- Learn the language and customs of the culture which you are serving;
- Use your knowledge and experience from #1 to communicate the truth of Jesus to the culture; and
- Establish indigenous leadership that can effectively continue to lead God's people in that culture.
My question is How well do we do with the different parts of this job description? In this post, I'll focus on #2: Use your knowledge and experience from #1 to communicate the truth of Jesus to the culture.
This can be a very daunting task. I continually struggle with how to faithfully communicate Jesus' message to teenagers. I really don't have it all together, but here are five tips I've learned from many mistakes over the years:
Love students enough to communicate well.
When I was in high school, my sister introduced me to Chipotle, an amazing burrito place that started in Denver, CO near the University of Denver campus. I lived 90 minutes away in the mountains of Colorado, so she was nice enough to take me when I visited. Fast forward to my second year of college.
Before classes began in the fall, I was on campus for pre-season soccer practice. The cafeteria was actually pretty good, but before school started, the selection was pretty minimal. Then, one day, a friend let me know that a Chipotle was opening up about a half a mile from campus. The best part: the new restaurant would be open three days before the official opening day to test things out. A person could go in and order anything on the menu for free. It wasn't advertised, because they didn't want to be overrun. But for those who knew about it, it was manna from heaven.
What do you think I did with this news? Keep it to myself? No, I was a good teammate and told everyone I knew about it. In fact, I was very passionate about it, because some of my friends had never experienced the glory of Chipotle. In the same way, we need to love teenagers enough to passionately tell them about Jesus. It seems simple enough, but it's something that I forget sometimes in ministry, because I'm distracted by other things. Communicating well involves many things, but prayerful preparation--preparing "talks," small group series, and worship experiences--is key. Tim Schmoyer actually wrote about this yesterday, and it was a good reminder for me.
Speaking in front of a group is only one form of communication.
Studies show that students learn very little from straight lectures, including sermons. Don't get me wrong, I believe very strongly in the importance of preaching within the Church. However, I think we spend a disproportionate amount of time talking at students from up front. A great resource for ideas on how to creatively communicate is Why No One Learns Much of Anything in Church and How to Fix It by Thom and Joani Schultz. Sure, there's more planning involved in being creative, but it's more fun, too! One of the best lessons I've seen was planned by a volunteer at my last church. Around Halloween, for youth group we took a trip to a local cemetery (we got permission), had students do rubbings of the grave stones, and discussed death in terms of a relationship with Jesus. It made a much bigger impact than simply doing a "talk" about it! In addition, we need to remember that one of the primary ways God has wired us to learn about him is from family (see Deuteronomy 6). Of course, this isn't always possible in every family situation, but in the best of circumstances, students will be transformed far more when they hear about Jesus and how to follow him from their parents.
Use "Controlled Crises" to help students hear what Jesus is saying.
A professor of mine in seminary used the term controlled crisis to talk about putting students into unfamiliar situations in which they could see life and God in a new way. a "controlled crisis" might include a mission trip, repelling, "trust falls" or an exercise in which you give a group of students $2.00 per person and send them to an urban area with a leader for dinner and tell them to talk with people and find a way to eat a good dinner. When done well, these types of activities can help students learn a lot about themselves and God in a memorable way.
Use others to faithfully tell about Jesus to teenagers.
You don't have to do it all yourself. In fact, it's best if you don't. I've found that bringing in guest speakers, allowing students to share in front of the group what God is doing in their lives, and creating environments where adult volunteers can speak truth into the lives of students is far more effective than thinking I have to do it all on my own. Think of creative ways to empower others to use their gifts to communicate the truth of Jesus' gospel!
Make sure students are hearing what you're communicating.
Getting feedback about what students are really soaking in is difficult to do. It's difficult because it can be very subjective. And it's really difficult because it requires us to open ourselves up to criticism. However, we are not doing a faithful job if we don't try to find out if all of our efforts to communicate are really getting through. Thankfully, students are usually very willing to let you know if they are really getting something from the teaching and discipleship that goes on in the ministry. If you've never sought feedback before, the best place to start is by simply asking students you trust what they think. Not only will you get some great feedback on how to do a better job, you'll earn a lot of trust by asking them their opinion!
In the next segment, we'll discuss establishing student leadership within the ministry.
Update: Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 4 of the series
