One of the greatest privileges I have in my role as a youth pastor is to serve along side of a team of over 30 incredibly dedicated and talented youth workers. They spend spend hours each week, graciously serving our young people in being used by the Holy Spirit to help transform them into the image of Christ.

As those in youth ministry, one of the best things we can be a part of in the development of leaders who serve the church. Here are 4 more tips to keep in mind as you develop leaders in youth ministry.

1 – Give youth ministry leaders ownership in decisions

This means more than involving other leaders in decisions. When I started as a leader, I felt I was doing my part by running decisions I had already made past other leaders. I’d then convince myself that I had done my part by giving them an opportunity to be involved in the decision. All that I was really doing was paying lip service.

I’ve since learned that leaders will grow the most when they feel ownership in a decision. This means they have been involved in multiple aspects of the decision and they carry responsibility for what steps are taken as a result of the decision being made. There will be times when the lead youth worker will make a decision that other leaders will then need to pick up, but try to let these decision be the exception rather than the rule. Allowing other leaders to take ownership in decisions will broaden their leadership capabilities as they will have been involved in, and will feel responsible for, much more of the process.

2 – Allow youth ministry leaders to make mistakes

The elder responsible for me (poor guy) and the youth ministry in our church is an incredibly experienced leader, both in the church and in the corporate world. He has taught me that sometimes you have to let people drop things so they understand the burden of responsibility they have been given.

A regular temptation for those who lead leaders is to jump in and rescue a situation before it gets too bumpy. There are situations where this is totally appropriate, such as when the safety of a team member or a young person is at stake. But if the movie night you’ve asked another leader to organise just isn’t being organised well and no one really has a clue what’s happening, chances are no one is going to be physically hurt (unless they’re planning to show the movie halfway through a rock climbing lesson). When something isn’t being organised well, it may be best to let the leader responsible see and feel the consequences of poor planning. It will hurt to watch, but the youth ministry will survive and the leader will likely be quite open to suggestions about how it could be done better the next time around. They will also have learned a number of valuable leadership lessons as a result, and many of those lessons will have been painfully self taught. If someone had stepped in and rescued the whole thing, the leader may have felt squashed and they wouldn’t have learned nearly as much.

3 – Always remember that the youth ministry isn’t yours

You may be at the helm of the youth ministry, but you don’t own the ship. The church belongs to Jesus Christ and to him alone. This means it’s not about building our own empire; it’s about building His kingdom. Remembering that any leadership role we have is a result of the grace of God on our lives and not because of any merit on our part will help focus us on the one who is ultimately responsible for the growth of the church.

Leadership legacy is important, but not so people can remember how great of a leader you have been. Legacy in youth ministry is about doing all we can to ensure that what we invest in others will act as seeds that God will grow far beyond our wildest expectations.

4 – Encourage, encourage, encourage

Do this often!

Disclaimer: The title of this post may be a bit misleading as evolution and creationism aren’t always needing to be at odds and can, in certain contexts, occupy the same space. This is why I tend to use the word ‘macroevolution’ below. Disclaimer over. You may continue.

A recent study published in Current Biology and reported on the BBC website claims that dinosaurs may have warmed the planet. How you ask? With their farts.

Researchers have been studying the methane output of cows and the effect this may have on global warming. Using the known flatulent  output (what a great phrase) of cows, researchers have calculated the output of much larger beasts that roamed the earth ____ years ago. You can fill in your own number there because I’m trying to make blogging a bit more int__active. The research lead scientists to conclude that the methane output of dinosaurs was likely so high that it increased the average temperature of the earth’s climate by approximately 10 degrees.

Said one little dinosaur to the other, ‘You fart so much, you’re gonna make us all extinct!’

Photo taken 1,372,384,927,926 BC

Writing dinosaur jokes clearly isn’t my strongest skill, but all this prehistoric gas passing has me thinkin. For as long as I can remember, it seems to have been those who hold a creationist view who have been laughed at the most for their beliefs. Their opponents say, ‘The evidence for evolution is so overwhelming, how can you believe in creationism? How can you believe that a big guy in the sky just spoke and everything just happened? It’s laughable!’

