have a
confession to make. The pressure was on and in the heat of the
moment I succumbed to what Jason Stephenson, youth director at
Westminster Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, labels the “pragmatism
of youth ministry.” In the last issue of Equip to Disciple, I
stated that the first question that should be asked about youth
ministry is not programmatic, but should concern itself with the
theological foundation. Yet when a pastor looking for a youth
director called and asked what the distinctives of a Reformed
youth ministry were, I forgot my own sage advice. After describing
the discipleship programs of several PCA youth ministries, the
pastor stopped me and pointed out that nothing I had described was
distinct to a Reformed youth program. Without intending to, I had
fallen into the trap that so many of us who are engaged in student
ministry find ourselves in: looking for a program or event to
solve all the problems in our youth ministry. Not that there is
anything inherently wrong with programs or events; however, I am
more and more convinced the proper foundation on which to build
and sustain a youth program is God’s covenant relationship with
humanity.
From the origin of your calling to work with the
next generation to the importance of assisting parents in raising
their children, a covenantal understanding of scripture has
multiple implications for youth ministry. Let me try to whet your
appetite by highlighting just two of the many aspects of this
special relationship between God and man that have direct bearing
on how we do youth ministry.1
First, the covenant is relational. In it the Lord
declares that He is our God and we are His people. This statement
helps us begin to develop a proper view of both God and man. How
many self-absorbed or self-loathing teenagers could use a youth
ministry which helps them understand this distinction? Implicit in
this relationship is responsibility. For example, we have a
missional responsibility to be a blessing to others. This gives a
better foundation for why we do those summer mission trips to
exotic locations and those service projects in the inner city.
The second aspect which has direct bearing on
youth ministry is that the covenant is about community. Through
salvation we are brought into a community that not only shares a
common bond in Christ but also shares in joy, pain, and
accountability. That one idea of covenant community alone can help
us better know how to address the inevitable issue of cliques
within our youth groups.
Now, I know that in today’s spiritual climate
words like doctrine and theology are often labeled as boring and
irrelevant. I know for some the thought of trying to teach a
doctrine as deep as the covenant to a room full of junior high
boys causes you to break out in a cold sweat. I also fully
appreciate that advertising your next retreat as “The Retreat of
the Covenant” would be a tough sell to high school students. That
being said, what I am suggesting is that we should think theology
before programs and work to understand and integrate the covenant
implications of our relationship with the Lord into the DNA of all
we do in youth ministry. Our challenge is to avoid the temptation
of running to and fro looking for the next big thing in youth
ministry until we have evaluated our programs based on our
covenant relationship with God. Then maybe, just maybe, the next
time a pastor calls asking about the theology of youth ministry, I
can remember my own advice.
First
Quarter 2008
