If the title’s question sparked your interest but also caused a twinge of guilt, no shame here. Deep down, we all have a bit of a competitive nature. Even our biblical hero Paul encourages us to view the Christian life from the perspective of a disciplined athlete.
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
Paul taps into our competitive drive to motivate us to run the faith race with fervor. We just need to be sure we’re competitive about things that matter, not the things that don’t.
Our No. 1 Competitor
Here’s a follow-up question: Is your goal to have the biggest youth group in town? If your answer is yes, then I’d like to challenge your perspective.
First, I’ll assume that you want numerical youth group growth for all the right reasons. In and of itself, strong attendance isn’t a bad thing. Growth provides energy and momentum. It fuels youth ministry events and programs. When more teenagers are involved, more ministry can happen.
But we can’t let momentum from the wrong kind of growth distract us. If students attend your youth group instead of their home church’s youth group, they might be drawn to yours simply because you have better games or free food. Taking teens from other youth groups isn’t a healthy way to grow your own.
Ultimately, our top competitor for the largest youth group in town is Satan. We must compete with him, not one another, for the hearts of kids. Thankfully, we have something Satan doesn’t: the power of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 3:16) and the redemptive message of hope in Jesus Christ!
Collaborative Competition
What if we link arms with every other youth group in our community to compete against our common enemy? What if our goal is to deplete Satan’s youth group by joining forces to build up all Christ-centered youth groups at the same time? What if we follow the apostle Paul’s command to “stir up one another to love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24)?
My youth leader friend Andrew once said, “As soon as we realized how many teenagers were in our area, we set a goal that we knew we could reach only if we worked together.” That’s a bold vision, and I encourage you to prayerfully consider doing the same thing in your community.
How to Start Collaborating
These simple steps will help you start working with other youth leaders:
- Pray! Remember, this race is worth running to advance the Gospel. The soul of every teenager in your community is at stake. Ask God to give you strength and endurance.
- List all the local youth leaders you know. Then list the youth leaders you don’t know. Are you already involved in a ministry network? If so, who else should be part of it? If you aren’t in a network, consider starting one. Check out the helpful resources here.
- Find out how many teenagers are in your community. Also list all the schools in the area. Note which schools have teens represented in your youth group. If you’re in the U.S., help is available with that at everyschool.org.
- Create a purpose statement with a bold vision goal. Consider something like this: To provide an opportunity for every one of the [number] teenagers in [town name] to hear the Gospel.
- Create a tactical plan to start connecting with people on your list. Whether you gather them all at once or call them one at a time, stay on it. Present the data. Show people your purpose statement draft.
Our goal isn’t to build the biggest youth group in town. Our goal is to make sure every student hears the Gospel. And that mission is too big to pursue alone. Although collaboration takes time, it’s well worth the effort as we see real Kingdom impact, one soul at a time.