In one sense, I also find it laughable. I don’t laugh because I think the existence of an intelligent designer is absurd. I laugh because I have no idea why an intelligent designer so big, powerful and well… intelligent, would ever want anything to do with unintelligent me, yet he does! What are the odds!? Their laughable, but I’ll take them.

The Rom-com of Evolution vs Creationism

In the whole evolution vs creationism debate, both sides present ideas that seem completely absurd to the other. One man’s momentary joke is another man’s lifetime calling. It’s easy to focus on what the two sides don’t have in common, but to go into all of those details would make me fall asleep at the keyboard. So let’s focus on one thing they do have in common, and that one thing is faith.

I, as a creationist, have faith that God spoke the world into existence. I also have faith that dinosaurs became extinct as a result of major changes to the climate of the earth that came about as a result of the great flood, as recorded in the book of Genesis in the Bible. Many of my macroevolutionists friends (that’s not how I address them at a party) have faith that the world came about by a chance rapid expansion (the Big Bang) that eventually resulted in the formation of subatomic particles. According to the research mentioned at the beginning of this article, there are who have faith that dinosaurs farted so much that the average temperature of the earth increased. There may even be some creationist scientists (say that 10 times fast) who also embrace dinosauria pēdere theoria (that’s Latin for dinosaur fart theory), however I’ve yet to meet one.

Comma Comma Comma Comma Comma Chameleon

‘But wait’, you say, ‘The dinosaur fart theory is based on actual evidence and creationists can’t claim any real evidence to back up their position.’ It’s not quite that straight forward. Both macroevolutionists and creationists use the best evidence at their disposal to form the basis of their arguments. Where the disagreement comes is defining what counts as evidence. To one person, the beauty and complexity of stars in the sky, snowflakes or fingerprints are all clear indicators of intelligent design. To another person, they’re just stars, snowflakes and fingerprints.  In a similar way, for some people the measurement of a cow’s fart today is evidence of a world warmed by dinosaur farts a gazillion years ago. To another person, a cow’s fart is just a cow’s fart.

It’s easy for one side to quickly laugh off, dismiss and sometimes even attack the other in an effort to defend their own position. This is rarely helpful, and in my opinion farting cows are not worthy of being defended. But still, both sides of the evolution vs creationism debate do indeed share faith in common. What makes them different is what they have faith in.

Even if a particular piece of evidence may look like a joke, but that doesn’t mean necessarily mean it’s wrong or invalid. And when it comes to the farting dinosaurs, one thing is clear. Either the world was formed by an intelligent designer with a great sense of humor, or it was formed by nothing with a great sense of humour.

Exactly.

Eric Geiger from Lifeway has an interesting piece on his blog about how some children and youth ministries risk putting Leo Tolstoy on a pedestal and hailing him as a great example of the Christian life. Instead of preaching grace, many in youth ministry preach moralism. Eric says:

Sadly, many churches teach as if they desire to produce children and students like Leo Tolstoy. Children’s ministries can drift away from the grace of God and drift into morality training, burdening children and parents with virtues apart from the Vine. Similar to some moralistic messages common in children’s ministry is the tendency to continually address the behavior of teenagers rather than their hearts. While children’s ministry can drift toward teaching for behaviors people want to see in children, student ministry can drift toward teaching against behaviors people don’t want to see in teenagers.

What can the moralism of Leo Tolstoy teach those in youth ministry?

Eric also notes about Tolstoy that, ‘His religion was a thing of Law rather than a thing of Grace, a scheme for human betterment rather than a vision for God penetrating a fallen world.’

There’ve been times when I’ve done the very thing Eric is warning us about. I can remember one particularly challenging young girl in our youth ministry that we sometimes felt like giving up on. As much as we tried to correct her behaviour when she was with us, she would respond by going just as far in the opposite direction. It was only when she encountered the Holy Spirit in such a powerful way that she became overwhelmed by the grace of God on her life. Her behaviour changed overnight and she’s now one of the greatest examples of a young woman of God in our group. Thank God that his grace broke through!

Each week I have to remind myself that my first role as a youth ministry servant is not to teach ‘right’ behaviour. My priority must always be to point people towards Jesus and help them encounter God’s gospel of grace that can only be seen through his Son.

