your church? Does it embrace or resist our societys expectations?
Well…my church doesn’t do the youth group thing. I go to Heritage Family Church. They believe that it’s not the pastor’s job to teach the children about Jesus. That’s the parent’s job. The pastor is to reinforce that. So thankfully I can answer it resists society’s expectations. However, I have been in churches that have youth groups, and that get pretty worldly. Yes, they have a dress code, yes they have rules…but you have to be careful. In your “Why Women Are Exposing Themselves” series, the statement was made, “What you attract them with, you attract them to.” I believe that not only applies to that, but to this issue as well. If we are attracting the youth of the city, or country with the type of music they listen to, with pool tables, and video games, then that’s what they’ll come for. Now, I’m not saying that it’s wrong to have a youth group, (although I don’t believe in them) I don’t see anything in the Bible against it. And I’m not saying it’s wrong to have a pool table in your youth group…but you have to be so careful, and it’s a really thin line…
Marshall
September 11th, 2005 at 5:24 am
Excellent point, Marshall. I like the way you applied the “what you draw them with you draw them to” statement to youth groups. I think it was an accurate cross-application.
As a clarification, if we haven’t mentioned this already, our doesn’t have a youth group either.
September 11th, 2005 at 3:30 pm
Wow. That post was awesome. The concept of focusing on collective excellence as opposed to individual “statistical anomalies” was something I had totally missed. I think I’ve had way too much of a separatist and elitist attitude, and your comments were a bucket of cold water in my face. (I mean that positively, of course!)
My church is very similar to a home church, except that we meet in a hospital cafeteria, not a house. We don’t have a typical youth group, but we do have a separate study group for kids 6-12. We felt this was the best temporary solution in light of the fact that the families in our church are woefully unprepared right now to implement a completely integrated model.
Among the problems we face is that there is only a single whole family unit in the whole church (my family). The rest of the members are either single or have extremely splintered families. Fathers are in short supply. Additionally, there are significant discipline problems, and a problem with lack of education. All this makes it very hard to try to keep everyone together in a family-centered model.
However, like I said, our youth group is treated as a temporary solution, and the idea is to get kids out of the group as soon as possible (some have already “graduated”).
Also, we look for ways to bring the kids and the adults together. For example, everyone stays together during lunch, and during praise and testimony time, and we only split up for the Bible study segment. Also, we try to encourage the kids to help with preparation and cleanup, etc. So far, I think this approach has helped solve some immediate problems, but without creating any real sense of an isolated “youth culture.”
September 14th, 2005 at 2:09 am
1.) What is the current state of the youth culture in your church? Does it embrace or resist our societys expectations?
I think if they are not in love with Christ then they slip into the snare of society’s expectations. After all, it is the love of Christ that constrains and prompts us to obey His commands. Honestly, I think the root problem in our generation is we simply don’t know the Lord or His Word.
Consequently, I’ve been talking to my friends at church and school about the Lord, and it’s amazed me how they’ve responded! I initially thought they wouldn’t be interested in talking about Him, but they are! Lives are actually being changed and people are growing in their Christian walks. Can you tell I’m excited? =)
September 14th, 2005 at 6:48 pm
We must not be satisfied with simply being better than the average teenager. Such a classification reinforces, rather than combats, the myth of adolescence. As the old saying goes, “The exception only proves the rule.”
Jordan, you have really hit the nail on the head. When I was a youth a great deal was often made about how well behaved I was, and how I never rebelled against my parents. It always disturbed me. One of the reasons for this is just what you’ve pointed out: by lifting me up as exceptional, the grown-ups were giving implicit acknowledgement of the “rule” my exception supposedly proved. The truth is that the question “will you or will you not rebel against your parents” is a remedial question to begin with. If you decide “I won’t get my eyebrows pierced and sell crack,” you’re then left with a bigger and better question: “what will you do then?”
The real danger for youths intent on rebelution is that these smarter-than-the-average-bear kudos can become the new (and easy) standard. Unfortunately we often get praise for things which weren’t particularly difficult to achieve. If we focus on the props and encouragement of those who have low expectations for us, we become mediocre.
It can be challenging to set our sights on excellence, particularly when we’re hearing that we’re already there. One of life’s greatest lessons, which we all must learn could be expressed in the phrase, “That was nothing. Watch this.”
Now on to the application: I think it is appropriate for excellence-focused rebelutionists to call their youth leaders, pastors, teachers and parents on their faint praise for standing out. Challenge yourselves and others to call the normal things “normal”, and save that word “excellence” for things which really are.
September 15th, 2005 at 6:18 pm
As I follow this discussion, I thought I might jump in and comment on the issue of how an individual can \”rebelutionize\” his or her youth group, church or any other social context. This question goes to the heart of why the Apostles went about preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and not merely the Gospel of individual salvation.
The Gospel of God\’s grace purchased for us by Christ on the cross brings regeneration or new birth to each individual who believes in his or her heart that Jesus is Lord (i.e. Sovereign over all that is) and that God the Father raised this Jesus from the dead. This believing sets off a chain reaction in one\’s soul that literally recreates and reorganizes all of reality. It is more than a paradigm shift, but it does include a new way of looking at everything.
If Jesus is Lord then nobody else is Lord. Not your self, not your parents, not your spouse, not your boss, not your pastor, not the government, not money, not sex, nothing. Jesus is Lord. His will is now more than your law, it is your delight. Doing His will is the only sane thing to do in light of who He is and what He has accomplished. Anything else would be crazy.
Now just because Jesus is Lord, and all of these other people and things are no longer Lord, does not mean that they have no more place in your life. They are all very important in their proper places because they comprise the context in which you are to walk in the obedience of your faith in Christ. This is where the Gospel of the Kingdom comes into play. God\’s kingdom comes where God\’s will is done on earth. That is what we pray in the Lord\’s prayer and it is happening now as born again people trust Jesus enough to actually obey Him in a situation.
As Paul wrote in Ephesians, having been saved by faith alone without works, \”You are now Christ\’s workmanship, prepared for good works that you should walk in them.\” God has prepared you for the good works and He has prepared the good works for you.
(cont\’d next comment)
September 15th, 2005 at 6:20 pm
The good works God has prepared for you to do are all in the contexts of relationships you have with others in your family, your church and your community. You are a rebelutionary. You have been transferred out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. Now, Jesus commands you, through Paul, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” So, as a Christian young adult, you are to honor and obey your parents for the Lord. Even if they are not Christians, or if they are not yet mature Christians, God wants you to “obey” them in ways they may not even have thought of yet. Be an example of a believer. A believer in what? A believer in the person, Jesus Christ, who is Lord. and a believer in the objective historical fact that God raised Jesus from the dead and so will raise you from the dead too. As one free from the fear of death and the fear of lack, go love others from a pure heart, fervently. In the Old Testament circumcision was the sign of the covenant, but in the New Testament “neither circumcision nor uncircumcision are anything, but faith working though love” is now everything! By this love all will know that you are Christ’s students, because you love one another. By this you yourself can know that you have passed out of death and into life, because you love your brothers and sisters in Christ. Love is now the sign of the covenant. Love is the keeping of the entire law of God. We are to build one another up in love. We are to spur one another on to love and good deeds. God’s kingdom on earth comes in power whenever and wherever redeemed human beings trust God enough to actually obey Him by loving one another in practical ways. In fact, God asks us to show our love for Him by the way we love one another.
So how do you “rebel against the darkness and the lies of this world.” Seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness in relation to that kingdom. Get into relationships of love and respect and watch what your King can do with a little leaven hidden in three measures of flour. It will ultimately permeate all things as God reconciles all things in heaven and on earth to Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ. That, my young friends is “rebelutionary.”
October 20th, 2005 at 3:48 pm
My youth group is going through serious changes right now. My church flooded from Katrina so our church has been meeting somewhere else. Alot of people are in different states still, but the great thing about it all is that God is doing so much.
October 29th, 2005 at 5:59 pm
What is the current state of the youth culture in my church?
October 29th, 2005 at 6:01 pm
Woops, I posted that one before I finished. My church is very conservative, and we do not have a youth group. We do, however have an option of family sunday school or graded sunday schools. Are you saying that this is evil?
October 29th, 2005 at 7:21 pm
Anonymous: Of course not! Not at all. Our church doesn’t have those things, and we think it bears better fruit, but it isn’t a matter of good and evil practice. If your approach is bearing good fruit for the Kingdom of God, then keep going!
January 9th, 2006 at 8:44 am
Wow. I just read this whole series for the first time, and it was very good, and got me thinking, a lot.
The biggest thing I have a hard time with is that adults, knowingly or not, have an extremely hard time thinking of the teenagers that culture has created as anything more than mere annoyances that they have to wait for them to grow up.
