Abundant Ministry
(From the October Newsletter)
If someone asked you what the purpose of youth ministry is, what would you answer? My guess is that most people would say something along the lines of, “to give the kids something good to do so that they won’t get into trouble.” As a church, one of our responsibilities is to care for the youth in our congregation and community. In part, this means giving those kids a safe place where they are comfortable to hang out and grow, but our responsibility goes beyond babysitting teenagers once or twice a week.
Matthew 25:14-30 has helped to shape my vision of what youth ministry should be. In this parable, three servants are left to care for different amounts of money. While the master is away, two of the servants invest and increase the master’s wealth, but the third buries his share in the ground. When the master comes back, this third servant is called lazy for not investing, and Jesus’ message is “To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have abundance.” In other words, we have been given a precious gift in the youth of our community, but rather than just sitting them in the fellowship hall once a week for safekeeping, we need to be investing them in the life of the church.
It is tempting for me to define success in terms of attendance, because my hope is that area youth will be drawn to our church rather than to physically and emotionally unhealthy situations. We often have the unconscious attitude that the main point is that kids come; spiritual growth is a bonus. Often youth groups focus more on food and fellowship than discipleship and service so that we don’t scare anyone away. We aim to keep them in the church so that they can mature spiritually when they get older. Jesus calls this lazy, and I think we sell our youth short when we have such low expectations.
The amazing fact is that God calls individuals of every age for service, and our privilege as a community of faith is to support and equip the called. Our church family has been blessed with an amazing group of youth people who have hearts for God, and our task is to help each of them find their own personal calling. I wholeheartedly believe that our youth ministry balances food and fellowship with discipleship and service, and as we continue to intentionally invest these teenagers in ministry our entire community will be blessed abundantly.
If someone asked you what the purpose of youth ministry is, what would you answer? My guess is that most people would say something along the lines of, “to give the kids something good to do so that they won’t get into trouble.” As a church, one of our responsibilities is to care for the youth in our congregation and community. In part, this means giving those kids a safe place where they are comfortable to hang out and grow, but our responsibility goes beyond babysitting teenagers once or twice a week.
Matthew 25:14-30 has helped to shape my vision of what youth ministry should be. In this parable, three servants are left to care for different amounts of money. While the master is away, two of the servants invest and increase the master’s wealth, but the third buries his share in the ground. When the master comes back, this third servant is called lazy for not investing, and Jesus’ message is “To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have abundance.” In other words, we have been given a precious gift in the youth of our community, but rather than just sitting them in the fellowship hall once a week for safekeeping, we need to be investing them in the life of the church.
It is tempting for me to define success in terms of attendance, because my hope is that area youth will be drawn to our church rather than to physically and emotionally unhealthy situations. We often have the unconscious attitude that the main point is that kids come; spiritual growth is a bonus. Often youth groups focus more on food and fellowship than discipleship and service so that we don’t scare anyone away. We aim to keep them in the church so that they can mature spiritually when they get older. Jesus calls this lazy, and I think we sell our youth short when we have such low expectations.
The amazing fact is that God calls individuals of every age for service, and our privilege as a community of faith is to support and equip the called. Our church family has been blessed with an amazing group of youth people who have hearts for God, and our task is to help each of them find their own personal calling. I wholeheartedly believe that our youth ministry balances food and fellowship with discipleship and service, and as we continue to intentionally invest these teenagers in ministry our entire community will be blessed abundantly.
posted by Unknown at 11:13 AM
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