What will your mission to youth look like in the coming months?
No matter how your ministry adapts, keep God’s word and community at the centre of everything you do.
What in the world is God doing?
It would be understandable for Christians to ask themselves this question. I can’t remember a time when Australians were on high alert for such an extended period of time. A lot of us are still facing the ongoing effects of drought, fire and flood. Add to that a global pandemic leading to social isolation and fear, and we have a situation unprecedented in most of our lifetimes. What indeed IS God doing?
In the words of the old hymn [1], the answer is, of course, the same thing it’s always been:
“God is working His purpose out”
The Apostle Paul teaches us that God is always working to “bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.” (Ephesians 1:10). We are still a part of God’s redemption story seeking to see “every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:11).
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The authority of Jesus remains firm and his commission to his people remains the same— we are to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded” (Matthew 28:19-20) in the sure knowledge that he is with us as we go.
God’s mission and ours, remains the same. We’re building the church.
Improvising our approach to the mission
The question in the minds of youth ministers at present is: ‘how do we engage in effective mission to young people when we can’t run youth group?’
The short answer is that we’re going to have to improvise. Christians have been improvising mission from the very beginning. It’s never been a “one size fits all” when it comes to mission, and least of all mission to teenagers. Like always, we need to consider the context and prayerfully adapt our approach to apply the gospel within a constantly changing world.
But in the same way that a musician needs to remember the broader framework when improvising (i.e. which key and style they are playing), so our missional improvisation will only succeed within a broader theological framework. Otherwise, like music, it just gets messy!
Here are two principles that youth ministers ought to remember as they seek to improvise in our current situation.
Online church is but a shadow
Social media and online communities have been a reality in youth ministry for a number of years already. But in the last week or so, the need for an active online community has been felt more strongly by youth ministers worldwide as they seek to maintain engagement with young people amidst this crisis. Many of them are unsure about how to proceed.
As we seek to adapt our missional engagement with youth online, we must do so never losing sight of the reality that the church which God is building through his people is something more.
An online community is a useful complement to the church gathering and a particularly necessary one at the moment! But it is less than a shadow of the greater reality of the gathered people of God, even as our usual local church gatherings are but a shadow of the heavenly church. Forgetting this reality will lead to disillusionment for young people as they seek to establish their identity within the people of God, as Michael McGarry observes:
“If youth workers…overlook the importance of ecclesiology in youth ministry, it will bring significant long-term harm to the local church as a rising generation continues to misunderstand their identity as members in Christ’s Church.” [2]
As we improvise mission to youth online, we must invite young people into the family of God’s people, not merely a Facebook group. We must call young people to follow Jesus Christ, not merely an Instagram account. We must prayerfully build the church, not merely our online profile.
Relational, word-based discipleship is still key
Our aim is still to disciple young people as followers of Jesus. Effective discipleship has two edges.
It is word-based— The gospel is still the gospel. God’s story of redemption and salvation from death to life and from condemnation to blessing through the Lord Jesus Christ— this remains the single most important truth that all young people need to hear and understand.
It is relational— The gospel is proclaimed within the context of relationship (1 Thessalonians 2). Teenagers still yearn for authentic relationships. As we seek to disciple young people meaningful relationships must be a priority.
As we improvise and engage in mission to young people amid this pandemic, the gospel MUST remain central to all we do and say and relationships must be the context of our proclamation. Online games, activities and polls might be helpful to an extent, but they can also inhibit both gospel proclamation and authentic relationships. We need to reach beyond the superficial and invest in meaningful activities like deep discussions and prayer.
In the weeks and months ahead as we adapt and improvise our approach to mission, let’s not lose focus on the greater realities of life and ministry as Christians. Let’s aim to keep the main things central to our approach in whatever context we are engaging with young people. And let’s keep building the church in maturity, for the glory of God.
[1] Ainger AC 1894, ‘God is working His purpose out’
[2] McGarry, M 2019, A Biblical Theology of Youth Ministry, Randall House, US.