Subscribe to the NetworkGUEST POST: The Youth Work Franchise
I’ve just had another one of those conversations, you know the one. The one where a church member or youth worker is complaining to you about the fact that 10 of their best kids have started going to the new super duper youth group down the road.
Sound familiar?
As youth workers when we “perceive a threat” we often go into defensive mode; we retract and end up complaining and have conversations like the one I have just described. The thing is, it doesn’t really matter what is happening elsewhere in the churches of my community, my job description doesn’t change, and I still have to do what I am called to.
“So what am I called to?” I thought. After minutes of pondering, my attention span was low that day, I came up with this: “to show the young people in my community who Jesus is.”
On a practical level, that means that I need to be meeting young people in their environments as well as creating environments for them to meet and grow. I want the amount of young people I encounter to increase all the time so that the quality of relationship they have with Jesus will deepen.
I’m hugely grateful that God allows me to participate in His Kingdom and that I am allowed to see people’s lives changed right in front of my eyes. He has given me a share of his Kingdom. It’s like Ive bought into the Kingdom franchise! I really like my job description but the truth about it is I’m not the only person in my community with that job description. God has franchised the work of his Kingdom amongst young people to us, not me but us.
He needs lots of us to have to have the vision to reach the amount of young people he wants to see come home. The advancement of his Kingdom can’t happen through my youth ministry alone. That would be like Starbucks trying to be a multinational company but only wanting to open one store.
I need to be a team player; I need to be thinking about the franchisor; The Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
If I was truly concerned about Gods vision for young people I would be praying for other churches and youth organisations in my community. Praying that God would bring young people to them, that he would bless them and allow them to lead hundreds and thousands of young people into relationship with him, I’d be praying for them like I pray for me and my youth ministry.
If I was truly concerned about Gods vision for young people I would be happy that this generation was encountering him somewhere, instead of getting involved in all the other traps today’s teenager faces. I would be happy that the new super duper youth group down the road was relevant to young people in my community.
I need to think bigger, why don’t you come join me?
Neil Young is a youth worker who Twitters www.twitter.com/Youngneil and blogs www.destination-home.blogspot.com.
[...] Young has a great guest post over at Josh Griffin’s blog that talks about when kids leave your youth group for the bigger/nicer/cooler/more high-tech one down the road. Check it [...]
Hey Neil, I love your bigger Kingdom vision! We have figured out in our area that we have 35,000 teenagers in our county. If the 300 churches in our area each had 100 kids, we still wouldn’t be reaching all of them! There are more than enough teenagers out there who need reached and no one church can possibly reach them all!