2.We also do not prescribe to the entertainment model.
As you may have noticed, youth groups have done everything in their power over the past couple decades to make things exciting for their youth which is a huge detriment to their faith. I love the words of Matt Chandler who pastors in Dallas Texas where he points out the churches around him, 'build bigger and bigger youth programs trying to one up the other churches. So now you have double-decker basketball courts and mission trips to outer space.' That is the mentality of most youth workers... 'How can we get the coolest program and attract the most students?' Obviously, with the right resources you could attract all the students in the area to the youth group(make it like Disney World) but at the end of the day how many of them are actually Christians?
Here is a good reason not to be a day care that focuses on fun... you create Consumer 'christians'. I use the word christian lightly because I am not sure if people coming through those types of programs actually believe in Jesus. But, if we are constantly trying to shape and mold services to be fun experiences for students then we have set a pattern that is not sustainable and actually leads to bigger problems down the road.
Students that have spent their whole adolescence having everything tailored to their wants have a hard time at graduation. It is the fall after they had their graduation ceremony from youth group and now they are trying to locate a church to call home... but there is a huge disconnect because it dawns on them that 'big church' doesn't take them on trips or doesn't allow them to have sleep overs or halo parties or whatever they were used to at yg. So, they go church shopping. And, typically land at a young adults service that is focused on appealing to their musical likes and their desire to be relevant. There they sit in yet another church environment that is crafted to fit their wants but they soon graduate from that age group and then have to either find a church that will bend to their wants or they simply leave church all together. Follow the pattern back to its source and you will always find some youth program that has burned this mentality into them. And, that youth worker will be responsible before King Jesus for pushing that on them. I am not interested in having that conversation with Jesus no matter how many youth resources out there can justify that style of ministry.
That is why we focus on their actual spiritual needs and not their perceived needs. We give them the Word and we want to have fun but not at the expense of their eternities.
The teen years are hugely formative for everyone. I believe strongly that what the church needs is more youth workers that actually read their bibles and survey the landscape of how horribly we are leading students. It should break the heart of senior pastors and youth workers all over the globe that we have done a sub par job of raising up the next generation of worshippers.
Trying to attract students into our buildings by entertaining them, in my opinion, is a huge waste of time and money and has proved to be a broken system that we should abandon. A theologian of our time says it this way, "if I try to copy the world I look like an idiot... They can do it way better than I can." Instead of copying the world let us dive into the Word of God and beg Him to show Himself to be more exciting than Gears of War 2 or pop culture or shopping or whatever you are into. We should focus more on Him in our ministry and I am sure the other details will fall in place.
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