Emerging Thoughts

There are a ton of ways to go with that title eh?

With regards to youth ministry I want to focus on a shift I see happening...and I welcome it.

The seeker sensitive and program driven model(s) have some VERY positive aspects to them. However, the culture is a changin. So how do we operate in the emerging culture you ask? What do we do different? I am not advocating a complete change in what we do. I am advocating a conversation...a recalibration that may look eerily similar or radically different from our recent past. It depends on you, your church, the makeup of your youth group and probably most importantly where you live. Here are a few starter thoughts for those on this journey to engage the emerging culture that is upon us (whether you are happy about it or not...it is upon us):

1) One thing I very much agree with many emerging writers about is the need for the church to be missional. That is, the church is on mission. They are corporately and individually engaging the culture and engaging the people in the culture. They are listening to their stories and sharing with them the Biblical story.

Practical: Instead of doing a "evangelistic event", train and model meeting people where they are at with the good news. Global Camps are big on leaving a legacy in your schools. Do your students...do we as youth pastors...see ourselves as missionaries in this culture? In our schools? I guess part of being missional is doing whatever it takes to incarnate this in your own life and in the lives of your kids.

This is huge because the vision and value God has given to AMiA is to reach the lost. Not the disenfranchised. They are welcome in AMiA but that is not our main calling. That is not what is supposed to keep us awake at night.

2) Before you walk to preach, make sure your preaching is in the walking. Be the change. In a post hyper marketed christian culture and a flat world people need to make up their own minds. We don't want to jam Christianity down their throats. No, we want to live transformational (that is living and breathing Christianity) Christianity before their eyes.

Practical: Do monthly work projects at nursing homes, at elementary schools, in the community. Live out the servant nature of Christ before the community however you can.

3) Transformed community. A recent sojourners article quoted a Christian activist in Miami as stating that individualism was the biggest issue they faced in having young people live the gospel. Transformed community is a prophetic and healthy picture for a culture that honestly does not even know it needs transformed community.

Practical: Slow down. Let your group be messy. Share your very life with them. Model transformed community. Teach on it often. Keep holding it out as a Christian goal. Integrate the youth into the larger parish/church community asap.

Another big point on this is intentionally working with parents to model this. The core building block to a healthy community is the healthy family. To model this ourselves (God, family and then the church) is critical. Then to help other families do this is a blessing but a challenge.

Labels: Church Planting, Family, nuts and bolts, Programs, Youth Culture