1.) What is the current state of the youth culture in your church? Does it embrace or resist our societys expectations? It is not as bad as some places where friends have gone, but the majority of the youth in our church certainly embrace culture,
And that really spurns a question, and that is, what is a way to gain support from adults in the process of becoming more than just a teenager?
2.) Who do you need collaborate with within your church in order to bring about change? The biggest difficulty, is that the majority of the youth in our church, are average teenagers, who don’t want to work for anything more. And so I believe it might be very hard to get people willing to collaborate. Although, I think that the biggest help would be the parents of the youth. Because if they can’t get encouragement from their own parents, then who else are they going to feel that they can turn to?
February 7th, 2006 at 3:51 pm
I agree that many adults have a difficult time seeing that teens can be “more than mere annoyances.” I see the battle on two fronts: teens need to be challenged and adults need to have their minds changed.
My husband and I are doing all we can to cast a different vision to parents of what their children can be with their help and the help of the church. I just stumbled onto your blog from your brother’s blog and immediately sent the link to our youth pastor.
March 7th, 2006 at 8:00 pm
What advice would you have for college students? How can someone who now looks back on High School affect that group?
April 26th, 2006 at 10:21 am
Thanks guys, after reading your posts I always leave feeling inspired to go out into the world and be a true Rebelutionary to the Glory of God. I realised after reading this post that we are to be like a city on a hill so that people see the difference in us, only to discover that it is not we ourselves who have produce this difference but that we are mere reflections of the perfect man -namely Jesus, thereby bringing more glory to the name of God!
May 26th, 2006 at 9:25 pm
Hey guys,
I have enjoyed reading your blog. I think you are on the right track. I have some advice for you and your zeal. Go to www.livingwaters.com and listen the the Hells best kept secret audio. I think it may give you guys some direction that you may need.
Your Brother in Christ,
James S.
September 8th, 2006 at 6:05 am
1.) What is the current state of the youth culture in your church? Does it embrace or resist our society’s expectations?
Youth? In our church? hahahahahahaha!
Seriously, I think we’re in a bad way. There is a separate Sunday school for kids aged around 5-12 during Sunday worship which is okay - they learn about God, Jesus, the Bible etc. This means they are hardly ever in church with the rest of us; the regular congregation only includes about five people in their 20s (including myself and my husband). There are two mid-week groups for youth but both are social, despite claiming to be the ‘church groups for young people’. As such, they offer no form of discipleship for the young people - the attitude seems to be that anyone under 20 is far too young to be thinking about such serious things. The only attempts to resist society’s expectations is that the leaders should be ‘nice’, and then the kids will magically develop relationships with Jesus.
2.) Who do you need collaborate with within your church in order to bring about change?
I really don’t know on this one. The vicar (pastor - we’re in England by the way) would welcome ideas but doesn’t have time to do anything himself, and seems unwilling to confront the leadership fo the groups (which is entirely inappropriate in the case of the older teenagers’ group). There are a few people who might want to get involved but they are already involved in a lot of other minstry areas and again, may not have time. Some parents are already involved; the others are no Christians themselves, or seem unconcerned with their children’s spiritual growth - again the attitude that 12, 13, even 16 or 17 is really too young to be worrying about these ‘deep’ matters.
We really need a fresh outpouring of God’s spirit on the kids, for them to desire Jesus and want to grown in truth and love, and on the adults, to want to disciple the kids (and be discipled themselves in preparation for this task). And on me, because I truly have no idea what to do next.
October 11th, 2006 at 6:16 pm
This is perhaps more in response to the comments than the original post. I wanted to provide another perspective to the “no youth group is best” feel expressed here. My family did not attend church (even on Easter Sunday!). However, in junior high my sister and I began attending church. I confess that the primary reason my older sister was able to convince me to try church was that I knew a bunch of the junior high kids from school. This church had a good size youth group that was quite active.
While I appreciate the idea of fully integrating youth into the church, and not separating them from the larger church, I know that I probably would have resisted going to church without the youth group. Mostly, I would have felt very awkward and out of place because my parents did not go to that or any other church. While a youth group can be overly entrenched in the world’s culture, it does not have to be. A church can also be overly entrenched in the world’s culture also, with or without a youth group. A good youth group can be transformative and evangelistic, bringing in youth from non-church backgrounds and giving them a solid grounding in the Word (the kind they don’t get at home because the parents don’t have that to give).
Just another perspective (admittedly, I haven’t been a youth in about 20 years).
October 18th, 2006 at 3:09 pm
Well, I think that sometimes it can be very healthy and affective to have a youthgroup - it just depends on the vision and leadership and focus. The church I attend does have a youth group in which the junior high and highschool meet together and then join the adults in the church service afterwards. Many of these kids are being raised by separated parents, grandparents, or a family in which only one parent is a believer. Without a youth group I don’t think that many of them would have ever come. Going to church can be intimidating when one has not grown up as a Christian and I think it’s much more inviting to join a group of friends in a more casual setting (but again - the focus must be on God and the purpose he has for the group).
November 16th, 2006 at 12:16 am
What is the current state of the youth culture in your church? Does it embrace or resist our society’s expectations?
~One thing that seems to happen with my youth group (that I do not like) is that the youth group becomes peoples’ “family”. My dad warns my sister and I about this and tells us that if the youth group beomes like that for us then we won’t be able to go. Because during the week, aside from youth group, there is Well Group (Bible study) and service team.
In the youth group itself, however… I think that it resists most of today’s society’s expectations. I haven’t really had much of a chance to observe what happens, though, as we have just recently joined this youth group.
December 18th, 2006 at 5:41 pm
Kyleigh: What did you mean by “peoples’ “family”"?
January 9th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
The youth ministry that I am in is not like your ordinary youth ministry. Our youth minister is a former Army ranger. The slogan for our youth ministry is “Outfitting Students for Life”, kind of an outdoor theme, goes along with our building called “The Shack”.
Our youth ministry does not do a whole lot of big events. We do Summer camp, sometimes winter camp, and a disciple now usually. We rely on small groups. We believe in life change through small groups. It is different then what we used to be a long time ago, but its cool.
We have a bunch of skaters in our youth ministry and I think that is good because we need to reach out to them. Our services on wednesday nights and sunday mornings is very biblical-oriented. We have an awesome worship time and an awesome time to grow in the Word.
January 18th, 2007 at 6:27 am
I don’t know if I have any autority in this matter, seeing as I have been to only one youth group meeting several years ago. However, the condition of that particular group is shown by their eagermess to put me in “office” because I was the only one of my grade who actually knew my Bible! Since that time when I kept turning down nominatons I have come to firmly believe in the evils of the youth group. In what would have been mly youth group they may have had a five or ten minute lesson; the rest of their time was spent in the game room. This church did not have any home-schooling families in it aside from our own, which may have been a reason I went to that first meeting. I wanted to “fit in.” Okay, so it was a bad reason in the first place, but when I saw what was going on in that room it convinced me never to go again. I saw twelve to seventeen-year-olds kids acting like four-year-olds! Sure there were times when I was tempted to go back, especially when my peers asked me to go. They used the wrong arguements on me though; things like puppet shows and big screen tvs were mentioned. At that time I was still attending my Sunday school class, and the change I saw in my friends when they reached middle school was severe! By the end of seventh grade Sunday school was torture; after the first few weeks of eighth grade I stopped going, with my parents full agreement.
My family is now going to a family-integrated church. The youth there are mature and can interact with adults better than my old friends could with each other! In order to reform the church does it not mean raising up Godly young men to be leaders of their future families, church, and government; and Godly young women who will gladly submit to their fathers and later to their husbands? Reforming the family is definitely the first step of reforming the church, but how will boys learn to be men when they’re cooped up in Sunday school with their own grade? The same goes for girls, except it might perhaps be worse! The women today are manish! How will our girls learn to be Godly young women who submit when there are not too many women who do that now!?? Oh well, my thoughts are getting jumbled now.
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January 31st, 2007 at 7:29 pm
I’ve had a great time in my youth group…we have about 40 people every sunday night from grades 6-12. The great thing about it is that the leaders treat us like adults…not like little kids who are still learning basic doctrinal stuff. Our teaching is expository and in depth, but it focuses on application to our lives, which is really neat.
Sure we play games and go crazy and have fun times with each other, and that stuff is important, but the greatest thing that I have gotten out of it is the fellowship. Meeting other Christian teens going through the same stuff you are is really encouraging. I was able to start a small group bible study with people from yg and i have seen how God has used that to form a prayer network where we all care and pray earnestly for one another.
So just as an encouragement: there are good youth groups out there and youth groups ARE good, as long as they are focused on the right things!
