My job, as a youth minister, is to minister to teenagers. In those terms, it does not sound that difficult or stressful. I’ll put it in different terms, for the sake of conversation… My job, as a youth minister, is to promote a concept (Christianity) that is being pushed out of schools, government, and workplaces at a steadily increasing rate, based on a Being (God) that is accepted by less than half of our population, and a decision (commitment, baptism, etc.) that is viewed by peers as “taking all the fun out of life”. Not only that, I’m supposed to be ministering to a generation that is viewed by many older generations as ungrateful, selfish, hopeless, lazy, got-it-too-easy, bunch of punk kids. I will take this challenge head-on. Every day, I interact with these kids in various forms and environments ranging from school lunches to text message conversations, and from Bible studies to basketball games. The reason I am willing to accept this challenge is because I have seen the inside of the “ugly-duckling”. I have a view that few people get to see. You don’t have to be a youth-minister to see it. You don’t necessarily see it if you are a youth minister, and it took me a while to see it. It seems that every generation believes that they are the last generation that had it “rough back in their day”. I guess because we have electricity and don’t have to walk to school in the snow, it is easier to make all the important decisions in life. The youth of today are going to surprise everybody! The kids I know have hearts made of pure gold, and they will change the world…the WORLD. Of course, they all have their short-comings, but in a nut-shell, everyone has the same story. We all make and have made bad decisions, and if we are fortunate enough to live through them, eventually a lesson will be learned. What I believe is going on right now with todays teenagers is that they are learning lessons fast, and then using what they’ve learned as an advantageous tool. I am 25 years old, well 25 and a half, and I finished high school seven and a half years ago. What was your reaction (please comment), was it “Wow, that’s 3/4 of a decade” or was it “Only seven years ago?” I believe that most older people will have chosen the latter, simply by comparing it to their adult-life-span, instead of thinking what it was like seven and a half years ago. Less than 20% of high school students had cell phones, and half of those were analog phones in a bag. I-pods were non-existent. Gas was between $1.01-$1.19. You think the War in Iraq is big news, back then the country was in the middle of a crisis…the Clinton-Lewinsky debacle. Seems like a long time ago, and a lot has changed. My point is that it doesn’t take very long for things to change, and to fall “out-of-touch” with the way things are as a teenager in a crazy world. The worst thing that can happen to a young soul is that they are looked down upon for having the misfortune of being born 50, 20, or even 7 1/2 years after you. In First Timothy, “Tiny Tim” is told by the great evangilist Paul, to not let anyone look down on him just because he is a little bit younger. In order to leave an impact as a generation, we all must be responsible for changing with time , and accepting the generation of today. It is impossible to literally be stuck in time, dwelling on what it was like when you were 14, no matter how old you are. If we do not change with time, then the impact we leave on the next generation will be negatively consequential. How do we “change with time”? Well, I believe we acheive this by holding up as a church on the other end of Paul’s words of encouragement and not look down upon someone just because they are younger. And please don’t misunderstand this, but the church changes with generations as well. Our job, once we become a Christian, is to “go” into all the world. This is what our commitment is, right? I think we’ve wasted enough time, as a church, trying to change things to suit our wants, whether it is sticking to the way things were 20, 30, 40 years ago, or trying to make everyone worship in your own idea of a “fun” way. Encourage the young and help them see what being a Christian means. Worship is for God. The church is a bride of Christ. Communion is a memorial service, or funeral. Fellowship is meant for “good, clean fun”. And all other energy for God should be focused on prayer and growing the Kingdom of God.
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Daniel, As a grandmother who has several young family members in your Youth Group, I want to thank you for all you do! All one has to do is take a look at how the group is growing and hear about how much they enjoy the “good, clean fun” to know that your work with them is special.
I wouldn’t have thought about so many changes taking place in just seven years if you hadn’t pointed them out. Imagine life without i-pods, text-messaging, etc.! May God bless you. We are fortunate at Broad Street to have someone with such wonderful insight into what’s going on in our children’s world. Thanks!
Thank you for your encouragement Mrs. Glenda. Lynch, Corley, Leah, Glen, and Elizabeth…along with their families are not only a blessing to Broad Street, but to me personally. Every time I meet someone who mutually knows you and/or your family, I comment about how wonderful it is to know you, and 100% of the time, they agree before I finish saying it. The impact you have made on Broad Street, on me, and on the entire community will be noticed and remembered for a long long time to come. Once again, thank you for your encouragement, but I believe I am the lucky one for having you and your family play a “major” role in my life.