Continuing To Faithfully Build The Kingdom Despite Discouragement

Discouragement in the face of trial is a REAL factor for all of us.

Every youth minister I know is feeling pretty much the same way in light of the current COVID lock-down. Most of the conversations I have go something like this:

 Me:      “How are you holding up? How’s the ministry going in light of lock-down?”

YM:      “Yeah, I’m doing okay, but….

…. Winter youth camp has been cancelled for the 2nd year in a row…

… SRE is off for the time being and I have no access to the students…

… Youth group is back online and engagement is dwindling….

…. my leaders don’t have much energy left in the tank…”

 Any one of these things by itself is disappointing. When all of them are true at the same time it can be extremely disheartening. We can console ourselves with the recognition that there are plenty of people throughout the world and history who’ve had it much harder than we do—which of course is true! But this doesn’t take away the real feelings of disappointment and frustration that we, our leaders, and the young people we minister to, are currently facing.

So, what do we do?

Do we just run our zoom meetings with whoever comes, and simply “keep the ball rolling” as best we can while we wait for things to get better?

It’s made me reflect on what  disciples have done in times of disappointment throughout biblical history, and as I look at scripture, I find great encouragement!  Throughout the Bible I see that it is in the face of discouraging times that God builds his kingdom— and He does it through the activity of his faithful ones.

When God’s people face times of disappointment— be it famine, persecution, exile, or any other trial, He never simply allows them to sit around in a holding pattern waiting for things to get better. There’s always some activity that He gives them as they wait.

• After God saved Israel from Egypt and they waited to be established in the promised land, He didn’t allow them to rest on their laurels. They spent 40 years in the desert establishing a culture of worship and learning how to live in obedience to God (Exodus- Deuteronomy).

• As they waited in exile, God told Israel to continue growing in number, living with integrity and working for the peace and prosperity of their captors until He restored them to their homeland— 70 years later! (Jeremiah 29:4-7).

• After the ascension, the apostles didn’t continue to “stand around staring at the sky.” They got to work making disciples of all nations, taking the message of Jesus “to the ends of the earth” as they awaited His return (Acts 1:7-11)— a mission that is still ours even today.

 For anyone seeking to be faithful to Christ, biding our time through lock-down until we can do ‘real’ ministry again, is simply not an option. God is still sovereign. He is still carrying out His mission to bring all things under Christ as head (Eph 1:10). Our task, here and now, is to faithfully continue building the Kingdom. We are to do this the same way that we are always called to do it— through engaging in Word-based, relational discipleship.

Of course, in our current context this kind of discipleship looks slightly differently to usual. Not being able to meet face to face is certainly less than ideal. We could let it be a real blockage to building the kingdom through effective discipleship— but it doesn’t have to be.

So here are a few thoughts about how to maintain engagement with young people effectively through online discipleship.

1.     More regular, small bites

Zoom meetings are draining. I find that even the encouraging ones take their toll! The prospect of sitting through a 1.5 hour Zoom youth group at the end of a week full of online learning may seem a little too much to swallow.

Rather than placing all your eggs in the Friday night basket, is it possible to create smaller, more manageable discipleship-bites? Bites which supplement your (shorter) main meeting and help the youth maintain engagement throughout the week.

You could try:

•   Maintaining interaction with your small group over social media by asking questions relevant to the study throughout the week.

• Using polls to generate discussion on issues you will be addressing in the teaching this week.

•   Answering questions from your question box through 1-2 minute videos posted online.

• Giving them activities / tasks to complete at home which will contribute to some activity on Friday night.

2.     Change it up

If your online meetings are always the same combo of activities that seem to just linger on too long, it’s going to work against maintaining engagement, and therefore effective discipleship. In any given online meeting, you should be changing the activity regularly enough that young people feel more inclined to stay engaged.

• Keep things interesting by offering a variety of different kinds of activities.

• Avoid passive consumption by inviting them to contribute to the conversation.

• Run activities that get them up and moving around their house and interacting with each other.

• Invite different people from church, or the local SRE teacher to join the group for a night so that there’s someone new every week to get to know.

3.     Let youth contribute

Don’t run the whole meeting yourself. Have some of the youth themselves prepare and run a segment each week. Along with increasing their ownership, this provides an opportunity for online discipleship throughout the week as you interact with them in their preparation.

You must remember though, that even if the segment isn’t run as smoothly as you would have liked it, it’s not a failure. It’s an opportunity for growth that has increased the buy-in of those involved.

4.     Keep it simple

Online interaction doesn’t need to be flashy or complex to be effective. Usually, it’s the simple and clear activities that are the most effective.

5.     Prioritise prayer

Prayer with and for each other and the world is one of the most significant aspects of effective discipleship— and it’s certainly something that we can do online. Don’t neglect the opportunity that online youth ministry provides us to spend time intentionally praying. This is one of the segments that you could train some of the youth to take responsibility for each week.

You might be currently enduring a disappointing phase in life and ministry due to COVID, but God continues to carry out His mission through the faithful efforts of his people. His call on our lives hasn’t changed. So along with the saints throughout history, be encouraged to continue working hard to build God’s Kingdom through word-based, relational discipleship with young people despite the less-than-ideal circumstances.

For more helpful thoughts about how to keep discipleship front and centre during lockdown, click the image below to listen to Discipleship Under the Crown – “Lockdown 2.0 - 5 Things to think about going into lockdown for the 2nd time.