February 15th, 2007 at 7:07 pm
I think I am way late with this comment, but I will add my two cents anyway. What Marshall said awhile ago about drawing kids in with their music, video games, and culture is really the key problem in the church youth group today. I have attended a couple of different youth groups and both times I have left because of the problem of appealing to kids outside of church throuh their culture and trying to make the groups “fun,” while not really focusing on spiritual growth. We should try to draw kids in. But let’s due it by making the bible exciting not by appealing to kids through culture. If we can start doing this it would help out the state of youth groups alot.
March 18th, 2007 at 7:56 pm
I have recently been feeling called to revolutionize my youth group. One of the biggest problems I see is that many don’t have God as the first priorty. They will come to youth group or do other “churchy” things as long as it doesn’t interfere with school, their social life or anything else. I want to see that changed, and so does my youth pastor. But what can I do? I know I need to and I want to, I just don’t know how. Do you have any advice or suggestions?
April 2nd, 2007 at 2:45 pm
As a highschooler who has voluntarily pulled out of my church’s youth group, I definitely agree with what Nathaniel said above about drawing kids into a youth group through what our culture deems “cool”. By using music, games, and other “fun” activities to draw kids in, what are the youth leaders doing? Entertaining the teens? Mind you, I’m not saying that games and other fun activities are bad. However, there is a time for that, and a time to focus on our walk with Christ. In a youth group, the focus should be on God, not on hanging out with friends or having fun. Fun isn’t bad to have in a youth group either - it just shouldn’t be the focus. How many kids come because of just the fun activities? Is that what a youth group should be about? Does the Bible become only something on the side instead of the focus?
Hebrews says that the Word of God is “living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword…” (4:12) We do not need to try to stifle the truth by making it look attractive to the world. Let the Word of God speak for itself and work through the hearts of everyone who hears it.
April 26th, 2007 at 6:48 am
My youth group, to put it bluntly, is terrible. All we do is hang out and play games. No worship, except on 5th Sundays. The jr. high & sr. high are kept totally separate. Our new youth pastor wanted to change this. We came up with some great ideas: small groups, worship, and a family youth dinner. However, when we presented this, we were met with much opposition from the sr. high girls who were worried about us taking away their “fun time”. “I’ve already worshipped on Sunday morning. I come back to church at night to blow off steam.” Now our youth pastor is leaving, and if our new one doesn’t make some changes, I must say, I probably won’t be going to youth group. However, I am severely disappointed, as I love going and I feel like the only one with a dysfunctional group.
May 5th, 2007 at 7:35 am
At our former church (had to move) we had an excellent youth group. We had detailed studies twice-weekly, which were mainly attended by church youth. There were also specifically planned “fun” events. As well as being fun for the group, they were an opportunity to disciple the non-Christian friends that would come.
I think that a youth group should decide if they are ministering to the youth of the church, or to youth in general. Trying to combine the two seems to end up with some people being bored during the lesson, and others not being satisfied with the depth of the lesson.
June 9th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
Hey guys, I just saw an ad for your website in the WORLD magazine, and I must say I am very impressed.
As a 16-year old, I am involved in youth group. As a Christian, I am involved in our particular youth group. Our youth group (by no means perfect, but better than some) differs from most youth group in several ways. First of all, girls (the reason I wanted to join “A” youth group) and boys are seperated during the study. Great idea, as we guys can actually focus on the creator rather than the creation. It has also made me start coming for the right reasons.
Secondly, our lesson lasts about three times as long as the music, and our music lasts twice as long as our goof-off time. The fact that we have goof-off time could be a problem, but I’ll get to that. Worship in music is great, but the purpose of youth group is to raise young men and women to praise God always, not just when we’re singing. So we spend the better part of our time learning from the Bible.
Which brings me to my third point. I haven’t really experienced enough different youth groups to know the accuracy of this statement, but it seems to me that your average youth group spends more time watching devotional movies and learning from Christian publications rather than from the Bible. Granted, these things can be good, but not if they distract us from the source of it all.
But enough said about how good my youth group is. Like I said, it’s by no means perfect.
First of all, our youth pastor is barely in his twenties, younger than a few of those who attend. He is also engaged to one of the youth, but that’s a different story. The point is, sometimes he has to teach us things he hasn’t fully learned himself. And we look at him more as a peer than as a leader.
How do we solve this? Fortunately our youth pastor realizes that he doesn’t have all the answers, so occassionaly he’ll invite one of the churches more mature adults to come give a lesson, or we’ll watch a short movie and discuss it (with our Bibles handy) afterwards.
Speaking of peers, our youth group suffers from the same thing youth groups all over the world (as well as public schools) suffer from. The kid-to-adult ratio. I’m not necessarily talking about age here. I’m talking about spiritual maturity. Proverbs says that “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another” or something along those lines. The only problem is, most of us aren’t iron. We’re still in the “fool” stage, and Proverbs talks a lot more about the influence of fools than iron sharpening iron. So, just like public schools, we have twenty kids against a couple adults. Most of us tend to worry a lot more about what the other kids think than what our youth pastor or God think.
How do we solve this? The obvious solution would be to get more adults involved. But I don’t believe this is the most effective way. Why? Because we expect adults to be the mature, strong individuals they are, and we don’t think WE have to act like that until we’re older. Like you said, our expectations for ourselves are too low. So I believe the best way to do this is to involve as many strong Christian youth as we can. Sadly, many of these good kids have given up on youth groups, so we need to do something that will bring them back. Like focus the youth group on God, not fun.
Which brings me to goof-off time. Okay, so this might be alright for an evangelical youth group. Non-Christian kids have no desire to spend two hours reading a book they consistently make fun of. But if there is going to be a goof-off time involved, there should be an evangelical message. Every once in a while our youth group will have a bowling night or something, then the youth pastor will give a fun, evangelical message. But most nights, we should save the goofing off for later, and get to the meat.
And, for what it’s worth, that’s what I think. Your stuff is really convicting, so keep up the good work!
June 12th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
I am a youth pastor seeking the Lord to see what HE wants to do in our youth group. We meet 2x a week. Wednesday nights are more discipleship/one on one time in the Word together. And then Sunday nights are the worship and preaching nights. I preach/share with the students what God has laid upon my heart to share. I want to be open to the Holy Spirit’s leading, and also in turn, teach the kids to lean upon God and His Word because it is ALIVE!!! My goal is that when the kids graduate and go on to college and careers, that above the roar of the world, they hear GOD’S voice speaking to them on a daily basis.
It encourages me to read the previous blogs of kid’s crying out to hear more of the Word. This generation is BRILLIANT and very CREATIVE!!!! Our God is up to something GREAT and it is up to us as leaders to be equipping this generation for what God has in store!
Our youth group is unique, or so I have been told, because they LOVE to be together! We do stuff together off and on throughout the week, and they LOOK FORWARD to being together and talking and laughing together. They are all friends. God has so blessed us!
My pastor continually encourages me to keep giving the kids THE WORD OF GOD, and he reminds me that THAT is a successful youth group. My pastor does not base success on numbers, but on what God is doing in the hearts of the YOUTH!!! THAT’S A REBELUTION!!!
LOVE YOUR WEBSITE!!!! God bless you and keep UP the good WORD!!!
August 1st, 2007 at 8:27 pm
Alexandra: I am so sorry about your youth group! I’m praying that your fellow peers catch your eagerness to use church time as a time to grow spiritually and worship and praise the Lord!
Michael: Hey! that’s how i learned about the Rebelution too! :c) (through WORLD magazine) I empathize for your youth group situation… (and i’m also praying for your situation)
August 12th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
1.) What is the current state of the youth culture in your church? Does it embrace or resist our society’s expectations?
My youth group is curently in a process of finding itself. The youth want to embrace change but our church elders have a big part in trying to help keep us on the right path.
2.) Who do you need collaborate with within your church in order to bring about change?
the Elders in the church are the group we collaborate with the most because they do there best to teach us of their mistakes, so that we may improve our community.
August 20th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
I’ve been involved in a youth group for about a year now and I used to love it. We had an AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING youth pastor and his wife was GREAT too. They were really into God, and they weren’t the type who looked into God at Church, then if you looked at their home family, it was like seeing 2 totally different pictures. Basically, they rocked, and I felt like I, along with many other members of the youth group, really took off in our faith in Christ. In short, it was wonderful.
However, back in April, I got a letter saying that today (april 18, I think) that the youth pastor and his wife were leaving the youth group. Needless to say, I was very upset. And it wasn’t really because they wanted to (they knew at somepoint in the future that they would leave) but becuase our lead pastor told them too. This caused alot of problems with me, like the fact that the wife, and sometimes the youth pastor, had made alot of promises, and becuase they were leaving, these promises couldn’t be kept.
