Over the last several months I have had the sobering task of bringing in potential staff members. God blessed us beyond measure when He sent us Bro. Jeff Summers and Bro. Jon Rushing - but I knew even when Bro. Jon came that the work was not over. As I have said before, we are shuffling some staff members and bringing in some new ones. This is always an exciting time and a nervous time. You pray for unity, you pray that everyone is who they appear to be, you pray for God’s wisdom and rely on God’s providence and sovereignty. We are now in the process of bringing on a Youth Pastor. Overall, our modern day church culture has greatly strayed in their view of youth ministry. What should youth ministry be? What should we expect our youth ministry to produce? Is this nothing more than a teen social club? A while ago on my blog I mentioned Paul Tripp - he did a question and answer time at John Piper’s Church and they posted some of this interaction on Piper’s blog. I want to give you a view of where I believe our youth ministry must be biblically… but, leading into a blog or two about our students, I found this article interesting:
The (Non)Difference Between Youth and Adult Ministry
May 7, 2009 | By: Abraham Piper
Category: Commentary
Recently, Tyler Kenney and I were able to get a quick interview with Paul Tripp. We'll be blogging it over the next few days.
Our first question was, "What differences do you see between ministering to youth and ministering to adults?"
For his full answer, you can listen to the audio. (Please forgive how rough it is.)
Here is my summary of his thoughts:
There are ways in which there's no difference. There's only one gospel, not a different one for children, young people, and adults.
And there's a way the struggles of the heart are the same. These struggles play out differently depending on our stage in life, but when it comes down to it, we all want to be sovereign over our own lives.
If you understand that about your heart, and you're humble about it, you'll get what a kid or teenager is going through. You'll understand that it isn't first a problem of misbehavior; it's first a problem in the heart.
This is our desire in everything we do at Trinity - we want to get the gospel right, allow the Word of God to work in our lives, and allow it to examine the heart! We ask the Spirit of God to control us and illuminate us, and in all we do our primary goal, whether children, teens or adults, is to glorify God!
