A Child of the Movement - An excerpt from my upcoming book on Youth Ministry

I am a child of the modern youth ministry movement. I grew up in its heyday. I read the books and studied the programs and did my best to ensure that the techniques they espoused were done in our church. I have made bold statements such as, after you hire a senior pastor, ”youth” and “music” ministers are next. I have argued that you have to meet youth on their ground.

This perspective was driven by my own experience as a young man. I was profoundly impacted by the campus workers of Campus Crusade for Christ while I was in High School. They brought the gospel, and God saw to it that they would find me. Their ministry played a role in my conversion, and when I heard the news that Bill Bright died, I sat in my office and wept like a baby out of thankfulness for those missionaries who came to my high school campus. They preached the gospel, and it fell on sinful but fruitful ground, and I was converted. They loved the youth they sought to reach, they loved me, and I have great love for the youth ministers who came.

When it comes to modern youth ministry, I’ve done it all. I have been a youth minister, singles minister, senior minister, and everything in between. I have worked in the nursery, played guitar for the toddlers, and taught High School Sunday School class. I have been involved in hiring and firing youth ministers. I have said, along with the best of them, “It is a sin to bore a kid with the gospel.” I know crowd breakers and “chubby bunnies,” (a game of stuffing marshmallows in your mouth) I bought the literature of “Youth Specialties” and even started a “Campus Life” chapter under the leadership of “Youth for Christ.” In my twenties and early thirties I could have been a poster child for modern youth ministry techniques.

A Return to Sola Scriptura

Over time, however, my thinking regarding youth ministry has undergone a radical transformation. This process was fueled by a return to a cardinal tenet of the Protestant faith, Sola Scriptura. This principle argues that God’s Word alone is sufficient for faith and practice (2 Timothy 3:15-16; Deut 4:1-4). It makes the Bible the exclusive foundation for all that we do in the home, the church, the state, and every other realm of society. It is rooted in the belief that man’s notions for how to live must be set aside for God’s clear directives as found in His inspired, written revelation.

I have been humbled to learn that God’s vision for training young people is powerful, profound, and comprehensive, and that the man-centered model I once advocated is radically different.

What I have concluded is this: Modern Christian culture has set aside the Word of God on this matter. God has spoken clearly and beautifully about how to minister to youth. He has given us a detailed blueprint of how to train our children. Yet, largely speaking, we have failed to recognize and embrace it. Rather than follow His plan, we have invented our own devices of training instead. We’ve exalted the world’s methods over God’s Word, and the outcome has been disastrous.

As an active participant in this faulty approach to youth ministry, I believe it is imperative that we deconstruct it and then rebuild in light of the teaching of Scripture alone. In its stead there should be a biblical plan and a vision of victory for discipling the young people of the next generation. Such is the purpose of this book.