inspiration | More Than Dodgeball

Josh GriffinMore Posts SLANT33: How do you decide what to teach?

I recently contributed to the SLANT33 blog when they asked the question – How do you decide what to teach? I gave a wide variety of answers from where I find my inspiration, here is a selection of them, head there for the complete article on the subject:

Create a focus group and run your ideas by them. Every Tuesday during the school year at 4pm, you’ll find me in my office surrounded by a select group of high school student leaders who are my focus group. I run everything by them: rough drafts of sermons, object lessons, ideas, icebreakers, series ideas. They give invaluable insight into what they and their fellow students need to hear and how the message can best be shaped to meet them where they are living. And yes, they have veto power. It kills me when they use it, but I know it is for the greater good.

Be inspired by others. I love nothing more than devouring sermon and series ideas from other people! Youth pastors are creative, so if your idea well is running dry, find some people out there who are killing it. Stolen ideas I’ve had recently: a series on Facebook and a question/answer message where students text in questions to be answered live in the service.

Hit the majors. There are certain topics we are going to cover every year in our youth group. The majors for us would be things like friendship and purity. We make sure that specific perennial topics are being covered, though we might change the number of weeks or the voice speaking so it always feels fresh.

Excited to unpack these and much more at my NYWC seminars this weekend, too!

JG

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Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: Don’t Lose Heart!

I heard recently that a scary 90% of people who get into ministry fail for one reason or another. And I’m not na

Add Comment February 12, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: True Inspiration

As we wrap up the first month of 2011, one truth that has changed my ministry is surrounded by the word… inspiration. One of the greatest gifts we can give our students as their Pastors is inspiration. Beyond the obvious of helping them encounter Jesus, and promoting growth in their journey towards Christ; our students must be inspired. At the heart of our ministries needs to be a Godly fuel to change the world. An inspiration for our students that pushes them to live their faith in a relative and relevant fashion. However, this comes only by seeing it modeled.

Through genuine inspiration we are able to empower our students to know they can change the world.

Barnabas is a Biblical example that transcends time. As the mentor to Paul, he understood Paul’s impact would extend further than his own. By living a life of inspiration he empowered Paul to take the message of Jesus to the world no matter the cost. Paul saw the life he wanted lived out through Barnabas. Can our students say the same about us?

We are compelled to ask “Is there anything in our life our students want to emulate?” For my life I know this is something I personally need to strengthen and it’s always been a battle. I haven’t conquered it, but this is something I am actively trying to put into place.

Through a mixture of God moments since the beginning of 2011, which included attending Passion Conference with our college age group, as well as reading Sun Stand Still by Stephen Furtick, my 2011 mission is simple: Inspire my students by proclaiming Jesus and not myself.

Since sharing this with others this New Year’s proclamation has spread to some of my friends. Our first stop is connecting with the International Justice Mission, a Christian organization that helps bring awareness and help to those being violently oppressed through the tragedy of global slavery and human trafficking.

Our group of seven is joining around the anthem of “There’s a Bigger Story”. Meaning simply there’s a bigger story to serving Jesus than just attending church and doing little. We are on a mission to inspire.

So join us in our mission of inspiration as we pray a God size prayer to raise $100,000 to help those stuck in the tragedy of sexual slavery. And by doing so, we will inspire a generation of students to change the world.

Jay Porter is the Student Life Pastor at Christ Central Alachua. Hit up his blog right here: http://jayportercca.wordpress.com

I’ve been thinking about the big question of “what does it mean to have a healthy youth ministry?” I recently finished reading a book by Kenda Creasy Dean entitled “Almost Christian: What The Faith Of Our Teenagers Is Telling The American Church“. In it Kenda describes the growing trend within the american teenage culture of being “spiritual” but not Christian. Teenagers today are focusing less on who God is and more on how connecting to a higher power makes them feel. Christian sociologists have used the phrase “Therapeutic Moral Deism” to define exactly how this paradigm plays out. I don’t have time to get into everything about Therapeutic Moral Deism, but you can learn more by reading this article by Christian Smith who wrote the book “Soul Searching”.

So how can we build a healthy youth ministry in the midst of our current teenage culture? What do we focus on as we build our youth programs? As I am sitting here in a cafe writing this, I’ve drawn two different strategies on some napkins concerning where we as youth workers can put our focus. The first is what I am calling a “God-Centered Youth Ministry”. Here’s the concept:

In a God-centered youth ministry all of our teaching/small groups/etc. focus in on “theology” which is the study of who God is. We focus on what the Bible says about God (what He is like, His characteristics, His plan, Salvation,etc.). From there we then move on to “anthropology” which is the study of human beings. Simply put, it means this:

1) FOCUS ON JESUS & WHO HE IS

2) IN LIGHT OF WHO JESUS IS…WHAT IS A TEENAGERS RESPONSE?

So what is the other option? What is the opposite of a God-Centered youth ministry? Below is my doodle concept of a “People-Centered Youth Ministry”:

With a “People-Centered Youth Ministry” the focus in not on Jesus, but on the students. This kind of youth ministry will focus on particular types of teenage behaviors and how those students attempt to navigate the ideas of spirituality. Simply put, a “People-Centered Youth Ministry” looks like this:

1) FOCUS ON THE STUDENTS AND HOW THEY FEEL

2) STUDENTS BECOME RELIGIOUS.

The problem with the second model of youth ministry is that religion will never save anybody. In our world today there are tons of religions and I hear students (and adults) say all the time time that “as long as your are sincere about your faith it doesn’t matter what you believe.” However, no matter how sincere you are, you can still be sincerely wrong. Check out this event from the book of Exodus:

“When Joshua heard the boisterous noise of the people shouting below them, he exclaimed to Moses, “It sounds like war in the camp!” But Moses replied, “No, it’s not a shout of victory nor the wailing of defeat. I hear the sound of a celebration.” (Exodus 32:17-18 NLT)

Moses has just come down from Mount Sinai where He received the Ten Commandments from God. Suddenly he and Joshua hear the sound of the entire people of Israel celebrating together. They here a united people shouting and singing and worshiping. However, just a few verses before we here what God has to say about their worship:

“The Lord told Moses, “Quick! Go down the mountain! Your people whom you brought from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted down gold and made a calf, and they have bowed down and sacrificed to it. They are saying, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” Then the Lord said, “I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. Now leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.” (Exodus 32:7-10 NLT)

Even though the people of Israel were being sincere, God told them that they were sincerely wrong! We have to be diligent in our effort to point the students in our ministry to Jesus and not to the world. We need to place our focus back on to the study of God and not on the study of ourselves. If we don’t, we can fall into the same trap that the Apostle Paul spoke of in the book of Romans:

“Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.” (Romans 1:21-23 NLT)

Which model above can be seen in your own youth ministry? Which aspects of your current programs would you have to change in order to bring Jesus back to the center?

Rob Ham works on the WILDSIDE Jr. High Team @ Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA and blogs at I (Heart) Youth Ministry.