A question that many people in youth ministry, and particularly those who do teaching, often ask is what is the best translation of the Bible for teenagers? There can sometimes be a temptation to pick the translation that fits what you’re trying to say. Before I get too far into this article, let me say this. Whatever you do, resist this temptation! It’s imperative that we, as teachers and disciples of young people, never use the Bible to try to fit what we are saying. The Bible should never be used to support any idea, clever thought or wisdom we may think we have. Instead, as those under the authority of scripture, we in youth ministry should do all we can to use the Bible as the foundation for everything we teach, rather than as a tool to build our own arguments.

When looking at this question, we need to remember that all scripture is God breathed and is useful for us in all areas of life (2 Timothy 3:16). Still, not all translations of the Bible are equal. As interesting as it may be to go into a long explanation of biblical infallibility and inerrancy (both of which I fully agree with in the original manuscripts), we’ll leave that whole topic for another time. The best translation of the bible for teenagers is ultimately any translation of the Bible that can be understood by its readers and is true to the original manuscripts. So with this foundation in mind, there are two main criteria we need to use when choosing a translation of the Bible to use with teenagers.

1 – A translation with language that makes sense

Jesus called us to take the gospel to all nations. The day of pentecost, as recorded in Acts 2, shows that when the Holy Spirit came believers were supernaturally able to speak in languages other than their own. God is so committed to the gospel spreading throughout the world that he helped his people learn completely foreign languages in a fraction of a second. Take that Rosetta Stone! Ensuring that the gospel can be heard in as many languages as possible is something that greatly matters to God. As such, it should also matter greatly to us.

But language is so much more than just, well… languages. The English spoken today is worlds apart from the English spoken 500 years ago. French in Quebec is quite different than French in France. To make it even more complicated, the language and tone I am using in this article is vastly different than what it would be if you were reading this article on a piece of paper nailed to the front door of your local church in the 16th Century. As language develops, it changes to suit not just different geographical regions, but also to suit the main mediums of the culture. If you think what I’m saying here is completely nonsense and I’ve made you LOL and ROFL, then I just proved my point.

When choosing the best translation of the Bible for teenagers, it’s important that we are using a translation written in language they can understand. Some translations with very easily understood language, such as The New Living Translation or The Message, are very popular among those who teach teenagers, but they aren’t without their critics. The Message, in my opinion, is perhaps most useful if thought of as a commentary. I’ve found it very helpful for explaining certain parts of scripture, but I don’t use it for teaching or preaching. My concern with using translations that have made such an effort to be linguistically accessible is that they tend to gloss over some of the more difficult or complex parts of scripture. Still, I believe these translations are useful for certain purposes but need to be handled with care.

There can be a danger of being so wary of overcontextualising that we react just as unhelpfully the other way. Those who use only the King James Version of the Bible may be guilty of this. In an effort to be so true to the original text, they can insist on an English translation that is difficult to follow today. It would be easy to pick on the King James Version loyalists, but even if I disagree with their version of choice, I admire their determination to stick as close to the original manuscripts as possible. The legacy of the King James version is remarkable. Quite helpfully, the English Standard Version (ESV) website has the following explanation about the KJV:

The King James Version (KJV) was the standard Bible used by the English-speaking world for almost four centuries. It was the one Bible that united the Church, strengthened believers, and brought untold millions of souls to Christ. Its literary beauty helped to shape the English language more than any other printed work before or since. Adults and children studied it and committed its verses to memory. It is still among the top-selling Bibles on current bestseller lists.

A 1611 King James Bible. Funky cover, but probably not too practical of a translation for teenagers.

It might be easy to read this and think, ‘Great, KJV is it then! Clearly that is the best translation of the Bible for teenagers.’ Slow down. As great as the KJV is, the English language has come a long ways since the KJV came about in the early 17th Century. Not everyone is eager or able to understand the old English found in its pages, and the ‘thees’ and ‘thous’ are an immediate turnoff for many. Still, the loyalty the KJV shows to the original Hebrew and Greek in scripture is astounding. Even if we want a more contemporary translation, we must not use one at the cost of the message being changed.

2 – A translation true to the original

When choosing a translation of the Bible to use with teenagers, we need to be careful not to belittle scripture to a language so common and accessible that it completely misses the original intention of what was written under divine revelation by the authors. Scripture is God’s written word to us. There will always be words, phrases and concepts that are difficult to comprehend because we’re created beings trying to understand what’s inspired by the creator God. We don’t do ourselves any favours by overcontextualising scripture to the point that it misses what was originally said.

