Meeting the Needs of the Youth
Meeting the Needs of the Youth
One of the most challenging aspects of my ministry has always been the youth. Youth in my books would be defined as Grade 8 – Grade 12. What makes this a challenging ministry, is the ever changing make-up of the youth. It seems that every 6 months or so you have an entirely “new” youth group. It is not “new” in the normal sense as most of them have been in the youth ministry for a while, it is that they have all changed and it seems like a “new” group. They speak of the generational theory, stating that each 20 years or so we have a different generation. I however see a new generation every 2 – 3 years.
The culture we live in is changing at a pace never before experienced. Simply looking at the advancement of technology over the last decade demonstrates for us the enormity of our current growth spurt. Although I fall in the same generation theory category as many of my youth, they are vastly different to me. A change has definitely taken place. I am not sure when it was that I moved out of the “cool” to “boring” category but it seems that it has happened. As all this change takes place one can only expect that the needs will also shift. What I wanted as a youth is most definitely not what the youth wants today. And it is herein that the difficulty lies, assessing the needs of the day. Meeting this Need
Now that the greatest need has been identified, how are we to meet this need. Let me suggest the following methodology:
1. Clear concise exposition of the Word.
There is no other way to bring a person to the point of repentance. Paul while ministering to an idol riddled generation, did not soften the truth. No in Acts 17 we see that Paul does not shrink in declaring the whole counsel of God. Paul even goes as far as telling the hostile audience that they need to repent.
Too often today those ministering to youth do not want to teach on so called hard truths found in scripture. We are being told by the “experts”
One of the most challenging aspects of my ministry has always been the youth. Youth in my books would be defined as Grade 8 – Grade 12. What makes this a challenging ministry, is the ever changing make-up of the youth. It seems that every 6 months or so you have an entirely “new” youth group. It is not “new” in the normal sense as most of them have been in the youth ministry for a while, it is that they have all changed and it seems like a “new” group. They speak of the generational theory, stating that each 20 years or so we have a different generation. I however see a new generation every 2 – 3 years.
The culture we live in is changing at a pace never before experienced. Simply looking at the advancement of technology over the last decade demonstrates for us the enormity of our current growth spurt. Although I fall in the same generation theory category as many of my youth, they are vastly different to me. A change has definitely taken place. I am not sure when it was that I moved out of the “cool” to “boring” category but it seems that it has happened. As all this change takes place one can only expect that the needs will also shift. What I wanted as a youth is most definitely not what the youth wants today. And it is herein that the difficulty lies, assessing the needs of the day. Meeting this Need
Now that the greatest need has been identified, how are we to meet this need. Let me suggest the following methodology:
1. Clear concise exposition of the Word.
There is no other way to bring a person to the point of repentance. Paul while ministering to an idol riddled generation, did not soften the truth. No in Acts 17 we see that Paul does not shrink in declaring the whole counsel of God. Paul even goes as far as telling the hostile audience that they need to repent.
Too often today those ministering to youth do not want to teach on so called hard truths found in scripture. We are being told by the “experts”