Kurt Johnston and Tim Levert collaborated in writing The 9 Best Practices for Youth Ministry. In reading the book I gravitated toward, “Best Practice 4 – Foster a Sense of Evangelistic Urgency.” I was extremely impressed with how Kurt and Tim expressed their shared passion for evangelism in Youth Ministry and I was grateful that it wasn’t the 9th chapter of the book, tucked in at the tale end as a token chapter.
As I read through the pages I literally found myself getting emotionally involved in the tension that both authors communicated as they balance being relational and relentless in their own lives and ministries. It’s not just a tag line! I find that I struggle in my own mind finding an appropriate balance of being relational in sharing my faith, while not mission opportunities to share with strangers, as well as being relentless in my pursuit of the lost, while note being overly obnoxious in my approach. Being relational and relentless feels like a battle in my soul of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Here’s a short excerpt from the beginning of the chapter and Kurt and Tim set the stage for how they approach the subject:
For the sake of clarity, let’s state some assumptions that will influence the rest of this chapter: Evangelism means “sharing the gospel.” The “gospel” is the “good news.” The “good news” is the truth that the Kingdom of God is made available to all through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. Regardless of how you articulate the good news, fostering a sense of evangelistic urgency means building into students a clear understanding of the gospel and a driving, burning passion to share it with a broken world in need of some good news. (Johnston, Kurt; Tim Levert, 2010. The 9 Best Practices of Youth Ministry. Simply Youth Ministry. p. 68.)
Well said boys! Throughout the rest of the chapter the book advocates and encourages some best practices when it comes to communicating the gospel and instilling urgency within the hearts and minds of your students. Here are the take-aways:
- Take a few minutes in every lesson to show how the story of God fits into whatever you are teaching
- Personally share the gospel and equip your students to do so as well
- Help students understand to love on people in the midst of sharing the good news
- GOING is a part of the gospel, not so much BRINGING
- Balance “urgency” with patience
In the midst of all the good I found in this chapter there were two areas I found myself differing from the authors, primarily Kurt since he identified himself as the author of the section. He shares that he trained his kids to memorize a “canned gospel presentation” and then took them out to share with strangers with results that he found to be “borderline horrific” (p 79).
- “canned gospel presentation” – While I don’t want my students reciting an outline or script of the gospel for fear of them sounding like a robot Christian I do want them to memorize as a basic outline to follow along in their minds to help them communicate the whole story of the good news. That’s why I find Dare 2 Share’s GOSPEL Journey so effective. It’s not a script to present, but an outline to keep them on point when they share their faith.
- sharing with strangers – I agree enough with Kurt that it’s not the best way to share the gospel and just like Jesus was with the woman at the well in John 4, we need to seek ways in a conversation with strangers to bridge the relational gap. However people have come to faith through this approach and I’ve personally seen teens grow in their own faith and gain confidence by sharing the good news of Jesus with strangers. I wouldn’t call it the best, but it is infinitely better than what many Christians do when it comes to evangelism…NOTHING.
I’m so glad that I came across this book as a Youth Pastor. Kurt and Tim do an amazing job sharing their passions through personal and Youth Ministry experiences. It’s so nice to hear of other Youth Pastors who are passionate about evangelism and who are equipping students both with the heart and head to reach the world for Christ!
You should add The 9 Best Practices for Youth Ministry to your 2012 reading list. CLICK HERE to purchase the book!
Do you struggle with being too relational when it comes to sharing your faith? Or are you like my good friend Greg Stier who guards himself from being too relentless in sharing the Gospel? What end of the spectrum do you find your self shifting toward? How does this impact the way you do Youth Ministry?
