Jan 30 2008
Youth Ministers in Church
I was reading a blog earlier tonight and came across one discussing youth pastors and the role (good or bad) they play in a church. Four questions were asked and I decided to answer them here.
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1. Why would I want my child going to a young man telling him things that he should be telling his father and/or mother?
I have no reason to believe that the child will go to the youth pastor – but what if he does? Are we saying that it is ok for adults to go to a senior pastor (the opposite of a child going to a youth pastor) but not our children going to a youth pastor? We’ve all been kids at one time – some more recent than others. Is it possible to believe that we can be so blind and forgetful and not remember how difficult or how uninviting our parents can be with it comes to certain issues?
2. Why do most youth ministries seem to specialize in entertainment and teaching the Word seems to be minimized?
Today’s youth are moving at a much faster pace than they did when we were growing up. Do we think that reading alone will catch their attention and hold their focus? Good luck. If this was the case, VBS would not have recess or build birdhouses. What do crafts have to do with the bible? Nothing, it’s entertaining. Right or wrong, the church uses entertainment the same way the world does – to catch the attention of its audience. With that attention, the church can then spread the word. No, it should not be in that order, but reality is just that. Now, with that said, how hypocritical should the church be with it comes to other churches? If we should avoid entertainment in the church, should we remove the toys in the nursery or should and have picture bibles only and live audio feeds? This may be an extreme, but it begs the question of how much entertainment a church should offer.3. Why do we want the children/youth separated from the parents more than they already are?If (a maximum of) 3-hours a week of separation is causing a problem with the relationship between the parents and the child, then the problem stated before the family stepped out of the front door of their home. People of different ages have different needs and understand things differently. Recently, our church went over the book of Revelation. Had a child been present, the only thing that would have stuck would have been the image of a seven-headed dragon. Do we want our young children taking everything so literal without being able to comprehend the symbolism we often find in the bible? No… You as a pastor do not have the time to discuss topics in the bible and give the entire background origin of its meaning.4. What did the youth do before youth ministries existed?
Other than drawing pretty pictures on the bulletins – I’m not sure. I will admit, at one time, I was the child out with in the “big peoples church”. While I’m being honest, I’ll also say that I do not remember what I was doing other than drawing on the bulletin. As for the past, I would like to think that children were receiving the word of the Lord from their parents, but I’m not sure if they were since I wasn’t there.