What I’m getting to is that the lead pastor said he was aking them to leave becuase he felt that’s what was best for the Church and what God was telling him was best. (I don’t remember his exact words.) But since then, the youth group has become pretty, well, lousy. I don’t really see any way this could be what God says is best. Does it even really matter? I’m rather cunfuzzeled as to where I/the youth group should be going now, and am curious if any of y’all have ideas…
August 21st, 2007 at 6:17 am
This is an awesome article! In my church, I have some click problems and it’s really hard not to get sucked into them. I am homeschooled and most people at my youth group tend to hang out with the people they go to school with (so you can guess that I get left out alot of times). I don’t want to be part of a click and I want to be inclusive to everyone but I’m not sure how to do that sometimes. This article (and blog in general) is very encouraging! It gives me a new way to think and even another way to be different (being homeschooled, a PK and now part of the Rebelution:)). It also gives me a direction to shoot for… not being part of the crowd and trying to be a leader. I mean, who else is going to follow a path if they have no one to lead them? This article has made me realize… I CAN LEAD!!!
September 2nd, 2007 at 11:07 am
Wow. As I keep reading this posts I keep getting more and more of a taste of what the idea of this is. We are not here to say: Hey guess what all you teenagers that aren’t rebelutionaries, we’re going to heaven and you are not. We need to spread the word to other teens, not deny them. We should fair our faith generously. In church today, Pastor Tim was talking about sharing, well sharing to make God more well known. This includes money and faith. My youth group is small and we are all good friends. As far as I know, I’m the only rebelutionary. ( We don’t have meetings in the summer.) I really need to bring this idea up to my Youth Leader.
September 24th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
I would like to address a few issues I’ve read about so far. Hopefully I’ll keep it short enough to where it’s not boring.
One:
I saw someone complaining of how some churches learn more from video, other sources, etc than actually just reading the bible. There is a lot of truth to this, but also some confusion. One of the many many things Paul wrote was “Be all things to all people.” Basically, what this is saying, is that the presentation of your message can change to reach different people, but the message should always come from the bible. This raises an interesting question. Can you “preach” without ever even mentioning scripture? Can you share God’s love without directly referencing scripture and it be perfectly right? I believe the answer is yes. Some people will be reached by certain ways to present the bible that others will not. For instance, how relevant something would be could change dramatically from me, a pk and churchgoer all my life to someone who’s never read a bible before and never really heard of Jesus. It’s the same thing with all the different translations we have today. Some are really modern. Others are not. My personal favorite is NLT, but that’s just me. And I’m sure many others and most others would disagree with me because a different translation helps to reach them personally more than my personal preference. The presentation can change. But the message stays the same.
Second, I’d like to address the issue where some bloggers mentioned that they had a home church and liked it better than a “isolated” youth group because of the fact that person got to learn from people with more experience than that person had. Diversity in a church is absolutely essential and I’m not really even talking about the color of your skin. Age, backgrounds, newer or older christians, etc. They should all be in today’s churches. Because it does no good to target specefically 20-30 somethings in your church because how are they going to learn from people with just plain more life experience than they have. The bible (and I believe it’s in proverbs, but I could be wrong) instructs the old to teach the young inside the church. If you don’t have both older people and younger people, how can you fulfill that role? Also, if a church is dominantly male or female, I do not believe that’s healthy either. None of this is said by myself to condemn your own churches or anything like that. I’m just repeating what the bible says.
In my youth group, it is not “isolated”, we actually have adult leaders usually around the age of 35-50 that are there and help out with certain things. Our youth pastor also talks with them regularly. Because as one person mentioned, a younger youth pastor (ours is 21) has simply not lived enough more than you to really know a whole lot more than you do as far as just having more life experience. He’d be the first one to admit it too.
Anyways, one point I’d like to emphasize as I end this is that a lot of christians argue thinking all issues are black and white. They’re not. Some are obviously, when the bible clearly states that. But when it comes to how you run things and more minor details like that, there’s on set rules you follow. Let’s try to be understanding of each other’s often very different churches and find some middle ground.
October 20th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
The problem with “most” youth groups i’ve seen is that they focus on a “safe environment” where “good Christian kids” are allowed to flirt, sometimes swear, say they’re sorry, and dress like a dime-store floosy. I’m getting increasingly tired of youth group being a hang-out with no difference from the rest of the world except for a prayer at the end.
I completely understand why some churches do not have a youth group, and I whole-heartedly salute them. However, I’ve been raised in a church and i’m not going to abandon it. The problem is getting “Christian kids” to really care about anything Christian. (Along with maybe the youth leaders themselves who are trying to reach the community in a more wordly way.) “My ideas” (really, many of your ideas) are considered too legalistic. They say i am missing out on what it means to be a kid. How do you encourage young people who are so comfortable in their ways to think along the lines portrayed on this site?
P.S. I’ve tried praying but i also need ideas. Any brilliant minds out there? : )
October 29th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
OK, first off this “The Myth of Adolesence” series is awesome! It’s extremely encouraging. I actually heard of this through an adult in our youth group. For people who think a home church with no youth group is “better” I just have one thing to say. It could be better for you, I don’t believe that is a black and white subject.
The previous church we went to had a “youth group,” but they could have called it the “Come and Flirt” group. It was disgusting. I wasn’t allowed to go.
But the church I go to now has a wonderful youth group. They’re all strong in the Lord, we have strong adult leaders-and by adults I mean people in the 30-50 age range-our youth group is mostly Christians, but we’re always encouraged to bring friends, especially those who need God or need more God. Also, most events at our church are events for people of all ages, our pastor, church, and youth believe strongly in the blessing of mixing elder and youth. We all (meaning the youth) know that they are wiser than us and we turn to them.
So I think that, while some youth groups may be worldly get-togethers, some can also be wonderful and edifying teaching.
Once again, thanks for doing this website and especially this series. It’s really cool!
God bless you all!
I’m praying!
Emmy
December 17th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
First of all, I pray that God will bless your efforts to call people to a higher standard. It is a big calling and a needed calling.
your question presupposes that ‘youth’ is a sub-set of the current Church culture. In order to reform the ‘Church’ we have got to rise above the current mode of operation and uncover some fundamental truths. Such as:
1 - the youth culture in a church reflects the adult culture. to some extent change must come from the top down. If the leaders and adults are selfish, the youth will be selfish. it is also a reflection of what is going on at home. a GREAT youth ministry is only a shadow of good parenting. Youth ministry has never been the answer, yet it is a valuable asset to many parents.
2- youth ministries are only as good as the youth who attend. Ministry in the suburbs is vastly different than inner-city youth ministry. another piece of the pie is the leader, however, a focus on the Word, service, expositional teaching, and all the rest will sometimes fall on deaf ears… A wise man once said, “the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” the main thing in church is Christ. We should not focus on the false assumption that we are either ‘embracing or resisting society’, this is a false dychotomy because that assumes that society is always wrong. American culture is, in many ways, synonymous with church culture, and vise-versa. Reformation in the church should come in defining Christ- ‘In culture, Against culture, and Through culture.’
January 26th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
That was an amazing post. This is such a major issue in the church today. What did Jesus say at the great commission? Go out and make DISCIPLES of all nations. Often, we like to get people saved, and get all hyped up about a conference that’s going on, but all too rarely, do we follow up with new believers, and help them grow, and DISCIPLE them. Yes, they’re saved, but now, let’s teach them to live in victory in Christ so that they not only have hope in eternal life, but that they’re not miserable in everyday life anymore. God has much more than just salvation for us, and please realize I’m not trying to discount how amazingly mind-blowing that salvation is.
April 8th, 2008 at 11:21 am
As a pastor of youth & families in a conservative reformed church I find this to be a very intriguing discussion. I have personally wrestled with how to conduct a ministry to students in a way that encourages parents to be the primary spiritual influence on their teens, while also fulfilling the very real responsibility the church has to shepherd and disciple teens in a way that supplements (rather than undermine) the work of the parents.
One of the realities that I have to deal with is the fact that only a small percentage of parents seem to take this mandate seriously. So by default, the church and youth ministry become the primary sources of spiritual instruction for many Christian teens. My ministry as a pastor includes shepherding parents, encouraging them to get involved in the spiritual growth of their teens, inviting their presence at youth meetings (we have no parent-prohibited meetings or events), providing teaching that is biblical and Christ-centered, and providing opportunities for teens and parents to serve others and “do hard things” together for God’s Kingdom. However, this is only effective to the degree that parents make the commitment to be involved. And when parents choose to not to get involved, my responsibility as a pastor to their son or daughter is not lessened. I still must call the parents to take their mandate seriously, but I also must continue to faithfully teach the teenager who comes to church looking for answers.
