Sharing the gospel without sharing the virus
It’s never been easier to invite someone to youth group
If there was ever a time to take a break from youth evangelism, it would be now, right? I mean, we’ve been busting a gut to get our youth ministries online, running on adrenaline and exhausted.
Isn’t it enough to focus on caring for the youth we’ve already got in our groups? Helping them transition to meeting online (without losing too many on the way!) and strengthening them to spiritually survive “the ‘rona”…?
There are some pretty compelling reasons—both theological and practical—to keep holding out the gospel to young people.
I caught up with Callan Pritchard, Assistant Minister at Dundas Telopea Anglican Church to chat about why evangelism is still essential in youth ministry, especially at this moment in history.
God is sovereign
The Bible teaches that, “God is king, supreme ruler, and lawgiver of the entire universe”1. He is “the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kinds and Lord of lords” (1 Timothy 6:15). He is king—even of the coronavirus. It is not outside of his control.
And, God wants “everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9) and uses his church to share the good news of the gospel as a primary vehicle for people to come to faith.
Callan says,
Youthworks COVID-19 podcast
Helping you keep youth discipleship front and centre during the coronavirus crisis
“If we really believe that God is sovereign … That he’s the king who is directing events in the world, we have to say his plan hasn’t been diverted— it’s still going.”
We can confidently play our part in God’s plan to reach the nations by reaching out with the gospel to our friends and neighbours, even in a world in pain, social isolation and economic freefall.
Our worldviews are failing us
There are now new opportunities to share the gospel.
Our youth have grown up in a world where they feel like they have control. Choice has been their currency and they have had it in abundance. They can watch what they want, whenever they want it. They can get Maccas Ubered to their door.
And, yet, the coronavirus has blown a hole in the worldview of freedom and control. We can’t just go to the shops anymore; the internet is going slow; the health system is not equipped for this; people are dying unexpectedly; it’s hard to even buy toilet paper! We no longer believe for sure that everything will be ok.
As Callan puts it,
“Even if we get a vaccine and we fix this, I think peoples’ trust has been knocked down a few levels in the capacity of people to really control our world … There will always be that fear there of, ‘Well what else is there in this universe that can come at us?’.
The future has been shown to be much more uncertain and as Christians, we have a very certain future … There’s a path of suffering to glory, but the glory is certain.”
The world as we know it has changed. The secular worldview is not robust enough to deal with COVID-19. But the gospel is. I’m not in control, but God is sovereign. I don’t know what the future holds, but Jesus has secured a future for me. I’m scared, but the love of Jesus drives out fear.
It’s never been easier to invite someone to youth group
This global pandemic has drastically changed youth ministry practice and many of the barriers for new people coming to our youth groups have been crushed in the change.
If youth group is online, it doesn’t matter how far away your friend lives. If parents are reluctant to drive, no worries. They can let them attend youth group without juggling the after-school activities. Where sporting commitments meant declined invitations, cancellations have opened calendars right up.
Callan observes, “The online factor—for all [its] problems—also creates this great opportunity for people to just tune in, watch anonymously or join in discussion.”
There’s never been a better time to invite kids to youth group! Callan says,
“It might be that the barriers come up again and kids aren’t going to come to our youth group … But we want to use this time to build confidence, do evangelism, bring people closer to Jesus … But after it’s all over, it’s finding ways to connect them with other churches in the area, with other Christian groups and that’s going to be through their friends.”
Now is not the time to ‘take a break’ from evangelism.
Listen to the full interview with Callan from our new podcast, Discipleship Under the Crown.
1 Baker Dictionary of Evangelical Theology p1131