Here’s where I’ll lay my cards on the table. As discussed above, the KJV has an incredible legacy. Its translators poured over the original manuscripts to produce as loyal of a translation as possible. It’s language may be outdated today, but it is still an immeasurably important translation that has been used to advance the gospel in remarkable ways over the last 400 years.

So here’s our question – is there a translation that uses contemporary english, but that shows the same loyalty to the original manuscripts today that the KJV used in the early 17th Century? Thankfully the answer is yes. The English Standard Version does exactly this. It builds on the legacy of the KJV but trades the older translations more archaic words and phrases for ones that are much more easily understood by readers today. Most importantly, it does this without changing the meaning of what was written in the KJV, which itself made every effort to not change the meaning found in the original manuscripts.

Simply put, the ESV builds on the strength of the KJV that has gone before it. It doesn’t attempt to reinvent the wheel, but helps give the wheel more strength so it can travel further. Also, the ESV doesn’t change the language for the sake of it, but instead only does so where it is helpful.

The above table is also taken from the ESV website.

Other points to consider

Those responsible for teaching and preaching at the church I attend have chosen to use the ESV. This is a decision that has been made by the leaders of the church, the same leaders that are charged by God for the spiritual health and direction of the church. Basically, I trust these guys. If they feel the ESV is the best translation for us to be using as a church, then I believe it is also the best translation of the Bible for teenagers in our youth ministry.

Those who know me well know that I tend to go on about how youth ministry needs to be connected with the rest of the church. If young people have an understanding, appreciation and sacrificial love for the church as the bride of Christ, then I’m convinced they’ll be much more likely to stay plugged into a church when they outgrow the youth ministry. Based on this, I believe we need to use every opportunity to connect those in our youth ministry to the wider church.

If the church you’re in tends to use the same translation for all teaching and preaching, then there’s wisdom is using the same translation when choosing the best translation of the Bible for teenagers at your church, even if it means using a translation different than the ESV (which I am clearly endorsing!). Doing so will help the young people in the youth ministry to become familiar with that translation. It will also mean families that attend church together will be using the same version of the Bible. This is a key point, considering that it’s the parents of young people who are ultimately responsible to God for their teaching. As those in youth ministry, one of our greatest aims is to do all we can to serve parents. Using the same translation of the Bible that parents use may not seem like a big way to do this, but I believe it can make a significant difference.

A recent post from Mark Driscoll called 8 Principles For Churches That Want To Grow got me thinking about the challenge of discerning between guilt and conviction for those in youth ministry. As one of his points, Driscoll writes:

(Leaders must) discern between guilt and conviction in times of transition. Developing this discernment is key, as you cannot do what everyone wants you to do and also do exactly what God calls you to do. As the old adage goes, if you try to please everyone, you please no one. Proverbs 29:25 says that fear of man is a “trap” or a “snare,” depending upon your translation. Fear of man causes us to live for the approval of our tribe and to fear criticism or ostracism from our tribe. Fear of man is a form of idolatry—living to please someone other than Jesus Christ. Ultimately, when you get to heaven, you’ll give account to Jesus for your decisions and actions as a pastor. Strive to be faithful to Jesus, not to the demands of people.

So how can this apply to youth ministry? Let me give a personal example.

We’ve recently made the decision to move one of our youth groups from one night of a week to another. Whilst this may seem like a fairly minor change, it’s one we’ve been thinking and praying through for over a year. We believe the decision will allow us to be more faithful to the mission God has called us to, as a church, in the city we’re in. We also believe the decision allows us, as a youth ministry, have a much more missional focus among the teenagers we are wanting to serve. Still, it will be a major adjustment for many young people, their parents and our leaders.

At times I’ve found myself feeling guilty about the decision, for example when a parent of a young person in the youth ministry tells me that the night change won’t work as well for their young person or when a team member says they’re not able to make the switch because of work or university. The feeling of guilt usually results in me second guessing the decision and feeling it might just be best if we keep things as they are.

