“Teens Want More Than Pizza,” an article posted a little over a year ago on the Gospel Coalition’s blog by Jon Nielson (http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2010/08/12/teens-pizza-no-longer-enough/), addresses what can be one of the most fundamental flaws of our thinking as Youth Pastors. The article is written in response to what USA Today had written regarding teen involvement in the church and youth groups. While the concept of conforming the typical youth group experience to be more about fun and hype may have had a season of marginal success in the 90’s (and even into the first few years of the 21st century) it appears that teens are tired of our attempts to entertain them. Students seem to be seeking something beyond the superficial and more of the supernatural. Could it be that students are actually interested in their spirituality and growing in their faith more than the games and entertainment we are offering them?
The question we need to ask ourselves as youth leaders: Are we going to continue doing Youth Ministry the way we’ve “always” done it OR is it time for us to reevaluate a model of ministry that has lost its appeal?
Nielson draws three conclusions in his article that I believe all Youth Leaders would do well to make note of:
- I cannot compete with my students culture in the area of entertainment.
- Growth happens not by entertaining, but by equipping.
- I can offer high school students the real gospel of Jesus Christ—and they can handle it.
I agree, in large part, with each conclusion that Nielson makes. I do believe we can take a few of them a step or two further.
Even the largest churches with the largest budgets cannot compete with the entertainment offered by MTV, Disney, iTunes, YouTube, and video games. And by incorporating them into our ministry setting we aren’t becoming more relevant ourselves as much as we are saying we can’t figure out what to do with you so we’ll just mimic what the world is already offering you. We need to focus more on what we know (the Gospel) and less on what we don’t know (entertainment).
In addition to offering high school students the real gospel of Jesus Christ I believe we can expand Nielson’s statement to include middle school students. There is nothing more fascinating to me in Youth Ministry than watching a 7th or 8th grade student get the Gospel and then trading in that raw Middle School oddness and energy into a powerful and irrefutable zeal for the Lord. Talk about a changed life!
I whole-heartedly agree that growth happens when we equip students in their faith and not when we entertain them. I would like to add one more “e” word to the mix. We need to make sure we are evangelizing in the midst of Youth Ministry as well. Yes, we need to share the Gospel regularly in our youth group meetings, but we also need to be sharing the Gospel in our circles of influences, i.e. family and friends. Our students need to know that we live out what we’re equipping them to live out. How much more influential will we be in their lives if we are taking seriously the same thing that we’re asking them to take seriously?
To the point of Jon Nielson’s article, let’s not focus our time and energy and what little budget we may or may not have on trying to entertain the teens that God has entrusted to us in our ministries. Instead, let’s focus on the one thing that the world cannot compete with us on: God’s truth, the Gospel of His Son Jesus Christ.
Why have you chosen to make entertainment or the gospel a bigger priority in your ministry? Or is there something other than these two focuses that you would like to add to the mix?Share your thoughts and join us in the discussion below.
