An Epiphany

Our youth ministry has hit a rut, of sorts. I’ve had to cancel several events due to lack of participation. It’s truly disheartening… and it’s hard not to take a little of it personally. Thankfully, I’ve had a great number of affirmations to bring balance. But that doesn’t clear up the fact that our youth ministry simply hasn’t been connecting with youth lately. Needless to say, this has been on my mind a lot lately. Through prayer and discernment, I’ve come up with some notions that may bring some new life to this ministry… and to any other ministries that have started to wane. I’ll share this three-fold plan over the next couple weeks.

Here’s idea one: Forget about pleasing students; work to please God. I know that God has a plan for this ministry. The problem may be that our vision-casters get caught reacting to what we believe our students/constituents want instead of focusing first and foremost on what God wants. I’ve definitely fallen into this trap–this line of thinking that says: “if I give students what they want, they’ll show up.”

This is a trap because students can get what they want regardless of whether or not we design church programs to match them. Students want to have fun. Students want to connect with friends. Offering simple opportunities for connection has HUGE importance in youth ministry; but it’s not enough to get students to show up. They need something they can’t get anywhere else. They need the opportunity to connect with God.

I don’t delude myself into thinking that by offering God-opportunities students will suddenly be beating down the youth room doors. I know this won’t immediately lead to huge numbers. But it will lead to greater health. Instead of pleasing students to get them to show up, we please God and let God show up in them.

So what pleases God? Our worship pleases God. Our loving one another pleases God. What else? Have ideas?

Jesus promised us that God is made known through the Spirit, and not necessarily through the words or actions of people (Matthew 16: 17). So may I suggest we allow space for the Spirit. Let our gatherings be Spirit-focused… not necessarily student focused.