I also want to challenge the notion that all organized youth ministry in the church undermines the role of parents. While it may be generally true, it is not always true. Nor does the abscence of a youth ministry guarantee that parents will automatically begin discipling their kids. I agree that what most of us think of when we think of youth ministry (bells & whistles, over-the-top programs, jokes & cokes) often supports unbiblical cultural assumptions and fails to challenge them. But youth ministry doesn’t have to be that way, nor is it always that way. I would like to hear from other youth pastors who sincerely desire to re-connect teens with their parents. How has this played out in your ministry? What has proven effective?
Parents have a serious responsibility to train their children. So does the church. These two must always seek to compliment one another.
PS — Alex & Brett, I’m in the middle of your book and loving it. I will be using this with the teens in our church. Thank you for challenging the lies that cripple so many young people today.
April 8th, 2008 at 11:53 am
As a follow-up to my previous post, I’d like to share one idea that we are working toward in our church to help re-connect parents & teens:
Once a month, to begin with, our Sunday evening service will be geared toward youth & family issues. Teens will sit with their parents at round tables. Some of the youth will be involved in leading various elements of the worship. There will be expository teaching, followed by a time for family discussion, at each table, which is guided by a set of discussion/application questions. This discussion time is for parents and teens to talk openly about the meaning and application of the message in their lives. Other church members who are not parents of teens will be encouraged to participate in this discussion as “spiritual aunts, uncles, grandparents, brother, & sisters” who have valuable insights to share with both parents & teens.
April 8th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Omgosh! I love this whole post and the whole website and everything! Actually a fellow friend and brother in Christ and I have decided to hold our own “rebelution” (not using that term, instead we called it a “Radical Change Group”) before I found this sight and now I am so happy that there are more teens who are radically ready for change! I can’t wait to use some of your ideas and posts in our group! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
April 8th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Ok, here I am again because after a simple comment I felt like I should tell you guys about my former “youth group.”
April 8th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Hey, sorry I accidently posted that other comment before explaining my youth group. I go to a small get lovely Private Christian School - haha ya right! Ok, so I go to a Christian school - yes - lovely? God-centered? holy? set apart? - for the most part - absolutely NOT! So we don’t really have a youth pastor, but Mr. Rose kinnda leads youth groups that really like NEVER happen - I think we have had TWO maybe this WHOLE ENTIRE SCHOOL YEAR! So ya, my friend Zach and I (and others, but we wanted to step up and lead) are feeling a tug of the Spirit to lead a group for PRAYER asking God to change and transform our lives and school so we can ultimately affect our community and world. So we are gathering the jr./sr. high students of our school and hoping to see those who DARE to come and answer some burning questions, worship God, seek him an PRAY!!! Prayer is our weapon - I think its really important to use it. Zach and I are NO WHERE near perfect, but that is what we are praying for - a transformation of our lives and to become HOLY AND SET APART for CHRIST!!!!!! So please pray for God to come!
April 9th, 2008 at 1:10 am
I found reading the comments at the end of this post very interesting. My Mum and I are both firm believers in house churches, although I have yet to read some material on it by Larry Krieder (spelling?!). Mum explained to me that his ministry has networks of house churches, so each house church is part of a larger body of Christ.
I went to your church’s web site recently (Household of Faith Community Church) and was so blessed simply to know that there is a church out there who doesn’t have Sunday school, youth group, etc! I pulled out of my church’s youth group several years ago, as I felt the Lord lead me. This year, I felt convicted to pull out of my position as a Sunday school teacher my reason being that I decided I’d prefer the children to be in church with their families! Apart from my own family, others don’t understand where I’m coming from. It’s not an easy road, but “it is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes”. I am spending the extra time I now have (when I would have been at youth group or preparing Sunday school activities) with my family. God is so good!
May God bless you richly,
Kedesh
April 9th, 2008 at 11:36 am
I didnt have a chance to read every comment (cause i really should be studying, i have my ACT on saturday, please pray for me.)
I guess i have a few questions concerning home-churches. My pastor is thinking about leaving our current location to form homechurches across south florida. Its really hard for me to understand why, so i’ve left it in God’s hands. Our goal is to reach more through home churches, thats where it doesnt make sense to me. What do you guys think?
I believe that God has placed us where we are, and we have the same capability to share the gospel home church or not.
Im a youth leader at my local church and i would have to say:
1.) What is the current state of the youth culture in your church? Does it embrace or resist our society’s expectations?
There are 2 or 3 kids that resist, but over all they embrace our societies expectations.
2.) Who do you need collaborate with within your church in order to bring about change?
Yes. and its definately a hard thing to do. ive been praying for a few months now, and God is slowly changing the heart of the youth.
okay i better get back. i dont even know if this made sense but i hope to hear from you soon.
April 10th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
This is a very interesting topic! Here is what I think problems in youth groups today are:
1. The parents aren’t involved enough, if at all. It seems incredibly popular in youth groups today for parents to drop off their teens at youth and a lot of the time, they don’t even know what’s going on.
2. Youth groups are becoming more and more like an social gathering. Instead of worshiping God and deepening your relationship with him, you are play video games, joking around, hanging out with friends and eating. Their is often a lot of flirting and exclusive groups where others are not welcomed.
3. Although, you do want to reach out to the unbelievers, you don’t want to compromise your standards in the process. You do not want to become like the world in order to win over non believers. I find that very common in most youth groups.
I believe in parents going with their teens to youth group, so the pastors can help equip both parents and teens. In my church youth group, it is a given that parents go with their teens to youth, not an option. You don’t see one teen sitting in there who doesn’t have at least one parent with them. I also think that when youth groups meet, it should be a time of teaching, worshiping, growing closer to God, prayer and encouragement. Although it’s not necessarily wrong to play video games, goof around, and so on, I think there are other times set aside for that.
Now this is not to cut down on other youth groups, because I know every church has it’s flaws(including mine), but I’m just giving my opinion on the matter.
And to answer these questions:
1.) What is the current state of the youth culture in your church? Does it embrace or resist our society’s expectations?
I’m fortunate to have a church that is very like minded. They very strongly support the Rebelution and everything it stands for. So, that said, they resist the society’s expectations.
2.) Who do you need collaborate with within your church in order to bring about change?
Once again, I don’t feel that there is a need for change.
May 9th, 2008 at 11:10 am
I think that the article is great and the idea of a family integrated church is awesome, I believe God’s kingdom would be better served,because families are not discipling their children. We have alot of unchurched (orphan) children in that they do not have fathers or they are in prison and have never been around them, that are coming on their own to church on Wednesday nights, our youth minister only uses the Word to minister to them. So I know that they are coming for God, however there is some resistance in our church to them(sad). My question is how do you get the “Christians” to reach the lost and in a family integrated setting what do you do to help the ones who do not have a family? Thanks
May 16th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
OH, you will never quite know how those words spoke to my heart. My own youth group seems so dead. Yes, people say that they are Christians, and occasionally show it, but there is no burning passion for Christ in the gang. Is it me, or does it feel like in our Junior High and Senior High years the Gospel is no longer poured into us? I am SO thirsty for the Word of God, and I feel that churches only seek to ‘entertain’ the youth, and spoonfeed their bland version of the Gospel. For goodness sakes, my little brother in 2nd grade is learning more about God than I have in all of my Jr High and Sr. High years put together! The church, the youth in the church, is growing more and more lukewarm in the faith. The desire for God is dying, I feel like. The only hope and assurance I have of others who share the intense love of Christ is by daily reading this blog. Thanks for the comfort guys. So, any help for my situation would be gratefully taken. How should I approach the church leaders and tell them that these Jr and Sr. High years have been nothing but a spiritual wasteland for me? What should I do to help affect change? I am not a leader. I just want the Youth to no longer be lukewarm.
May 20th, 2008 at 8:01 am
After reading much of the above posts I feel I have to post a few comments.
1. I am a youth pastor. I have been in youth ministry for 17 years and KNOW that this is where God has called me to serve. Local Church youth ministry is not an “old” or “out of date” or inneffective concept…when done with a focus on Jesus and nothing else.
I feel bad for those who feel that their youth ministry was largely ineffective….but this has not been my experiance. God used youth ministry to call me into youth ministry. He has used me in this ministry to effect the lives of many teens and see them become disciples of Christ who devote their lives not to their own accomplishments but to furthering HIS kingdom.
2. I honestly believe that it is time for Christians of all age brackets to stop complaining about their local communities of faith…To STOP seeking churches that fit what they want…and START realizing that we do not begin a faithwalk with Christ for our sake alone.
Is your church or youth group not what you want it to be? ….
First-Examine your wants!!! Are they biblical? Or are they primarily self-focused in nature?
