Guest post by Bill Freund, known by his students as “Mr. Bill”
Every youth worker wants to be able to say that theyāre making an impact, that theyāre leaving a legacy and that theyāve had an eternal impact for the sake of Jesus Christ and His Cause. Iām no different. At the end of my life, I want to hear God say, āWell done, good and faithful servant.ā This motivation has led me to recently evaluate my efforts with students. There is a big difference between what weāre doing and what is getting doneābetween activities that fill our schedules vs. long-term spiritual impact. These long-term impacts are what we call ābiblical outcomes.ā Jesus put it this way, āI am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothingā (John 15:5).
Are We Producing Fruit?
So a few years back I began to ask myself, āIs our student ministry producing fruitābiblical outcomes with long-lasting impact? Or are we just producing apathetic students whoāve had a few fun memories along the way?ā Fruit inspecting is both humbling and healthy, but if weāre going to have ministries that do more than offer a social club for Christians, we have to begin measuring our produce.
If you were to say to me, āHey Mr. Bill, howās your family?ā and I answered you by saying, āGreat! We have four people,ā youād probably think I wasnāt the brightest bulb in the box, and youād be right! So why is it when we get together as youth leaders and talk about how itās going, we immediately default to numbers? We say, āWe had 30ā¦50ā¦100ā¦last night.ā Do we measure success by attendance? Is that really fruit; is that really a biblical outcome? Donāt get me wrong, Iām not in the camp of ānumbers donāt count.ā Each number represents a soul Jesus died for. Each number represents someone who is eternally important. So I do believe numbers matter, but itās the right numbers that truly matter.
Is your student ministry producing fruitābiblical outcomes with long-lasting impact? Or are you just producing apathetic students whoāve had a few fun memories along the way? Share on X
Gospel Advancing Value #6: Measuring Biblical Outcomes
What if, as youth leaders, we began to ask ourselves questions that measured our fruitāour truly biblical outcomes? Questions likeā¦
- How does it show that a student has a love relationship with Jesus?
- Do our students actively engage in spiritual conversations with their friends?
- What percentage of our student ministry are new believers?
- Do our students need to be told to spend time with Jesus, or do they own that process themselves?
- Are the students in our ministry currently making disciples within their circles of influence?
- What does a fully discipled follower of Jesus look like?
- Do our students see Jesus as part of their life or the center of their life?
- Do we see our college/career students following Jesus long after they graduate from the youth ministry?
- Do we see students growing in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control?
These are hard questions to askāand even harder to answer, but a few years back we decided to ask them anyway. We took Dare 2 Shareās Gospel Advancing Ministry diagnostic. Our results were humbling, but we were resolved to do something about itāand God blessed our efforts! When I became the student pastor at Grace Chapel Castle Rock four years ago, we only had eight studentsā(two of which were my own flesh and blood, so I brought with me a fourth of our ministry!) But we began applying the 7 Values of a Gospel Advancing Ministry, beginning with prayer.
Try This! āÆ
Take the Dare 2 Shareās Gospel Advancing Ministry diagnostic to get a pulse on the current Gospel Advancing health of your ministry and discover some helpful next steps and resource recommendations customized to where youāre at right now.
Be the Coach, Not the Quarterback
In the first 18 months, we grew from eight to 50 students (OK, those are attendance). But the thing that really excited us was that we saw 12 students place their faith in Jesus and it was our students who led them to the Lord. Why? Because I was the coach, not the quarterback. Basically, I inspired and equipped them to reach their friends, and they DID! In four years, weāve seen 34 students place their faith in Jesus. Our students are actively involved in sharing their faith, and a high percentage of our ministry consists of new believers! And if that werenāt enough, I regularly receive text messages from my college students who are sharing their faith on campus with their friends! Totally God Awesome!
Now please understand, ministry ebbs and flows. Some years will be more fruitful than others, and we are experiencing a less fruitful one right now ourselves. But if you help students to trust the Holy Spirit as they Pray for, Pursue and Persuade their friends with the good news of Jesus, you WILL produce fruit (John 15) āfruit that lasts.
Letās stop measuring the wrong things and letās stop under-challenging students. Instead, letās give them the greatest cause to live forāTHE Cause of Christ. Letās watch God do exceedingly more than we could ever imagine! May God bless you as you equip your students for His Kingdom work!