Hi Chris, I like your thinking. You are on the same wavelength that a few of us are on. I just had breakfast with one of the youth leaders in our church yesterday and we both agreed with the points you were making. We are so tired of the attitude that we need to appeal to teens to "win them to Christ" like that makes us successful in youth ministry. I like how you described it as simply making disicples. Why do we think we need to have a drawing for an iPod to reach teens? I think we are the only religion that needs to bribe people to check us out! I have heard of teens in other religions that literally give their lives for a cause they believe in without having to win an iPod. Why is the gospel of Jesus not enough to satifiy this generation? Maybe because we have watered it down so much that it is not worth giving your life for! And why do we need a big event where 1000 kids come out to feel like we reached teens? What about the youth leader who take one teen out for coffee on a Sunday and listens to them talk about their life? What if that teen reaches one of their friends and offers them the same love and compassion? maybe then we would be more like Jesus and less like the world...maybe then we will have teens willing to lay down their lives to God because they are so much in love with him..not the iPod they won at an event where 1000 kids showed up...
just some thoughts!
Mike
CoffeeWithChris
· 1 year ago
Thanks for the thoughts Mike! Like I said in the post, I REALLY don't want to come across as attempting beat someone up over a comment on my blog, especially Sherri because she was brave enough to post a contrary thought to what was happening here yesterday AND she seems REALLY nice from all the tweets of her's that I read :-)
I'll be the first to admit that I am currently stuck in doing ministry exactly like Sherri has described. A couple weeks ago we gave away an iPod (the sweet, new Nano in orange), tomorrow night we are having a big jr high event at which we average about 6 times our normal attendance.
My unrest comes from seeing so many kids showing up at these events and just hearing about Jesus and not really ever getting to experience Him first hand.
Brian
· 1 year ago
Chris, A very thoughtful follow up to the previous post and to your commenter. I think you raise all the right questions. The fact that answers are not right on their heels is just evidence of the fact that what we do isn't a science, isn't a marketing strategy, and that we ultimately are not completely in control of the process. Definitely enjoy reading your blog!
All Comments
I like your thinking. You are on the same wavelength that a few of us are on. I just had breakfast with one of the youth leaders in our church yesterday and we both agreed with the points you were making. We are so tired of the attitude that we need to appeal to teens to "win them to Christ" like that makes us successful in youth ministry. I like how you described it as simply making disicples. Why do we think we need to have a drawing for an iPod to reach teens? I think we are the only religion that needs to bribe people to check us out! I have heard of teens in other religions that literally give their lives for a cause they believe in without having to win an iPod. Why is the gospel of Jesus not enough to satifiy this generation? Maybe because we have watered it down so much that it is not worth giving your life for! And why do we need a big event where 1000 kids come out to feel like we reached teens? What about the youth leader who take one teen out for coffee on a Sunday and listens to them talk about their life? What if that teen reaches one of their friends and offers them the same love and compassion? maybe then we would be more like Jesus and less like the world...maybe then we will have teens willing to lay down their lives to God because they are so much in love with him..not the iPod they won at an event where 1000 kids showed up...
just some thoughts!
Mike
I'll be the first to admit that I am currently stuck in doing ministry exactly like Sherri has described. A couple weeks ago we gave away an iPod (the sweet, new Nano in orange), tomorrow night we are having a big jr high event at which we average about 6 times our normal attendance.
My unrest comes from seeing so many kids showing up at these events and just hearing about Jesus and not really ever getting to experience Him first hand.
A very thoughtful follow up to the previous post and to your commenter. I think you raise all the right questions. The fact that answers are not right on their heels is just evidence of the fact that what we do isn't a science, isn't a marketing strategy, and that we ultimately are not completely in control of the process. Definitely enjoy reading your blog!