Generation How

To be honest, I don't know where or how this will fit into the book, but it was a thought worth blogging...


Over the past two years I've really been wrestling with the way we teach in our churches today. For the most part, southern ontario (and alot of Canada) is filled with intellectual thinkers. The CTV News recently had a report saying that just about half of our canadian adults have attended some form of post secondary education at some point and the number is increasing... however, fewer and fewer of these people are actually using their degrees and diplomas... but that's another rant..

With the fact that our culture is of the "information age", the key questions many seem to be asking are "what and why". Enter the preacher.

On sunday morning, many (but not all) sermons seem to have a focal point of "why this is an important topic of discussion" or "what should we think or do". Don't believe me? Ask for your local pastor's past sermon notes or if you're lucky, listen online. I can bet that about 80% of your material is on the cerebal "this is what it means".

Not saying that there's anything wrong with explaination. However, for the past two years, I've really been wresting with the question that alot of younger people are asking... "HOW"?

How does this fit into my life today?
How does this apply to me?
How do I live this out in my school, home, relationships?
How do I relate to this God when all I'm learning is why I should think this way or what I should be thinking?

What does this mean to youth workers?

Maybe instead of explaining why or what, we need to be modeling the "How" before anything.

See Deut. 6 or many examples in the gospels of when Christ Himself would model the "How" and afterwards, people would ask the "why" or "what".

I'm sure this will solidify into a concrete thought later on, but for the time being; here's my train of thought...

If I've taught my students about God; I've simply filled their minds with information that will be great for showing off how smart they are...
But If I've brought my students to God, showing them HOW to relate to Him; maybe they'll be better equipped to face their world with more than words... but a life that's empowered and fueled by the Holy Spirit's presence...

Till next time kiddos,

Parents

this one's a short slice from a portion on teamwork. enjoy.

One thing that I can’t stress enough is the fact that youth ministry is like an iceberg—you only see 10% of the mass!
I’ve been in a few youth ministry situations where parents are seen as either the good guys or the bad guys.

Deut 6 tells us that youth ministry primarily belongs to the parents… and as youth workers, we need to get that past our north American ideology of ecclesiology. Perhaps, as the traditional pastoral staff, we need to understand their role as parents and our role as pastors. Their role is found in deut 6. Our role is found in Eph 4 (equipping the saints for ministry).
When it comes to parenthood, every parent stands as a minister to their child. It is our job to help them do their job.

Takes a village to raise a child… and to our advantage, parents are great youth workers to other kids who see them as parents as well. I don’t know how many times kids say “I love Mrs. Mclaclyn because she’s like the mom I never had”.

Perhaps we need to realize that parents are the most underutilized youth workers in the church. They’ve been doing it for years more than the hired hand, so why not invest in some seasoned help?