It’s in these moments that we need to remember that, as Driscoll puts it, we need to strive to be faithful to Jesus and not to the demands of people. This doesn’t mean that we in youth ministry should disregard every question or critical comment, or that the concerns or demands that people make do not have any validity behind them. But it does mean that they shouldn’t result in us moving away from a conviction that we feel has come from a place of prayer and submission to Christ.

Lately we’ve used a couple of excellent videos from a website / ministry called I Am Second. The main idea behind I Am Second is to get artists, sports figures and others who are well known to give their testimony in a brief but powerful video. Their stuff is really well shot and creatively edited, so they work well for being shown in any youth ministry where the young people seem to respond better to professionally shot videos rather than shaky camera phone productions. The city we’re in is a digital media hub and loads of our young people are into photography, videography or editing. It’s really key that any videos we used are of a high standard, and the I Am Second videos really hit the mark.

More than all of that, the people in the videos I’ve seen tell stories that really point the audience towards Christ. The videos we’ve used have left our young people and our leaders coming away with a greater understanding of the grace of God shown through Jesus. The speakers on the videos don’t make any attempt to take glory for themselves.

I’ve posted one of their videos from YouTube below because it’s currently free in the I Am Second online store, but if you want to use them in your youth ministry or church I’d suggest opening an account and buying the videos so their work can be supported. They are very reasonably priced; usually just a few dollars each. If anyone from the I Am Second team should happen to read this post, thanks so much for these videos and please keep them coming!

I recently heard Phil Moore, the author of the Straight to the Heart series, speak about how to cope with mess in the church. As a youth pastor, the main context for most messy situations I find myself in (sometimes by my own doing!) are in youth ministry. I don’t mean to imply we have a loads of problems as a church or as a youth ministry, but we do have loads of people. Where there are people, there are problems and challenges. There is also God’s grace. This is exactly the point that Phil, using the words of Paul in Corinthians, was reminding us of.

Phil writes:

Paul doesn’t begin his letter (1 Corinthians) with complaint or rebuke or disappointed finger-pointing. Instead, he tells the wayward Corinthians that, “I always thanks God for you.” Hold on a minute. Always thank God for you?! Always thank God for the sinful bunch of rebels who had betrayed his trust in Corinth? Thank God for the church which was riddled with division, pride and puffed-up human wisdom? Thank God for Christians who were suing one another in the law-courts and shocking even their non-Christian neighbours with their acts of sexual perversion? [...] How on earth can Paul begin his letter by telling the Corinthians that “I always thank God for you?” He explains in the second half of the verse: “because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.” The Gospel reminded Paul of God’s work in the past, and this more than offset the bitter pill of the present. [...] Paul had learned to focus on God at work amidst the mess, and he refused to write off anyone whom the Lord had written in.

What messes are you facing in youth ministry? If there’s none, chances are you’re either lying to yourself, your not on mission to reach people outside of the church, or both. Mess in youth ministry is more than flour and eggs; it’s people coming to terms with the sin in their lives and turning towards Christ as their Lord and Saviour. It can get messy, but God’s grace is in it and there is always much to thank God for.

On April 5th we had the huge priveledge of hosting the first ever Newday in a Box in Brighton. Massive thanks to the hundreds of youth who came out, along with approximately 100 youth leaders! Also, we’re HUGELY grateful to the 65 people from Brighton who helped make the event happen through serving in the band, cafe, security and lots of other key areas.

Here’s a video one of the talented young guys in the church put together from the night. Enjoy!

Tweet

Many people in youth ministry enjoy blogging, which I feel is a very good thing. Unfortunately there is there’s a lot of negativity in the blogosphere (that’s a funny sounding word), although I doubt that’s surprising to anyone. Christian blogs, on the whole, aren’t much different. There’s a lot of complaining and little in the way of solutions.

