Comments on RETHINKING YOUTH MINISTRY: Are We Playing It Safe in Youth Ministry? Pt. 2

I remember reading an article a while back about a...

2009-10-17T21:38:27.644-05:00

I remember reading an article a while back about an engineer who finds ways to eliminate traffic signals. You can read about it on WIRED's website here:

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.12/traffic.html

The strange thing is that we think this makes the streets more dangerous when actually it forces people to pay more attention to what they are doing when they are driving and there is actually fewer accidents.

Mo Rocca had a similar report on the CBS Sunday morning show not long ago. You can watch the video here:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5377256n&tag=api

I think there is something about dangerous situations that makes all of us wake up and pay attention in a way that normal "Sunday School" classes in the basement of a church could never do. Just a thought.

One of my favorite quotes is by Soren Kierkegaard ...

2009-10-01T17:22:42.374-05:00

One of my favorite quotes is by Soren Kierkegaard where he says, "No risk, No Faith."

I mentioned "Free Range Kids," but "Freakonomics," is another great book with more realistic statistics.

Any youth leader that can find a High Ropes course at a favorite camp has a perfect set up for lessons on risk and challenging youth to literally take a "leap of faith."

Where we have to be careful is how much emphasis w...

2009-10-01T13:00:21.235-05:00

Where we have to be careful is how much emphasis we put on the shock value of being dangerous. I agree with the comments and the thesis of the original post, but we have to be careful not to use these 'dangerous opportunities' to scare youth/people into believing in God. I can see the value of these ops in that they are hinge activities that help the students rethink what's valuable in their lives. But if this is the bulk of the ministry without any guidance/direction from the YP, then we've just set up a series of feel good evenings that don't have any depth. Remember, we do this to minister to the youth. Even though they will be ministering to the community, our main focus is guiding the development of our youth's faith.

@Derek
How would you go about getting parents to sign the permission slip to send their kids to the Middle East? What would it say, "Your child will more than likely come back disfigured if he/she comes back at all, but will come back having learned a valuable lesson in personal sacrifice and/or martyrdom...Parent/Guardian Signiture required." ;)

Tom Wright provided a key transforming image which...

2009-10-01T08:44:40.526-05:00

Tom Wright provided a key transforming image which makes me want to take our youth ministry outdoors with the comparison to lighthous keepers who, instead of keeping the windows clean put up mirrors to keep the light in. The calling of Abraham, Israel and the Church is the same, to recieve AND appropriate blessing to all nations. Let's finally get with the programme.

Brian, my 12 week series on Jesus is up! This cou...

2009-09-30T14:42:38.462-05:00

Brian, my 12 week series on Jesus is up! This could be a way too, just teaching on Jesus and what he was about. http://emergingyp.blogspot.com/2009/09/old-skool-jesus_30.html

Derek I totally understand you sentiment... except...

2009-09-30T11:33:53.544-05:00

Derek I totally understand you sentiment... except much of what you suggest is intangible to the vast majority youth leaders reading this blog. For instance, a mission trip to Saudi Arabia for 25 kids... I'll do it if you fork out the 100K to make it happen.

Do you think it is popular for our kids to go downtown and get cussed out by total strangers who they try to serve? It happens. Or to engage people that are scrounging around for change so they can get more crack rocks, is that safe. Or what about the girls that go down with us and have to hear the derogatory comments from men who would love to have their way with them.

Danger for the sake of danger is stupid, the end goal of youth ministry is to honor and glorify Christ, not to be dangerous. Danger is certainly a means of doing that, but danger for the sake of danger makes 'being in danger' a mere idol.

I agree that simply fighting intolerance is popular in America for the most part and not overly dangerous... nonetheless moving youth into dangerous ministry starts with getting them outside of their room and seeing that the world actually needs ministered to.

Then again, maybe the day after you became a believer you bought a plain ticket to the Sudan to fight against genocide... but I doubt it.

Brian-
I agree that asserting our 'point of view' is not the sole purpose of ministry, but it also should not be neglected. I suppose I would be so crass as to say it is not mere 'point of view' we present but the very power of God unto salvation.

We try to balance our ministry as Christ did, see Matt 4, where He begins preaching everywhere that men must repent and at the same time going out and serving all He could.

I thought this was a very good post and dialog. Thanks for linking my site also. I never realized that the internet community would actually help in my practical ministry, but the ideas and comments shared here and elsewhere have proven very helpful to me in the past few weeks.

"radically reinvisioning the world in which we liv...

2009-09-30T10:22:31.665-05:00

"radically reinvisioning the world in which we live, opposing violence and working for peace, speaking out against intolerance and injustice, leaving the comfort of our youth rooms, and deciding that sharing our faith means more than convincing other people of our religious point of view."

Oh, and just for clarity - these suggestions above are, to my understanding, the things that Jesus was all about. They were what he devoted his ministry to as far as scripture is concerned.

Derek, Thanks for commenting. We are of course spe...

2009-09-30T10:20:36.783-05:00

Derek,
Thanks for commenting. We are of course speaking of "dangerous" here in relative terms. And I think it's perhaps helpful to remember that we are not talking about what might seem risky for us as adults, but rather what might create an experience of risk for adolescents. Asking them to leave their comfort zones, make a public statement, experience life the way others do, go without all the amenities their culture tells them they must have, walking into the middle of a poor urban neighborhood -- for many teens these "baby steps" are what they need to test the waters of a more radical faith.

And I would argue that it's a far more radical thing for many Christian teens to sit down with a Muslim or Jewish teen and share about one another's faith, to learn for each other, without the hidden agenda of each trying to convince the other that they are wrong. And actually I like your idea about standing around with signs about how God loves gays. And the most dangerous place you could do that in this "tolerant country" is outside almost any church on Sunday morning. Try it and see what happens. Better yet, perhaps we should ask our youth to!
Peace,
Brian

It seems to me that the idea of "danger" according...

2009-09-30T09:43:23.294-05:00

It seems to me that the idea of "danger" according to many of these posts is merely being uncomfortable:

"radically reinvisioning the world in which we live, opposing violence and working for peace, speaking out against intolerance and injustice, leaving the comfort of our youth rooms, and deciding that sharing our faith means more than convincing other people of our religious point of view."

ooh...having a vision about something, being bold enough to speak out on an issue, promoting peace, sharing my faith...I might get killed if I do these things. Where's the actual danger?

Those aren't any more dangerous than sitting in a youth room talking about what you "should" be doing.

Those ideas are the popular thing to do in America. They barely even make people slightly uncomfortable. It's part of the postmodern world. If you want to promote tolerance...go somewhere other than one of the most tolerant countries in the world. Where's the real danger in those things?

How about a Mission trip to a Muslim country, with intentions to bringing the good news of Christ, where you have to fly in with a hidden agenda.

How about standing firm against sin in areas other than tolerance. Where are you truly more likely to experience real danger...holding a picket sign outside of the whitehouse saying, "God loves gays...you should too" (I admit, there's been a few crazy violent right-wingers...but comparatively...) or standing outside an adult porn store telling truckers that what they are doing is sin?