The Unbiblical Morass of Modern Youth Ministry

Posted by Scott Brown on August 13, 2010

Tracking the downfall of modern youth ministry is regularly in the news today, and even mainstream news outlets seem to think that it is big enough news to report on it. Today, the Wall Street Journal helps to chronicle the unbiblical morass that characterizes much of modern youth ministry. Of course there is a reform movement in youth ministry that seeks to be God centered and so you can't lump all into one. But the WSJ piece entitled, "The Perils of 'Wannabe Cool' Christianity," reveals the philosophical center of much of youth ministry that is disconnected from biblical government. The author declares, "'How can we stop the oil gusher?' may have been the question of the summer for most Americans. Yet for many evangelical pastors and leaders, the leaking well is nothing compared to the threat posed by an ongoing gusher of a different sort: Young people pouring out of their churches, never to return.

Statistics like these have created something of a mania in recent years, as baby-boomer evangelical leaders frantically assess what they have done wrong (why didn't megachurches work to attract youth in the long term?) and scramble to figure out a plan to keep young members engaged in the life of the church.

Increasingly, the "plan" has taken the form of a total image overhaul, where efforts are made to rebrand Christianity as hip, countercultural, relevant. As a result, in the early 2000s, we got something called "the emerging church"—a sort of postmodern stab at an evangelical reform movement. Perhaps because it was too "let's rethink everything" radical, it fizzled quickly. But the impulse behind it—to rehabilitate Christianity's image and make it "cool"—remains."


comments to "The Unbiblical Morass of Modern Youth Ministry"
Kudos Don. I am a 30 something fixing to be a 40 something and what you said is exactly what me and my friends were saying in our 20. I think it is what people have always wanted. I think that is the reason the Reformation had such an impact. These were real people with real questions and they found that God's word had real answers. They might have not been easy ones. They had to study. They had to educate themselves. They had to work hard. They too did not care that it was not easy at least it was real and it was what is truly real. I think young people and older people alike want the reality that is found in the Scriptures and they will not mind being challenged to find it. The modern church in America has tried to go to far to make the Christian life easy. The Bible says that the way is narrow and I think that instinctively we know this and that when anyone tries to tell us different that we know instinctively that they are trying to sell us something fake.
Posted by Bill Brewer on 08/17/10
The article makes valid points, but I think it is a much more complicated issue than just a failure of modern Youth Ministry methods. How does the modern church reach a generation that has been trained to be entertained to such an extreme degree as ours. One problem is that a lot of churches do not discern the difference between reaching and evangelizing those youth outside the church verses discipling those within. Size and emotion (confused with the moving of the Holy Spirit) have replaced real truth oriented relationships in many cases. I also think that we have failed to support our families and placed too much emphasis on youth programs to solve our problems. The dam has already broken in our homes, schools and youth centers in terms of setting them up to reject the God of the Bible. I think these youth leaders mean well, and some do a great job, but they are a small lifeboat paddling furiously against the current of the flood waters of a society that is more and more rejecting the good and righteous. At the same time, we need to remember that the mega churches do not represent all of Christianity. My church has a vibrant program that builds youth leaders and disciples those leaders to be the hands and feet of Jesus in many practical ways. There are a lot of both small and large churches still doing the work of God with youth, and being very effective at it. Marshall
Posted by Marshall on 08/17/10
I am a parent of 20 somethings, one just got engaged, another is a new parent, and one is still praying for mr right to be present soon. In the meanwhile I must say when I was in my 20's I didnot stray from church I may have moved from one to another but I did not leave church as such. So if you mean stray or leave, did anyone take into account where they might have turned up in the process ? I.e. leaving the parents church to go to one that still taught the same values, but presented in such a way that they could respond to the message given ? I was involved in Campus Christian activities when a college student, and did not leave the church inspite of what the world was teaching me, I made a commitment to God at the Freshman year of my college life, and stayed true to HIM, inspite of my own relationship factors with others. If a Christian in their twenties is going to be committed to God, they need to be committed to service in the church that they can serve Him in, no matter what kind of service that might be, it should be faithful to Him. My concern is the church that they left, what were they doing, teaching and how was it being done. Were they authentic, was there too much on the 'candy' taught in the Gospels, or was there any meat to hold on to and chew and give thought to how they were going to live ? Was that commitment real that was made ? Those are my questions .
Posted by Mrs. Tina Clemons on 08/16/10
How about the way the article ends...this shows the heart of the writer - he wants something "real"... "If the evangelical Christian leadership thinks that "cool Christianity" is a sustainable path forward, they are severely mistaken. As a twentysomething, I can say with confidence that when it comes to church, we don't want cool as much as we want real. If we are interested in Christianity in any sort of serious way, it is not because it's easy or trendy or popular. It's because Jesus himself is appealing, and what he says rings true. It's because the world we inhabit is utterly phony, ephemeral, narcissistic, image-obsessed and sex-drenched—and we want an alternative. It's not because we want more of the same." Never thought I would see THAT in the WSJ !
Posted by Mike D on 08/13/10

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