So to ensure that this very blog post doesn’t fail its own test, I wanted to offer 5 tips for those who blog about youth ministry:

1. Make it about Christ’s glory, not your own – Youth ministries exist for the glory of God, so it doesn’t make sense for blogs about youth ministry to exist for the glory of the blogger. Even when you are being critical (see point 2 below), make sure your motives are right and your aim is to point people towards the gospel rather than your own opinion.
2. Be submitted to a leader, even when blogging – It can be easy to carry out work as someone in youth ministry and be covered by another leader in the church, only to have that covering evaporate when your writing prowess is unleashed on the blogosphere (there’s that funny word again). Your blog has the potential to influence others in leadership, so seek out a pastor or elder and ask them to keep an eye on your blog and feed back any comments they may have. If you tend to be a bit of an online gunslinger, it’s probably wise to send your articles to someone for a read-through before you click the publish button.
3. Write about what you’ve got wrong – When I was at a leader’s meeting in Canada a couple of weeks ago, a fellow leader told a story about how he was once told that he should never show his vulnerabilities to those he lead. If he did, he was told, those he was leading wouldn’t trust him. He believed this lie for a number of years, and it cost him a lot in his ministry and nearly lead to a complete breakdown. Those who blog about youth ministry shouldn’t be afraid to write about mistakes they’ve made in leadership. Being honest about something you got wrong may save another leader from making the same error. Our weakness is actually an opportunity for Christ to be glorified (1 Corinthians 12:9) and for others in youth ministry to be served well.
4. If you’re going to be critical, be sure to offer a solution - Most leaders have very critical minds and this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Critics who only ever criticise are annoying and should keep to writing restaurant reviews. Critics who criticise with gentleness and humility, and then offer solutions that leave people feeling encouraged and envisioned, are often good leaders. Don’t be the first kind of critic. It’s easy just to gripe about stuff and walk away, but it’s also cowardly. If you feel it’s right to have a go about something (don’t forget point 2 above), be sure to offer a way forward that leaves your readers with the impression that you’re concerned with the health of the church more than the health of your pride.
5. Don’t worry, be happy!  - Forgive the Bobby McFerrin reference, but it’s very good advice! As followers of Christ, we have every reason to be joyful! We’ve been saved from the sin that had us in chains and we’re now covered with the righteousness of Christ! Does the overall tone of your youth ministry blog convey this joy? If not, it’s time to shift the tone. Gloomy rants may attract more readers to your blog and more comments on your posts, but they won’t attract more people to the church.

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
(1 Peter 1:8-9 ESV)

Tony Morgan recently wrote a helpful article called 5 Keys to Building Healthy Volunteer Teams. It was a very helpful read and I’ve taken the liberty of rewriting it with a particular focus on those in youth ministry. My apologies to Tony if I’ve changed any of his original intentions, but hopefully the main points still come across.

1. Think of youth leaders as volunteers before you think of them as staff.  As lead youth ministers, it’s our responsibility to not pastor young people but also the leaders who serve under our direction. Thinking of youth leaders as staff will mean you’ll be more likely to demand results rather than win people to vision. Thinking of youth leaders as volunteers will help remind you that it is not your mission they are giving their time to.
2. Teach shoulder-tapping. I posted on this yesterday but it’s nice to see another writer affirm the general idea! Don’t wait for a flashy recruitment drive to bring loads of youth leaders knocking on your door. Encourage the leaders who already serve with you to go out and win others to serving young people. Like the old saying goes, the best advertising is word of mouth.
3. Stay focused. There can be a temptation in youth ministry to come up with a club or an activity for every reason under the sun (sports, the arts, after school drop-in, etc.). Stay focus on the key aims God has spoken to you about for the young people you serve. If you don’t feel God has spoken to you about any key aims, then chances are you aren’t listening. Our primary aim is discipleship. This means we don’t need a sports club for every sport with a ball, but it does mean we need time to speak with parents about why we want their young person in one of our discipleship groups. Staying focused means we can put our attention on the tasks that help us focus on the mission, not the tasks that distract from it.
4. Identify leaders, not doers. (I’m going to leave Tony’s word in here because he says this far better than I can, and it really applies to youth ministry!) The church needs doers, or servants, too. But, as Jethro pointed out to Moses, we also need capable leaders. We need leaders of tens, fifties, hundreds and thousands. And, this may surprise you, but you don’t have to be on paid staff to be a leader in the church. Volunteers have leadership gifts too. If you feel stuck, you probably don’t need another person to get tasks done. Instead, you need another person to lead.
5. Empower people to use their gifts. This ties into the first point. Youth ministry isn’t just about young people. Ultimately it’s about the glory of God as expressed through his primary way of showing his peace on earth today, and that is through the church of Jesus Christ. Empowering youth leaders to use their gifts means they will be more effective in serving the whole of the church, let alone the youth ministry they are serving in today.