Rev. Cwirla's Blogosphere

Paul "Cyberbrethren" McCain posted a great video a few days ago dealing with youth ministry.  It's fictional, so there's a certain "straw man" element that needs to be acknowledged up front.  But the video does raise some interesting points regarding youth ministry.  First the video:

Now some thoughts.

1.  Celebrity.  You hear it all the time.  "He's the biggest youth speaker in the country" or "She's the top youth worship leader today."  What does this mean?  Does being popular automatically make one orthodox?  The Corinthians were celebrity-driven, each faction with their following - Paul, Cephas, Apollos.  The apostle's rejoinder:  "I planted, Apollos watered, God gave the growth."  It's not about who's on stage, it's about Jesus.  And if it isn't about Jesus, then it's not "ministry," at least in the Jesus sense of that word.

2.  Egocentricity.  In the video, the character "Ignatius" is all about Ignatius.  He couldn't care less about those kids in front of him.  He's a rock star in front of an anonymous, interchangeable audience, like the singer who shouted "Hello, Houston!" when he was in Dallas.  He exposes kids to shame in order to make his point.  He's saying, "Look at me, look at me."  Ministry is about Christocentricity - Christ in the middle, not me in the middle.  The Adamic ego is the problem.  He must decrease and Christ must increase.  Hardly the attitude of the speaker in the video.  The last thing kids need is another does of egocentricity in their lives.

3.  Feelings not Facts.  Too much of youth ministry deals with the feelings of faith rather than the facts of faith.  It's understandable.  Adolescence is emotionally charged, feelings and hormones (which govern feelings) are running amuck.  People need stability in a storm, not another gust of wind.  All that "being on fire for the Lord" talk does is emphasize how I'm not terribly on fire for the Lord most days of the week and have no idea how to set myself ablaze.  The goal of youth ministry is not to amp kids up, but to anchor them in the death and resurrection of Jesus, regardless of how they may feel about at any particular moment.

4.  "Close your heads and bow your eyes."  Clever jab and right on target.  Youth speakers seem to enjoy poking fun at the traditions of the Church, and to a certain extent, the kids are amused.  Face it, it's kind of fun poking at Mom and Dad's religion.  But the race of faith among the generations is a relay race, and the baton gets handed off from one generation to the next.  Those traditions that are so easily dismissed and mocked are often vehicles for handing on the faith, a point missed by most proponents of "contemporary" worship.  Youth ministry ought to plug the youth into the tradition, not unplug them from the tradition.

5.  Pastoral oversight.  Pastors are often the killjoys of youth ministry.  Yeah, we're the ones who always have to say "no" all the time.  Like Dad and the car keys.  The pastor in this video was nervous about the speaker going in and then had to intervene dramtically long after the line had been crossed.  That's what you get when you have no oversight.  You get some self-appointed apostle to youth with highlighted hair, a flawed power point mesage, and no accountability to anyone.  Pastors have a duty to guard the flock, and that includes a fair amount of nay-saying. There was a genuine moment of ministry in the video where the pastor apologized to his youth.  Youth ministry needs more of those kinds of moments.  Genuine.

6.  Youth workers.  God bless them.  The video was true to life here.  They aren't youth anymore; they've grown up. They're married and have children.  Sometimes they get tired of hanging out with youth.  I'd be worried if that weren't the case.  The saddest thing in the world is an adult who hasn't grown up and prefers the company of kids to that of his or her peers.  Creepy, too.  The message is clear - be yourself.  Youth don't need another friend.  They need to see some genuine adult Christianity going on around them to know what to shoot for.

7.  It's all about Jesus - His life, His death, His resurrection, His ascension, all FOR YOU.  I just can't say it enough.  The Gospel, the "good news," is not that God is big, powerful, awesome, or any other adjective, but the God sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for your sins and rise again to life, and that you, baptized and believing, receive this forgiveness, life, and salvation as a free gift of God's undeserved kindness.  That's not a starting point from which we need to move on, but the center of everything we say and do.

This video reminds me once again of why I'm involved with Higher Things.  We don't have celebrity speakers and worship leaders.  We have parish pastors and musicians; all Lutheran, all the time.  We don't play on kids' feelings; we help them transcend their feelings and anchor their faith in Jesus.  We don't mock the traditions of our faith; we teach their value and hand them on.  We don't try to out shout the local congregation; we extol it as the place where God is blessing you in Jesus.

Something tells me the real Ignatius would approve.

There is no pastor in this video clip. The closest thing to one is "Becky," the "student minister." "Carl" is identified as a "veteran volunteer," not a pastor.