Essentially, a church in our area is using paintball as a form of outreach to the youth in the area. Now I’m all for paintball, but I’m not really sure how inviting everyone along for an evening of it counts as outreach in the traditional sense of the word. To the church’s credit (?), the price of admission is listening to a sermon, but I suspect that most teens are going to see this as a bait-and-switch con and will be left unimpressed and uninterested in both the church and what it claims to offer.

My friend, who appeared to support the approach, which admittedly is a popular one, attributed it to the church’s desire to minister to teens’ need to be entertained. (Personally, I wasn’t aware that Gen Y and the Millennials were being castigated for excessive industry and seriousness, but I digress.) My own feeling is that the fields are ripe for harvest. Teens are looking for meaning, direction and guideposts — not just of the moral sort, but of the spiritual variety as well — and the church is uniquely positioned to bring them those things, if only we would remember the gospel we have been entrusted with, and rely on its power instead of the slick marketing techniques the world uses.

Delivering the gospel in a way that teens will understand and recognize, such as Bible study, thoughtful discussion of popular media and prevailing issues, and (of course) involving them in Christlike ministry to the needy, would seem to me the best way to reach them.

Australia is a godless, secular society. Although there are substantial amounts of Born again Christians, most Aussies rarely go to church – we do not have a church going culture like America does.

I think America is in danger of becoming like Australia in the next 50 years in this area.

Anyway, back in the 1960s and 1970s evangelical churches had youth groups that followed the same principles that many American youth groups have today… fun, frivolity and a bit of the bible tacked on at the end.

As time progressed, however, it became clear that this style of youth work was not successful. Oh there were lots of happy kids that turned up each week to youth group, but very few of these kids went on to become regular church-goers and have any real form of Christian faith.

In reaction to this, a number of Evangelical ministers wrote a book called “No Guts, No Glory” where they argued strongly for a radical overhaul of popular youth ministry. Their argument was that youth groups should be committed to teaching the Word of God and preaching the gospel – even if the kids don’t like it or want it!

Their argument made Biblical AND practical sense. By focusing upon teaching the word and preaching the gospel (along with silly games – though not as many) there was a greater chance that young people would make a genuine commitment to Christ, and continue that commitment as they grew up.

The new paradigm also changed the role of youth worker. Gone were the young, fashionable youth workers with their motorbikes and music collections. Instead, young men and women from the church began to lead those younger than them. In many Sydney Anglican churches, youth group members who grew up became leaders of the youth group they left. In the place of the youth worker came a seminary-trained pastor who trained and pastored these leaders.

In addition to this, a week-long conference was held each year (The Katoomba Youth Leaders Training Conference) where young adults who were leading youth groups (or who had the potential to) were trained. This involved listening to two speakers every day expounding from the Old Testament and the New Testament, and daily seminars on hermeneutics, biblical theology and systematic theology. Very little time was spent on things like organising games.

I’d love to say that the results of this have been spectacular, but it has not – at least not in a worldly, numerical sense. What it has achieved has been genuine commitment to Christ in youth groups in Anglican churches all over Sydney, as well as steadily growing adult attendances as these young people get older.

All I’m saying is that Chanon Ross is on the right track. If you’re involved in youth work, teach the word and preach the gospel – even if people prefer pizza and games.

No Guts no Glory (Matthias Media)
http://secure.fellowworkers.com/cgi-bin/mmstore/ngng.html?id=jxb7efHh

“Christianity isn’t supposed to be fun. One of the reason I left [my old church] is because people would go around and say how fun youth group was. I’m not against having fun, but we can’t compete with the world in terms of fun. Frat parties and raves will always be more fun than anything Christian youth groups can make. We have to preach the gospel of Jesus, not this ‘everyone is happy’ variety.”

And that’s totally right. When people raised Christian turn 12 or so, they start thinking for themselves and questioning the facts they were brought up under. It’s the parents’ and the church’s job to give solid teaching that helps people through high school and into college with a solid Biblical foundation…

Or think of it this way…do you want college freshmen to be looking for fun or looking for Christ?

Isn’t part of this about teaching styles? You don’t teach pre-teens the same way you teach folk at Uni. Making it “fun” might not be watering anything down, it might just be good practice.

However, I think you’re onto something here:

“With only a few exceptions, they talk only about God and never about Jesus and the Gospel. The problems the Gospel addresses are not problems that concern them.”

And, I’d want to add, the same could be said of many of our adults. The problem, at the end of the day, is not how they’re taught, but what they are taught.

On Wed. night at our community’s See You AFTER the Pole, a local church’s youth drama team did a skit to the song, “This is the air I breathe”, … and depicted JESUS as the one singing to the other skit participants !! Can you imagine The KING of KINGS and the LORD of Lords saying,

“And I I’m desperate for you
And I I’m I’m lost without you”

That’s what I saw depicted a couple of nights ago.

That’s just… sad. I’m just glad to know that there are other Christians out there who are sick of the “God is my girlfriend” theology and the overemphasis on church being fun and entertaining.