Despise, Distract, Develop, Bancroft_youth Ministry

7/30/2019 Despise, Distract, Develop, Bancroft_youth Ministry

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Youth: Despise, Distract, or DevelopStriving for Excellence in Student Ministries

Eric Bancroft

Associate Pastor, High School Ministry

That man who becomes, by any means, instrumental in the guiding a single youth toknowledge, virtue, piety, and true happiness is a rich public benefactor. (Samuel Miller) This is

our pursuit. This is our love.

Yet it has been said that a man without direction and purpose is a man who is lost. It is just a

matter of time before he realizes it. I want us to have direction and purpose for the ministry that

we loveyouth ministry.

In our time together during this first session, I want to address youth ministry and its place in the

church. I am going to answer the question, Does youth ministry have a reason for existence?Now, you might automatically say to yourself, Of course it does. It has always been, and italways will be. But history teaches us a different lesson.

History of Youth Ministry

A little more than 150 years ago, youth ministry (as we think of it today) was virtually unheard

of. Relative to history as a whole, it is a recent development.

There are two major contributors to the development of youth ministry. The first major influence

was a change from being a largely agricultural society to being a largely industrial society. This

brought change to the home: where children once played a role in the homes productivity, theynow had hours of time, if they were not working in the factories themselves. The second

contributor, related to the first, was an educational change. Compulsory education for children

became the norm, though many, due to child labor and money, could not receive the education.

In 1780, William Raikes founded the first Sunday School in England. His aim was to teach

children who were young factory workers how to read and write, using the Bible as his text. In1844, the Young Mens Christian Association (YMCA) was founded to evangelize and protect

young men drawn to the cities in search of jobs. In 1881, Francis Clark founded the first

Christian Endeavor Society, which led into the development of hundreds of youth societies. It

might interest you to know that the first youth leaders were hired by denominations to train

leaders to support the work of the local youth societies.

Due to two major world wars in the first half of the twentieth century, as well as other financialhardships in our country, the historic American family was being redefined. Fathers were either

involved in war efforts or out of the home, working to provide for the family during verydifficult times. These times of unaccountability and family change brought about juvenile crime,

poverty, and family breakdown.


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By the 1940s, the term teenager was being used and businesses were beginning to market their

products to the youth. The rock-n-roll of the 50s and the political protests and other youthrebellions of the 60s led to a greater divide between the adults and the young people. During

World War II, pioneering evangelical revivalists such as Torrey Johnson and Billy Graham

founded Youth for Christ. Jim Rayburn founded Young Life.

By the 1970s, churches started hiring professional youth ministers in an effort to counter the

cultural influences and reach with the gospel this group of young people that our culture had

created. The problem is that with little formal training and certainly very little theologicaltraining, the youth ministers would simply model the practices that had been used by the

parachurch ministries in existence, many of them lacking theological foundations themselves. So

from the 1970s to present day, the default perspective of many churches and the adults inleadership has been to use whatever works with the goal to keep the youth from becoming

rebellious, getting drunk, or other immoral practices.

The saving grace for many is that though the theology was lacking, if not altogether missing,

these ministries were led by people who provided teenagers with relationships that many of themwere missing due to family problems or the challenges of growing up in a world that looked

down on them in their youthfulness but was going to expect so much of them in a few shortyears.

So here we are today. With such historical events leading to the development of youth ministryand many, though zealous, lacking in clear theological direction, we ask ourselves, Should we

have youth ministries? I submit to you this afternoon that we should, and that we should do so

for the glory of God.

We cannot turn back the clock and reverse the course of history to bring us back to an agrariansociety. Even if we could, or if we could move to a part of the world where such a community

was possible and we could remove our children from the influences of this world (marketing,

etc.), we still have another matter to deal with: the church.

Now, I want to put the conversation about youth ministry on hold and have a very importantconversation that must be had when we consider any type of ministry.

Theology of Youth Ministry

God has revealed Himself to us to through two means: general revelation and special revelation.General revelation refers to what Paul describes in Romans 1 as Gods invisible attributes.

Special revelation is Gods revelation to us, which includes the Gospel accounts of the revelation

of God in the person of the Son, Jesus Christ. Gods Word teaches us that, as Christians, we are apart of a body of believers, a family called the church, the bride for Jesus Christ. We understand

the church in two ways: universally and locally.

When we speak about ministry, we are referring to how the church conducts itself both within

itself and with the world while we wait for the return of our Savior, Jesus Christ.


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When we begin asking questions about ministry (What is it? How is it done?) we must agree that

our answers our bound to Scripture. Here is the bad news. There is no place in the Bible wherethe particulars of youth ministry or of a youth pastors job are taught. But here is the good news:

the existence of ministry for believers by believers for Gods glory is taught in Scripture, and the

general calling of a pastor is clear. Youth Ministry is simply a practical, contemporary extension

of this ministry mindset. The same would be true of Childrens Ministry, Special Ministry,Young Married Ministry, etc. All these modern titles are simply an attempt by local churches to

extend the ministry of the local church beyond that of corporate worship to the people that make

up the church body. Scripture has plenty to say about this.

As a general principle, what we do is based on what we believe. What we should believe is based

on a faithful study of Scripture and the organization of the teaching contained therein. This isalso known as theology. Therefore, theology is the foundation on which our ministries should be

built and conducted.

Pyramid of Ministry

Methodology

Philosophy

Theology

As under-shepherds of the church of Jesus Christ, we have the responsibility to be good stewards

of the spiritual gifts given to us, the people entrusted to our care, and the resources that the Lordhas provided to do ministry. This can be accomplished only with an accurate view of the

following theological pillars, upon which the church is built:

Accurate view of God Accurate view of His Word Accurate view of the Gospel Accurate view of the Church

A particular theology to consider is that of the church; what is known as ecclesiology.

