This is our fourth post regarding student ministry. I
believe this is a needed discussion in our churches today. As believers we must
allow Scripture to be our guide and NOT our own preferences. I am taking a few
weeks to post some discussions on student ministry and then at the end of them
I hope to give a clear summation of how we at Trinity should view this
subject matter. The blog (that you can find here http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2012/04/16/youth-ministrys-tendency-toward-legalism/
) posted below gives us food for thought regarding the tendency to focus on morality
and legalism more than the gospel. I hope you read this and it serves us well.
Youth Ministry's Tendency Toward
Legalism
I have walked for ten years with
Allen, who was my closest Christian friend in high school. During our senior
year we were "on fire" for God and set out to walk with Christ
throughout college. After our freshman year, I watched my poor friend weep
often about why he did not experience Christ in a real way. His youth ministry
had sold him a message that faithful obedience before God would yield an
experiential intimacy and spiritual euphoria, which he failed to encounter. In
spite of tireless religious striving, Allen felt as if his pursuits resulted in
a tumbling spiral into a deep, dark void.
Not surprisingly, Allen became
disenchanted with Christianity and the church. Only after ten years of
courageous waiting and honest reflection has he been able to re-engage church
without resentment and wounding. He synopsizes his youth ministry's message
with a story, which his youth pastor used to tell kids. The story basically
involved a sad man, sitting in a corner, disappointed and hurt by his children,
who he wished would come pay attention to him. The youth pastor explained that
the man in the corner was Jesus, who remained displeased with his children when
they failed to spend time with him or when we disobeyed his commands. In sum,
we are a disappointment to God unless we perform spiritually.
Based on my experience in youth
ministry, if I had to identify the greatest theological problem in the field,
it would be the absence of the gospel in teaching on sanctification. Most youth
ministries faithfully preach justification by faith in Christ alone. In fact, I
may even credit youth ministers with being more faithful than senior pastors in
helping their flock understand Christianity as saving relationship rather than
cultural religion. However, in the space of sanctification, youth ministry
often focuses on emotional exhortation and moral performance. A legalistic tone
frequently characterizes the theology of sanctification in youth ministry.
So why does youth ministry tend to
be legalistic?
1. We want to see results.
Mark Upton, a former youth worker
and current pastor at Hope Community Church in Charlotte, North Carolina,
offered these wise words to me when I started youth ministry: "If anyone
asks you about your ministry, tell them you will let them know in ten
years." Like any ministry profession, youth pastors want to see changed
lives. At the same time, youth pastors need to view themselves as sowers,
planting gospel seeds for harvest down the road. (I know this personally as in
times of despair I just want to see the kids "do something" to affirm
that my ministry has worth.) Wanting validation for their tireless labor, youth
ministers occasionally focus on behavior modification as a means of providing
tangible proof of the efficacy of their ministry. A kid carrying his or her
Bible to school, signing a chastity pledge, or sporting a WWJD bracelet may
appear like signs of spiritual progress---the fruit of ministry labor for a
youth pastor---but if these actions come out of a student misunderstanding
Christianity as a code of behavior rather than heart transformation through the
Holy Spirit, then they do not necessarily reflect lasting life change.
2. Kids are as destructive as
nuclear warheads.
All kidding aside, kids have skewed
filters for risk management and make destructive decisions. Very few youth
pastors go through a year without the death of a teenager in the community
where they serve. Many youth pastors preach moralism over the gospel in order
to protect students from self-destruction. Unfortunately, law-driven ministry
often yields the opposite of its intention; law and pressure often inflame
rebellion.
3. Parents want moral children.
A gospel-centered youth pastor in
South Carolina once told me that parents were his biggest opponents to him
fully preaching the gospel. After several years of teaching the radical grace
of the gospel, parents complained about a lack of concentration on drinking,
sexual abstinence, obedience to parents, and "being nice." They
viewed the message of grace as antinomian and as a license for kids to pursue
hedonism. Parents rightly want moral children, as do youth pastors. Sometimes,
families view the church exclusively as a vehicle for moral education, rather
than spiritually forming them in Christ, and put pressure on youth and senior
pastors to moralize their children. Many parents view the law alone as the
catalyst for holy living, rather than law and grace, and want the youth
ministry to embrace this same theology.
4. Many pastors are young in their
faith and theology.
When I first started leading Bible
studies as a volunteer, my messages usually included a reminder that we needed
Jesus for salvation and then a list of moral directives. Over time, as I
started to grow in scriptural and theological knowledge, I started to see the
gospel of grace and the Holy Spirit as the drivers of sanctification.
Tremendous mentoring from all of the pastors at my church and their encouraging
and funding my seminary classes played the most influential role in this
maturation.
Many youth ministers are young,
both in age and in their faith. Given all of the other responsibilities that
adult pastors must juggle, nurturing the theological and spiritual development
of the youth pastor can be overlooked. Furthermore, churches often view the
youth department as entertainment and relationships but not a serious teaching
ministry. If churches fail to take seriously the theological development of
their youth pastor and to view youth ministry as a teaching and discipleship
ministry above all things, then the message likely will lack biblical or
doctrinal depth and contain a law-driven message.