(be careful to not delude yourself here…sometimes we find biblical justification for what if we are really honest…is just our own opinions and desires)
-So many church goers become church hoppers because of our culture’s focus on pleasing self. We keep looking for that place that gives us goose bumps every Sunday. We keep searching for a church/Youth group that constantly entertains or motivates or serves or ministers to us.
Did we ever think…
“Maybe coming to church is less about what I can get and more about what I can give?”
or
“Maybe God is less concerned about what I “feel” and more concerned about what I do.
Second-Allow God to change your focus!! Are you upset about your church’s or youth group’s lack of Biblcal focus? Legalism? Lukewarmness? ect…ect.
Allow God to change your focus from “Why cant they be what I want them to be” to…”Lord use me to change THIS church/youth group to what YOU want it to be”
Allow God to begin this process in you by placing yourself before him as a Living Sacrifce.
Letting Him mold you to be who he wants you to be RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!
In order to do this though you may be asked to lay aside your own wants/visions/dreams/hopes/etc. WHY? because perhaps what he wants of you is far different from what you want of Him and what you want from your local church/community.
God wants to use you….but on HIS terms.
From experiance I have seen that there is nothing more damaging than a fired up Christian with a cause they are fervant about….but have never sought God’s direction for.
On the flip side…there is nothing more powerful that a group of believers who have surrendered themselves to God’s plan for their lives.
Third: Step out and DO what God has called you to do. Exhibit the fruits of the Spirit as you serve though His power within you. Serve when you dont feel like serving. Love when you dont feel like loving. Speak when HE (not you) leads you to speak. Speak with grace, hope, truth and love….speak HIS words not your own.
Let Him increase and yourself decrease. Learn to see the people in your faith community as GOD sees them. Learn to offer forgiveness, grace, hope, love to the people around you just as He does.
-wash the feet of your Judas.
Fourth: Learn that the Hardest most revolutionary thing you can do with your life, (or rather you can allow GOD to do in your life)….is to be like Christ.
want a revolutionary concept?
Litany of Humility
O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved…
From the desire of being extolled …
From the desire of being honored …
From the desire of being praised …
From the desire of being preferred to others…
From the desire of being consulted …
From the desire of being approved …
From the fear of being humiliated …
From the fear of being despised…
From the fear of suffering rebukes …
From the fear of being calumniated …
From the fear of being forgotten …
From the fear of being ridiculed …
From the fear of being wronged …
From the fear of being suspected …
That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I …
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease …
That others may be chosen and I set aside …
That others may be praised and I unnoticed …
That others may be preferred to me in everything…
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…
Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930),
Secretary of State for Pope Saint Pius X
Philippians 2
1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father
Blessings!
-Brian
May 20th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
One thing that would make this extremely hard in my Youth group is the fact that some of the kids have really bought into the lies that our culture throws at them. The Youth Pastors younger sister is environmentalist to the point of crazy (to me), She believes the lies of global warming as well as (though I’m not 100% sure) evolution…and then we get to the lies that stem from the radical feminist movement. It drives me through the roof sometimes! And although our youth group is probably half Home-schooled, I’m not sure how to get them to see this and to act on it…maybe I’ll get as many as I can to come with me to see you guys when you come to Minneapolis!
Keep it up and I’ll see you later!
David
P.S. Get the forums up soon! I want to get on there!!!
May 24th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
1.) What is the current state of the youth culture in your church? Does it embrace or resist our society’s expectations?
I am seventeen years old, and am turning eighteen soon. My church has a very large youth group. I really love it, but to answer the question, I think the majority of them are very worldly. I myself can fall into that category sometimes. It’s easy to do. I just read “Do Hard Things” and was very inspired. I want everyone in my youth group to know about it, so they can be challenged with me. Back to the question, I think the youth themselves tend to embrace society’s expectations more than resist them, but our Youth Pastor is doing a really great job of encouraging them to live passionately for Christ.
2.) Who do you need collaborate with within your church in order to bring about change?
I know that I need to collaborate with my Youth Pastor. He would really love “Do Hard Things” and would be a big help in implementing the principles that the book talks about. My parents and brother would also help as well, and my friends would be the next people I should tell. Thanks so much for what you’re doing. I had felt the same way about low expectations for a long time, but only recently recognized it. Keep doing what you’re doing. God will bless you greatly for it.
Sara
May 28th, 2008 at 9:12 am
1.) What is the current state of the youth culture in your church? Does it embrace or resist our society’s expectations?
My youth group is changing from your typical group of teenagers to a group on fire for God. In the past year we have been shaken because of change in leadership. But this was for our better and now our youth group is growing. But i don’t think we have reached the point where we have realized what we can do. We have had ‘Youth Sundays’ at our church and held events there. But I still don’t think that is really where it is at. At the moment our focus is on our relationships with God. But there is so much more than is possible. I believe we need to realize that we can change our church and help them move in God’s direction and that it is not just for us.
Recently our church has merged with another and we have a new pastor. He has suspended live worship and moved to cds. Before this happened we had been playing different music and God was really starting to move. You could feel it during the worship service and the worship was getting longer. Now the music is old, and even that is not the problem. But it just goes nowhere and it is so much shorter. And on a recent Friday night our Youth Group had an amazing time. Our leader had just returned from the revival in Florida, the Holy Spirit showed up during worship, and there was amazing prayer and almost everyone had revelations. Things were breaking free. And so our Youth Group was all pumped up and over Saturday many of us were with God and expecting something amazing to happen on Sunday.
But on Sunday everything fell flat. Despite this the youth began praying for people in the church and then worship ended suddenly.
After church the youth felt disappointed. We knew something was wrong and that their was this unnatural disconnect between the church and the youth group.
So I went home and vented to my Mom. She said,”While than why don’t you do something about it?Talk to the pastor. Change it.”
Well it is easy to say that. But now comes the question of how. Not even that. But getting our Youth Group to understand how.
To get back to the question, I believe our group has risen against the minimal society expectations. This being the idea that youth are not meant to be in tune with God and are ’supposed’ to sit in the back of the church. Now this is the extreme and we are most certainly not like this. But we have not yet risen to breaking through to God and leading our church with a pastor’s guidance. And we still do not quite know how to do this, gain the respect of our leadership, and help guide our church to where God is. I also think that there is a signifigant gap between the adults and the youth and we need to figure out how to listen to each other and work together. I believe this is the same for youth in the country.
Ps. Thanks so much for all your doing. God bless and I’m praying rou you.
June 2nd, 2008 at 4:44 am
Thanks for your website, and for this discussion.
Being a parent connected to hundreds of youth through “pastoring/shepherding” at a girls camp, and connected to quite a few home schooling families through leadership in such a community, I see that the family unit is the biggest influence, the church is a huge influence, and how they interact with the culture and each other is significant. That being said, I have not seen the model of home church or family worship being significantly better than the more traditional model of church (from its contemporary and old fashioned styles and everything in between) in our current culture (nor vice versa). I have seen very sad situations in family worship approaches, where authoritarian abuse is rampant. And I have seen home church families where little spiritual maturity was developed. This is true in the traditional models as well. In every style of church I have also found wonderful Christian young adults and youth. I have seen outstanding disciples of Christ. I think one key in these is the presence of someone who is passionate in their knowledge of Christ. I have seen one individual used by God to make a huge impact. That may or may not be the leader. It may or may not be an adult.
I think rather that the model dilemma concerning youth group, no youth group, family church, and many other permutations should not be the primary focus to radically change our culture. Our focus should be instead, I believe, calling ourselves and each other to radical pursuit of Christ, knowing Him, and making that relationship our single, driving passion. Everyone needs that message whether we are young or old. I loved the post about knowing God from J.I. Packers’ book.
I think that being distracted at every age from this goal, knowing Him, making Him known, enjoying Him forever, has been the problem throughout the ages. Whether it is technology, sex, education, music, drugs, environmental issues, the American Dream, war, peace, social climbing, career, the pursuit of knowledge- even theological, we are constantly allured from what is the purpose of our lives, Christ our Lord, the Best, to what may even be considered “good” but not the Best. As Piper says, it is the only soul-satisfying thing, and everything else is an attempt to meet that need and falls far too short.
Our culture is so toxic that many young people are overwhelmed and sick from its influence. They have yet to drink of the purifying waters of Christ, which can heal them.
So, while I have so much to learn yet, I believe that we should encourage ourselves, our peers, our youth, our youth leaders, or church leaders to pursue the single passion, which is knowing Christ more, and walking in Him. Pursuing Him is even more important than “making a mark.” However, as we do so, Christ will leave His mark all over and transform us and others through us. His working is supernatural!