Wayne Grudem, in his Systematic Theology, defines the church as the community of all truebelievers for all time. Being more specific and referring to a local gathering of believers, it is

referred to as a local church. The local churchs primary means for public gathering is to

participate in corporate worship. It is up to the leadership (elders) in that church to determine,based on the churchs culture, resources, and particular needs, what to provide for its members

beyond corporate worship to help facilitate fellowship, additional teaching, and the means to

practice the one anothers.

Another important theological consideration is that of the family and its relationship to the

church. There are people today who would advocate a high view of the family to the detriment of


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the church. On the other side of the spectrum, there are parents who abstain from all parental

responsibilities and see the church as an after-school program to teach their teenagers somemanners, discipline, and spirituality. The Bible gives us a balanced perspective.

Let me say in summary that the Bible teaches us that parents have the obligation to raise their

children and, as a result, should be the primary means of discipleship of their children. But let mealso be clear that parents have limitations in raising their children. These limitations would

include a severed relationship due to divorce, challenges in communicating with a teenage son or

daughter, or if nothing else, the simple fact that parents do not have all the spiritual gifts andtherefore need others to help.

With these theological considerations in mind, we ask ourselves, How do we do ministry?The term that is common in ministry circles today is philosophy.

Philosophy of Youth Ministry

The philosophy of ministry is the application of our theology in the context of ministry. Itanswers questions like Why? How? and What?

One definition that has been given for philosophy of ministry is the formulated system or belief

regarding the ministry of the local church. It seeks to answer questions such as What is the

purpose of our ministry? This is followed with: How do we accomplish this? We are thankfulthat the Lord has answered these questions and has left us a manual for ministry. This is modeled

by the apostle Paul.

Ephesians 4:1116:

11

And

he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,

12

to equipthe saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,13

until we all attain to

the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to themeasure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

14so that we may no longer be children,

tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human

cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.15

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are togrow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

16from whom the whole body,

joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working

properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.1

Pauls instruction to the Ephesian church gives us four tenets by which any church can beconfident that they are doing church Gods way and any youth pastor can be sure that he is

directing the youth ministry in a God-honoring direction.

I. The Right Process (vv. 12ab, 16a)

1The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2001. Standard Bible Society: Wheaton


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We are fulfilling the role that God has for each of us. For pastors, it is the equipping of the saints.

For the saints, it is to receive the equipping so that they are doing the work of the ministry.

II. The Right Perspective (vv. 14, 16)

We understand that we are concerned about corporate maturity and unity, as well as a personalmaturity.

III. The Right Product (v. 15)

The right benefit is that the teenagers are prepared for crisis.

IV. The Right Priority (vv. 12c, 16)

We are motivated by the desire to see the building up the body of Christ (v. 12c). Paul latersays, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up (v. 16b).

All youth ministry is the ministry of the local church applied to the students in the church.

Though I recognize that there are different ways in which the churchs leadership could carry outa ministry to teenagers, let me give you:

Four Advantages to Youth Ministry

Teaching that is targeted to teenagers in content, illustration, and application A discipleship infrastructure available to assist the work of parents A godly environment in which peer relationships can develop Opportunity for the recognition and development of spiritual gifts in the local church

Once the philosophy (the ministry direction) has been clearly defined and understood, you need

to be able to communicate that direction and purpose to your staff. This would be called apurpose statementor a mission statement. It should summarize your philosophy of ministry and

be easily communicated and taught.

The purpose of ONEIGHTY ministry is to assist parents in the evangelizing and discipling oftheir teenagers with the desired result of lives conformed to the image of Christ.

Youth Ministry Evaluation

Perhaps it is time for you to return home and conduct a ministry audit based on a biblical

philosophy of ministry.

It should involve answering the following questions:

What am I teaching and why? How am I teaching? When teenagers graduate, where will they say the emphasis was placed?


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How do I promote the ministry? What do I look for in volunteers? What purpose do our activities and other functions serve? What is the place of prayer in the ministry?

Preaching to Teenagers

If you are serious about doing ministry to teenagers and you understand the foundation that

undergirds your process, then you must consider the place of preaching to teenagers. Paul is clearthat a ministry that is biblical in its emphasis will have a high view of the Word and the

proclamation of it to its attendees. Second Timothy 4:2preach the Word.

Expository preaching is exposing (what it says), explaining (what it means), and employing (howto apply) the Word of God.

Master Teaching Plan

Sunday MorningJunior High Acts Ecclesiastes

Wednesday EveningJunior High Proverbs Attributes of God Tough Questions about Christianity Prayer Teenagers in the Bible Mens and Womens Roles Entertainment Friendship Spiritual Disciplines

Sunday MorningHigh School Colossians Proverbs 19 1 John 1 Corinthians 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus Christian Disciplines Doctrines of the Church Cultural Issues

School-Year Wednesday EveningHigh School

James


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Deuteronomy Romans Daniel Philippians Ruth

Philemon Malachi

Summer Wednesday EveningHigh School Church History Biography Series Relationships The Bibles Toughest Questions False Religions and the Bibles Response

Teaching Style and Structure

Sunday morning structure: fellowship group with emphasis on preaching

Wednesday evening structure: regional Bible studies with emphasis on teaching

The purpose of the Sunday-morning high-school service is to:

Complement the corporate worship that has already occurred that morning at GraceCommunity Church by providing opportunities forfellowship.

Offer an additional opportunity for equipping through teachingtargeted at teenagersthrough relevant illustrations and personal areas of application.

Engage teenagerswith the priority ofthe gospel in all affairs of life as the means bywhich we can fully worship God.

Offerdynamic worship through music that is theologically accurate.

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Despise, Distract, Develop, Bancroft_youth Ministry