Equipping Youth with Biblical Ethics – Al James talks to Mike Snowdon

I often think about ethics and the Christian life as a Venn diagram. There’s always been an overlap between a vision of life driven by biblical ethics and one derived from other ethical worlds.

In the West, that area of overlap is shrinking. If perhaps, in the past, Christian believers had the luxury of sharing much of their approach to life with the world around them, increasingly much less is common between believers and others.

And young people are at the forefront of this. If, in the past, there were relatively few obvious points of tension for young people to explore, now that number has exploded.

I’m totally convinced that as the circles pull apart, there is greater and greater need for young people not just to be shown what a biblical ethical view is on any particular issue, but to be shown how to discern a biblical ethical view on any number of issues.

That’s why the Youthworks Ministry Support Team is so glad that Mike Snowdon has written a new book, A New Freedom: How God’s Word Equips You for Life.

We caught up with Mike to ask him about this new resource.

Ministry Support: What is A New Freedom about?

Mike: “It’s like a training manual in how to use the Bible to take on life and feel truly free. It aims to help you see that the Bible is God’s good word for his world and then offer practice in discovering and living out God’s goodness. The first three chapters explain why Jesus and his word, the Bible, help us live in freedom better than any other approach. They outline a framework, the kite, for approaching any ethical topic in a comprehensive and faithful way. The last six chapters give practical examples of how to use this framework, thinking through specific topics: sex, identity, money, suffering, violence, studies. And all in a way that helps you to learn the process so that you can repeat it with other topics.”

Ministry Support: Who is A New Freedom for?

Mike: “It's for anyone who wants to see the goodness of God's word for themselves, especially those who are young and surrounded by those saying ‘God is not good’.

Those who are not Christian or have serious doubts about God will have the opportunity to investigate the Bible themselves with the freedom to wrestle with all the things that seem like they don’t make sense. I’m confident that if they read the Bible well with me, they'll come to see it as God’s good word for His world. Those who are a Christian will find that it helps them to grow even more in their confidence in God and the Bible, preparing them for the rest of their lives. It’s easy to read but it’s deep. And it's about as interactive as a book can be with images, diagrams, QR codes to loads of videos, and stories in which I share my life. So, it is accessible to a wide variety of people. It's what I would have liked to have read as a teenager (and as an adult).”

Ministry Support: What made you realise the importance of what you write about in A New Freedom?

Mike: “I grew up hearing about Jesus and the Bible in church, but as a teenager, the time came when I not only needed to decide if I believed myself if God existed or not, but also if he was good, if I could trust what he had said in the Bible, especially in the face of what all my friends were saying. I had to put it to the test and investigate it for myself, and it turns out, after many years, I’m more convinced than ever that God and his word are good. I wanted to help both Australian and Spanish teenagers who are on that same journey of discovery. I don't know any other book that both engages with these kinds of topics and models how to read the Bible for yourself.”

Ministry Support: What’s the best way to use A New Freedom?

Mike: “I've written it firstly for individual readers – the young and young at heart. I've designed it to be read from start to finish, with each chapter building on the last – that's why it's like a training manual. However, each topic chapter does also stand on its own, and so I hope they will also be a great resource for those with particular interests.

I've also written it with groups in mind – whether a couple of friends at school, a youth group, or a parent with their child. I deliberately used phrases like ‘I think’ and encouraged the reader to think too, constantly directing them to the authority of the Bible. This means that the book can act as a conversation partner to spark further discussion. I've also repeatedly written ‘this will give you a foundation’ and included extra Bible references without comment to encourage further exploration. I'm also currently finalising material for groups which will give an introduction to the content of the book. This is all to say that the book is a tool that I hope will send its readers back to the Bible—God's good word for his world.”

A New Freedom: How God’s Word Equips You for Life is available at Youthworks Media