A Note to the Church.

Where has student ministry been?

Youth groups are usually looked at as the fun and entertaining part of the church.  In a sense this is true because there is a lot of life in students.  The weight of the world has not been placed on there shoulders like many adults.  They don’t feel a lot of stress because, in most cases, their parents are still providing for them.  If adults were free of this stress I am sure they would be just as lively.  (This is not me saying adults should feel stressed. Give it to Jesus old people. J.K… but seriously.)  It is safe to say that the most fun that is had inside our body of believers is had between the ages of 4-19 years.  I think that it is really cool to have fun, but for this specific situation I find a flaw.

As long as student ministry is looked upon as the “time to be the fun” part of the church, they will also be looked at as a second class ministry of sorts.  Students have changed since the late nineties from people who could care less about making a difference to people who want to make a difference.  However, there is this label that has been placed on students that states “time to be fun”, and they are trying hard to rub it off because they would much rather be labeled as “world changers”. 

Where is student ministry now?

“Students have placed this label on themselves” you might say, and you could very well be right.  “Students have been this way since ‘youth groups’ started” would be the best argument you could muster up if you think about it.  We must remember though, we are the students of yesterday. Just because we were one way while students does not mean they will be the same way.  In fact, they would probably want to be the opposite. 

About 2 weeks ago I woke up at 4:45AM and got ready to head to a homeless ministry in downtown Fort Worth, TX.  There at Beautiful Feet I looked around and saw about 50 students who came to just serve people who they didn’t even know.  They were there serving people who COULD DO NOTHING IN RETURN.  Please keep in mind that I serve very heavily at the Tree at TBC.  I don’t say that to brag but instead to gain credibility when I tell you that when we do the “time to be fun” stuff we take around 15 or 20 students. 

Students have seen the state of the church today.  How divorce plagues our hallways.  How pastors mislead their congregations.  How so much emphasis is placed on the church being a building rather than the body.  They read us and they take in different literature than when they read the word of God.  They know people don’t expect much out of them, and they hate it.  Student ministry is in a very tough phase of metamorphosis, and I am afraid we as a global body might be missing it. 

Where will student ministry be?

            My mom has a great saying.  It is simple, to the point, and holds great rewards/consequences.  I hear the phrase “Make good choices.” on the norm.  I really enjoy hearing it because of the accountability it brings.  Well now it is my turn to say it.  Make good choices.  If we choose to acknowledge this shift in the culture of students, and then we just act as if it will go away as their graduation memories fade, then we are in for a terrible ride on a wave that carries tons of frustration directed at the global church.  This frustration is not something like we see that is triggered in college where a professor leads a struggling college student down the path that makes them question their God.  This new type of frustration will be birthed in their preteens and be nourished with the constant memory of not being able to live out a faith like Christ.  If we do not give the students that God has entrusted to us the opportunity to live like Christ then we should start working on the speech we give to God when he asks us why because he will want a good answer.  Also, how are we going to hold them accountable if we first are not striving to love as Christ loved?

            If we make good Choices, and choose to act, encourage, and direct our students in this passion they have then the positive rewards are limitless.  We could usher in a new wave of global thinkers who very well could change how people view Christianity.  Instead of the word “Christian” bringing a sour taste to people’s mouths it could bring a refreshing picture of love to their minds.  When we step out of the modes of tradition their will be hard battles to fight.  Our comfort will go away, but I for one will be happy to see it go.  Please don’t thin that I have all the answers.  I just a cat that has seen the beginning of it, and I have to share it.  Please pray for your students, but don’t stop there.  Take them out for coffee, or play video games with them.  Ask them how they would like to serve their friends at school, and then do it with them.  Make the choice to impact our students so they can impact my, their, and your world. 

Give On...

Tears welled up in my eyes.  I looked at Pops who looked away as if he was redirecting the all the credit to Chris and Amy.  Chris Bonnet is this cat in his early thirties with a beautiful wife and two gorgeous girls who just so happened to have some strange desire to give me the best birthday present I have ever received.  I knew something was up when Momma called me and said "You can't come home tonight."  What I considered inconvenience at the time now I look back on and name it a blessing instead.  I made my disapproval known, and I could not have been more of my own worst enemy.
Chris, Amy, Jared, Sarah, Stan, Andrew, Melissa, Mom, and Pops had been making my shabby room over.  I ignored the request of me not to come home with the intentions of acquiring my music equipment after work so I could head out to a band rehearsal.  Upon the cancelation of practice I was sort of stuck at the house, but forced out of my room.  Keeping secrets is not my families strongest attribute.  In fact, on the contrair, and I really like it that way.  In this instance I could see how it would be frustrating.  I saw a box in the garage that contained a flat panel TV stand.  My little sister TK accidently let it slip that I was getting a mini-fridge, and Chris had already told me that he had a surround sound system he was going to give me that would kill a full grown buffalo from 3 miles away.
This is what family is.  Not the receiving part, but the giving part.  The best gift that was given that night was the joy given to the three young girls who saw their parents giving selflessly.  They saw their parents investing in someone without expecting anything in return.  Those girls will never forget that.  I even believe they will have this same desire to do the same.  This desire that I have to not let the giving of my parents stop with me.  If this giving ends with me then I have become more than selfish.  I have decided to quench the very spirit that these people wanted to share with me.  By him considering himself less than others and laying his life down, giving joy is something that Jesus did, does, and will continue to do.  If I am a Christ follower I must mimic his example by giving on.