It’s an age-old youth group debate: Should your youth ministry focus on evangelism or discipleship?
The answer is easy: Yes! It should focus on evangelism and discipleship. That’s because of this simple but profound truth:
Evangelism IS discipleship!
Evangelism helps students truly understand the Gospel, as they review it, memorize it, explain it, and answer tough questions about it.
And the more they understand it, the more they’re able to live it out and apply it to every aspect of their lives.
As their leader, you have an opportunity to accelerate the process, first by equipping teens to share the Gospel and then by viewing every conversation you have with them as an opportunity to point them to the good news of Jesus. You can do so with confidence, knowing their lives will change when they truly, deeply understand and embrace the Gospel of grace and live out Gospel Advancing in their personal lives.
Try This! ❯
Identify one of your teenagers’ biggest felt needs — self image, wrong priorities, relationships, or whatever — and then write a one-sentence statement summarizing how Jesus’s Gospel of grace could speak specifically to that need.
How the Gospel Applies to Everyday Life
When you continually proclaim the Gospel, students will begin to see how it applies to nearly every situation and struggle they face.
Here are just a few examples:
✓ Poor self image — Because we have been declared a new creation!
2 Corinthians 5:17
✓ Guilt and shame — Jesus paid the price for all of our sins.
Colossians 2:13
✓ Habitual sin — The power of sin was crushed when Jesus was.
Romans 6
✓ Unforgiveness — We can forgive others because Jesus forgave us.
Ephesians 4:32
✓ Anxiety — We are safe in God’s hands.
John 10:28
✓ Wrong priorities — A Kingdom perspective changes everything!
Matthew 6:32-33
As your students begin to understand how the Gospel message speaks to their own personal struggles, the old saying about “one beggar showing another beggar where to find food” takes on new meaning. Christian teens have unreached friends who are hurting in many of these same areas. Sharing the message of the Gospel with their friends will become more personal, and the good news will become too good to keep to themselves!
Raise the Bar for Your Teens
Plus, it helps your Christian students to grow as they go. Tim Keller once said:
“Teenagers have more information about God than they have experiences of Him. Get them in places where they have to rely on God.”
When you put your teenagers in a position where they are forced to trust God, their theology is activated as their spiritual dependence on Him deepens. If you’ve ever taken your teenagers on a mission trip to a foreign country, you’ve seen this clearly demonstrated.
In a very real sense, your teenagers go on a 9-month mission trip when they walk into their schools. For many of them, this is scarier than traveling thousands of miles to a foreign country. But knocking knees are more likely to bend to God in prayerful reliance.
When was the last time you challenged your students to be risky with their faith? Don’t be afraid to challenge them to share their faith so that they’re put into a position where they have to trust the Holy Spirit to guide them.
The Gospel is so powerful that if your teenagers graduate from your youth ministry personally embracing the Gospel message, and have been equipped to share it with others, they’ll be more likely to live passionately for Jesus for the rest of their lives. A Gospel Advancing focus will help you make disciples who make disciples!
