Did Somebody Say, ‘Youth Ministry’?

After years of preparation and many months of prayer about career goals and the need for ministry experience, through the providence of God, I’m very excited that today I was elected to be the Associate/Youth Pastor of Memorial Baptist Church in Parkston, SD. I’ll be responsible for starting a youth program from scratch and doing everything the Pastor doesn’t have the time to do. I’m not sure I’ve never met such a man of tremendous faith as Pastor Luke Baker, nor heard the consistent quality of sermons come from someone so young (his love for the church fathers, original languages, Reformed theology – and of course, the Bible – pays off big time). Of course, I should mention that it was years and years of waiting before actually finding a Reformed, biblically and Christologically-centered church within driving distance (they don’t come in abundance in the Midwest). That alone has been an unsurpassed blessing from God during this thanksgiving season.

I honestly never thought I’d see myself doing the role of youth pastor. But after looking at what God has done in my past, and how He has initiated me in my teen years, it’s become clear that this was all a part of His plan. It was never my plan to get the kind of experience I have, but that’s what happened. I counseled at camps for 5 years while starting my own high school Bible study, tutored theology students and taught an autistic child how to swim in college, taught Sunday school classes at church, and disciplined the most mentally-ill and physically-abused teens in the area as a youth counselor at a psychiatric residential treatment facility.

In any case, this morning I was asked to give “my vision for youth ministry” before the sermon and final business meeting. Here’s some of what I said:

I was asked to give my “vision for youth ministry” for this church. The first thing that came to my mind was, well what is God’s vision for youth ministry? After all, I’m just an image of God, being like Him and reflecting His glory. I am, as the great thinker Cornelius Van Til said, “receptively reconstructive of God’s thoughts.” God is original and I am derivative. And so, my purpose for youth ministry really shouldn’t be any different than God’s purpose. What then does God have to say about “youth ministry”?

When a person looks across the expanse of redemptive history, throughout the Old and New Testament Scriptures, there is a striking theme that emerges: God regularly uses ordinary kids to do extraordinary things. I’m thinking of Joseph who at age 17 started having dreams that almost got him killed. But eventually he became the ruler of Egypt, second in command to Pharaoh. Of course, there’s David, who slew the Giant when the other men were just too scared. Then there’s Josiah, who, despite his evil father and grandfather, turned out to be one of the best in Israel’s history. He came to the throne at just 18 years of age. Daniel was also in his teens when his country was overrun by the enemy and he was taken prisoner to Babylon. But he stood firm in the principles of the Lord, and became minister of the state.

And in the opening pages of the New Testament, we see a teenage girl walking softly through the straw of a stable because all the hotels were full. Nothing extraordinary there, right? Far from it; this girl would actually give birth to the Son of God! And, this same child didn’t seem to care that He was only 12 when he stayed behind in the Temple to fire questions at some of Jerusalem’s great (adult) minds. And of course, some of Jesus’ disciples and figures like Timothy were very young when God initiated them to a life of His purpose, mission, and glory.

If there’s one thing that’s clear about God’s vision of youth ministry in the Bible, it’s this: God never has low expectations for young people, so we shouldn’t either. God continually sets the bar higher. We should expect great things to come out of ordinary churches just like this one, regardless of the age of its members. God made it clear over the last several thousand years that age simply is not an obstacle when it comes to doing God’s will, doing the work of the church, and changing the world for the cause of Christ. Indeed, as Paul told Timothy in chapter 4 “let no one look down on your youthfulness.”

This reminds me that very rarely in Scripture, if at all, do we find a sharp distinction between “youth programs” or “kids church” and the “adult church.” Young Christians and older Christians make up the church just the same, and together they have the same goals and functions. So, if the purpose of the church is evangelism, worship, and discipleship, a genuine youth ministry will be centered on those same functions. It may appear different and be manifested in more creative ways, but youth ministry, if it is God’s ministry, is part and parcel of the entire structure and goal of the general body of believers…