I think it always starts in our own hearts, and prayer. God will lead each one individually. While there might be a good model for developing change, I don’t know that I have the wisdom to suggest it. However, it is always good to be in conversation with the authorities in our lives and discuss our struggles, weaknesses, frustrations, visions. I think encouraging oneself and leadership to be focused on developing disciples, first in each ones personal life, second in the lives around us, is what I desire. Disciples who are humble and honest before the Lord and with each other and who are partnering together to know God is what seems like the biblical focus. We aren’t trying to create another subculture, with a plastic exterior to live up to. We are looking for a reality in our lives of the power and love of Christ. God’s Word is transformative in this process and His communication to us. Being saturated by His Word and abiding in our prayer and thoughts are key. But knowledge is not Knowing, and that is an important distinctive.
Thank you Alex and Brett for your website and your pursuit of Christ. May He be greatly magnified in and through your lives. May this ministry flow out of your deep draughts of the Living Water, and may it never distract you from drinking deeply yourself of Christ. I pray this for myself as well, concerning my personal walk. You are sticking your heads out in the spiritual battle, and so you are subject to attack. God’s grace be your stay. Abide in Him, and keep your armour fully equipped, brothers.
June 10th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
The youth group at the church I attend is very complacent. I’ve spent most of my Sunday mornings attending classes with my parents. Lately, we’ve gotten in a youth intern who is really on fire for the Lord. He’s teaching a good class, but so far, I’m the only one who really has done alot of speaking up. Everyone else seems half asleep; I feel like I’m borderline on dominating the class. Does anyone have any advice on how I might encourage my peers to actually get involved in study?
June 11th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Right now my youth group is struggling. It is very “groupy” and has been that way for about a year. My youth pastor recognizes this and has called about 5 people, including me, together to try to change it. We arn’t really in the “in” crowd. He sees us as the new leaders of our youth group. “Do Hard Things” has really helped me in this area. Hopefully, God will use us to set teens on fire for Him. Please pray for me.
June 12th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Hey guys!
It is absolutely true that we, as “kidults” who have been blessed with the opportunity to hear the truth and share our ideas in various forms and fashions, have a HUGE responsibility to get out there and live out this information. If we don’t we really will be “in-valids”. It’s not that we are somehow “holier” in and of ourselves than others; it’s all God’s immeasureable grace.
I’ve visited several different youth groups in a couple of different states, and in almost all of them it’s readily apparent that the standards and expectations for these young people are very low. Not really any higher than for those out on the street selling . The last time I visited another youth group, I nearly started crying out of compassion for these young people who seemed to have no idea that there is any other way to live.
Right now I’m involved with two different youth groups; one (much smaller than the other) has only about eight in semi-regular attendance, but there is great hope. They show an active interest in changing, in becoming more like Christ. This gives me an enormous motivation! If this group of so few can set out to be the change in their area, cannot we all take what God has so graciously and extravagantly given us and begin to be evangelists wherever God has put us?
The other group I’m involved in consists of a bunch people I’ve grown up with; we’re almost all homeschoolers. It’s wonderful to be a part of a group of social “rebelutionists”, but the striking difference between us and “average” groups of youth is another reminder of our responsibility to go out and be the difference in our world. People need to see that even if irresponsibility and low standards are the average, it’s certainly not normal. Being called ahead of the curb or a budding theologian does little good unless we take what God has given us and use it to His glory and for His purpose. If we don’t, who will?
“Here am I, Lord, send me!”
Your sister in Christ,
Rebecca
June 12th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
1.) What is the current state of the youth culture in your church? Does it embrace or resist our society’s expectations?
Well, ours is going through some changes right now. In fact, we just had a message last week about how we are not a youth group but a youth ministry and it is our job to take ownership of it. Alot of prophecies have been spoken over our youth ministry (Paradigm) and our Youth Pastor was challenging us to grasp those promises that God has made us and make sure they come to pass now, instead of later. God will come through when we are willing to do His purpose.
So we are working on it. Almost all the students, including myself, went up when he asked us who is willing to take ownership of this, and I am believing in God to come through. Those of us who are willing to take ownership of this and see those prophesies come to pass won’t relent until they come!
As for the second question- I think I kinda answered that in my response.
June 12th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
1) Unfortunately I don’t find my youth group to be a very good model. We have been going through several changes that we hope is for the better. We have had 3 youth pastors in 3 1/2 years. The newest youth leader was elected 2 months ago. I feel that the world’s expectations have not only been exepted, but confirmed as “normal”. In the past I have done just what you said, I got comfortable with just being different and not pursuing change. But after reading your blog I have been inspired to make a statement for change.
2) I think I should bring this up with the new youth pastor and ask him what he plans to do, but I think that doing that will not bring much (if any) change. I think I should try to inspire my fellow youth and convince them that there is a need for change.
Thank you for yet another inspirering message!
June 14th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Our family also helped start a home church (except now we’re a downstairs-in-a-hotel church, because we got too big), and one of the big reasons we got out of the last church is because of the youth group. I was only ten when we left, so I wasn’t yet in the youth group. It was a youth group that encouraged dating, and every time we were at church, all the older kids would flock upstairs, like they were too good for everybody downstairs.
I was recently listening to a Vision Forum tape, How Modern Churches Are Harming Families, a lecture by John Thompson. He said that any youth group of this sort “breeds immaturity,” because the kids are not with adults whom they can learn from. I remember all I wanted in our old church was to be old enough to go upstairs.. Looking back, I definitely see the wisdom of leaving that church, because now youth groups and stuff like that don’t matter to me. That is one reason I think home churches are so great - the kids learn from the adults and interact with them. Our church doesn’t have a youth group. I think that’s a blessing. This obviously didn’t answer those two questions, but these were my thoughts. - Claire
June 23rd, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Just a quick question. Is it possible that the disciples were more like a youth group than a “home church” as you have been describing above. They were a fairly homogeneous group, rarely were there children or the elderly present during Jesus’ teaching times with his disciples. I realize that there are certainly cultural issues that come into play, but I think that Jesus’ teaching model can apply very nicely to a youth ministry setting without having a negative effect on the family. Just a thought!
June 24th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Hi, Reading this article gives me both hope and encouragement.
I am working on “rebelutionizing” my church and the youth of my church. (PLEASE PRAY FOR ME) We don’t have a youth group, though the youth do a lot of stuff together. (in fact there is hardly a day go by that we dont see each other) I think that a youth group could be beneficial if the time spent together was focused on Christ, and growing in Him. I have never been to a church with a youth group but from what I hear, most of the groups will start out with God in mined but they Let the (sometimes overwhelming) world culture slip in the back door. I think (correct me if I’m wrong) that in order to change a nation you have to start by changing the young people or the teens of that nation, because “the teens of today are the Leaders for tomarrow”.
As PF said “Just a thought”
Thanks,
Fred.
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:17 pm
I love to see others with my same mind set. i’m not the best christian, but my mom has taught me to always be accountable for my actions. she’s my best friend(frowned upon by public schooled teens)and she has always treated me like an adult by not talking down to me ever since i was born. my dad’s always made me think for myself (sometimes too much) and he made me set my own standards for myself- i’ve now found out that my goals are incredibly high for someone my age, which was shocking. i never thought of myself as being so responcible, or ‘grown-up’. When i entered college, it was easier than homeschool, more homework yes, but easier work at a slower pace… now i wonder how uneducated ALL those children are… it’s scarry, i don’t understand why noone ever told them that intelect was important. it’s even frowned upon- people being called nerds and geeks just because they make A’s. (it’s not that hard to do)
I realized that i may not be ‘normal’ but looking at the ‘normal’ kids, now i want nothing to do with them.
it’s a relief, just to say that.
on the other hand, i have realized that i am ‘one of a kind’ and i was begining to tear apart those who were also special, cuz i thought (in the shadow of my brother) noone could see me. and i thought that if i could be ‘popular’ with my youth group i’d be a better person, or somthing. but i’m not in the shadow, we can all shine together, i might not be the brightest(and i’m certainly not) so i need the other’s to help spread the light.
July 5th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
1.) What is the current state of the youth culture in your church? Does it embrace or resist our society’s expectations? I would say the majority of my youth group falls under the category of “I don’t care” “I have looked at the consequences which are terrible and have decided that since I want this thing I will do whatever it takes to get it.” We have many people who act like they are there to worship but when it gets down to it only care about seeing friends and socializing. What advice would you have for some one who has no one else in their youth group who feels the same way? When there are lots of those who say I’m here to learn but really only talk and get others off topic.
2.) Who do you need collaborate with within your church in order to bring about change? I’m not truly sure anyone can do that but the people involved. When it comes down to it the individual themselves have to decide to break out of the norm and make the change. They are people of great potential who use none of it. No matter how many sermons, devotions, discussions, questions or punishments it seems they are simply not willing to grow up. Until they decide to and they have the capability, they already proved themselves smart enough nothing will change.
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:34 am
I think I could describe my church youth group as depressed and restless. Let me explain:
I attend a church that could hold 3-400 people; however, only a steady 40-50 people attend regularly. My church youth group consists of eight, ranging from 13-20. Three of the eight are me, my sister, my brother. Three more of the eight are new Christians and are considered as part of the youth, but they themselves do not consider themselves as part of us yet. As a whole, my youth enjoys ministry, and we look for ways that God can use us. However, the 90% of the church congregation, who are complacent with sitting in pews, do not like change, so they tend to disagree with what we would like to do like increase the worship service, increase missions, and increase community outreach. Hence, a depressed and restless youth. Why can I do, as a rebelutionary, to help my youth and church?
Who can I collaborate with? There are many possible collaborators; however, they are either complacent or have given up trying for change.
Help please.
July 26th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Our youth group I feel is just not being fed. I want to be able to grow and mature as a Christian but it feels like we are never equipped and trained. We don’t get any real opportunities to serve. We are kept in the youth group learning lessons that don’t have very much meaning and given examples from movies. The things we are learning are dumbed down. I think we should be trained to be mighty men and women of God, but who will train us? The teens there are goofy and immature. The girls are sometimes flirty and sometimes at outings our leaders don’t even look out for the couple touching and flirting! How do I change what I don’t understand by myself? There are some that believe we need a change but how?
August 2nd, 2008 at 8:24 pm
I think, like Alex and Brett have said, that the youth today are simply immature. I think that if you want your youth group/church/etc. to be “rebelutionized” then the youth should start taking adult responsibilities on thenselves and stop expecting everything to revolve around them. So what do the adults in the church do? In our church, the adults no longer wash dishes after potlucks- that’s the preteen’s job. I would like to see the teens taking over the church cleaning and the older teens getting more involved with ministries. Youth should be, for greater growth and maturity, be ministering to as well as being ministered to.
August 5th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
1.) What is the current state of the youth culture in your church? Does it embrace or resist our society’s expectations?
I have learned so much about God’s purpose for my life and so much about what it truly means to be a Christian. Thanks for leading us!
My youth group is fairly large. Probably close to 200. Most of the kids claim to be Christians but our most of us are stuck in society’s idea of a teenager. Our youth group has sooooo much potential. Every single kid has unique gifts but they can’t be utilized! It is so frustrating watching my peers either fall deeper into the rut they are stuck in or they are stuck in complacency. I feel that we are just scraping the surface of our potential and I hope that this next year will really change our the standard for all the kids coming in to highschool.
2.) Who do you need collaborate with within your church in order to bring about change?
After reading “Do Hard Things”, I passed the book on to a man in our church who was on the commitee to pick our new highschool pastor. I was a little discouraged when i found out that the pastor had already been picked before the book was considered for criteria. Later on, I found out that the man picked had actually read the book and had used it in his interview for the job! I was thrilled! I am getting to know the new pastor and his wife and I am really hoping to jump on board with their plans for the highschool group. I know that I need to step out of my comfort zone and really strive to make things happen, even if that makes me unpopular with my peers. I feel that, as a Senior, that I need to stand up and be a Christ like example to my peers, especially the young women in our group. Sometimes it takes just one person to make the first move before others will follow. I think that I need to take a stand and I ask that others out there will pray for me and the other leaders that God has prepared for this next year. Pray that God will teach me alot and that I will stand strong when things get tough. Not just at church, but life in general
Your sister in Christ,
Ariel
August 8th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
I atteand a small church about an hour away from my house. We do not have a “youth group” per se, but we have a jr. high/high school Sunday school class. We meet for three out of the four Sundays of the month. The other Sunday most of the teens stay in for the sermon (sermon and Sunday school take place during the same time at my church), but I teach the k-3 class (I usually have three to four kids - that’s how small the church is). Most of the kids in the teen class know nothing about the Bible or Christianity except my brother and I, and we are looked down on because the other kids think we are “goody-goodies.” The lessons taught are usually ignored, and most of the kids are just in the class because they don’t want to sit through the sermon. I attend because I really want to try to reach those other kids, and I hope I might learn some things. The teen class really needs prayer, and enthusiam for Christ. I truly don’t know if there are any in that class who are true born-again, living-out-their-faith Christians. Because the kids in that class live on ranches and farms (or in the city) and are so spread out, it is virtually impossible to hold midweek Bible studies or small groups, unless somehow God makes it possible, but so far, it hasn’t happened. I’ve been praying about this situation for quite a while, but it’s going to take some hard things to get it moving, and I’m ready!
August 14th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
My church is very small and very divided on the issue of youth. The homeschooling families (that includes me) are generally agains the traditional youth group (no offense to you “youth-groupers”). We are also the ones who resonate with your message though. The others in the church are very much in favour of a traditional youth group, but have little to nil desire for rebelution. They are content to go along with the low expectations of teens and even lower them in some cases. Any suggestions for “rebelutionizing” my church? Thanks a bunch.
J. Nair
August 27th, 2008 at 10:42 am
I don’t think there is anything wrong with a youth group. Just because your parents aren’t their and you’re hanging out with some non-christians doesn’t mean that it’s bad to go there. Unless you want to remain sheltered from knowing about sin, youth groups are a great place to go.
September 1st, 2008 at 4:15 pm
As a fellow teen I have noticed a lot wrong with our generation. we are afraid to do things for the Glory of God. We tend to fall short of the possibilities we have in life. We never try to show people how much we are worth because of the “corrective critisism”. Its not really corrective critisism. Its just people trying to tell us we need to grow up and that we will never amount to anything. and that is not true. The youth is what is supposed to be changing this world. I know i want to. I used to fall into the low expectations I got from people. Now I’m standing tall and my faith is growing. things do get tough, but I have people to pick me up when I fall. I want to step up, reach out, and shine. and I’m bringing my youth group with me.
September 11th, 2008 at 1:57 am
–> first of all; i would like to thank you guys for creating this AMAZiNG website :]
i read an article about it on igniteyourfaith.com && had to check it out!
my youth group; the chosen generation; i would have to say is in a lukewarm state
yes; we have the core group of leaders && chogens who all out desire to follow G0ds will for their lives
but many of our youth find it hard to pull away from societys expectations;
they fall into the pattern of showing the world what it wants to see in them;
and then at church, becoming who they are expected to be.
and i tell you; its a sad sight to see my generation settle for SO much less
than what i know G0d has in store for them.
so many of them will benefit from this website; and i intend to share it with them all.
thank you so much; G0d bless you; much l0ve;
–rachel
September 18th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
1.) What is the current state of the youth culture in your church? Does it embrace or resist our society’s expectations?
Sadly, my church’s youth group and kids are a mess. They all look and act just like unbelievers. So yes, they do embrace our society’s low expectations.
2.) Who do you need to collaborate with within your church in order to bring about change?
I honestly don’t know who. Not many people in my church have my family’s values.
At my church I (and my family) are considered “weirdos”. I really want to tell them about the Rebelution and to see their lives changed but I am afraid that if I do it will immediately turn them against it. What should I do? I am open for suggestions.
God bless!
Sarah.
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Luke Green,
You said in your comment last august that, “Just because your parents aren’t there and you’re hanging out with some non-christians doesn’t mean that it’s bad to go there.” It may not be wrong to hang out with unbelievers but do you really think it is wise? The bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:33, “Do not be deceived: Evil company corrupts good habits.” By being around non-christians we can gradually lower our values and become influenced by them. The only reason we should ever be with them is to be a witness. But we also must be very careful that we are bringing them up and that they are not pulling us down. Please just think about that.
Sarah.
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:15 pm
I think we need to remember what a youth group is. Yes, we need to be focused wholly on God, but we cannot forget to be accepting in differences. Paul talks about the danger of getting caught up in different Christians’ personal conviction differences (like how to eat etc.), and that same message applies to us. I spent the five years homeschooling as a child and seven attending public school. My church and friend community shifted when my schooling did. So, I went from being in more conservative, all-Christian company to more liberal company. I have seen the beauty that different points of view have to offer and have spent lots of time in the company of non-Christians. Youth groups can definately be places of mostly play, and little depth but for some, this is the stage they are at. You glean what you can, and rejoice that people are being touched simply by a caring atmosphere that they now associate with Christianity. I have also attended a youth group where we had meaningful discussions, prayer time and there was a huge focus on outreach. They did mission projects internationally and locally and connected weekly to be a support network to each other. Being part of a diverse congregation is vital, but connecting with others in similar walks of life can also be uplifting.