A recent study by the National Center For Family-Integrated Churches lays much of the blame for the exodus of the emerging generations from the church on the doorstep of church youth groups. Here's what they concluded:
I have no argument with much of what Barna and NCFIC have found, although I do not agree that "the youth group is the problem." The emerging generations are clearly leaving the church, the church tends to segregate families, and local church youth ministries are struggling in many regards. The youth pastor is no longer the default "second hire," behind the senior pastor, at local churches. Most youth pastors I know are increasingly discouraged and disillusioned; many who have put in their decade or two of "babysitting church adolescents" are getting out of the youth ministry genre. So, has the youth ministry model been flawed from the beginning? I'm not so sure.
I believe God raised up contemporary youth ministry in the middle part of the 20th century to address two primary issues:
(1) Strategic evangelism. God already knew what surveys eventually told us - most people come to Christ before age 20 - and He raised up youth ministry organizations and (eventually) local church youth groups to target what many missiologists have called one the the bigger unreached people groups on the planet: western culture teens.
(2) Fatherlessness. Fathers being physically, emotionally and/or spiritually absent in the home was becoming epidemic both in western society and, increasingly, in the church. Youth ministry emerged as a triage center for teens, both inside and outside the church, wounded by one or more forms of fatherlessness.
In our youth-oriented culture, #1 above will continue to be critically important; it's simply a wise missions emphasis. Which leaves us with issue #2: fatherlessness. And this issue is not going away anytime soon, even by making youth groups "more biblical" or ceasing to divide the family at church. Today's fathers - who continue to be physically, emotionally and/or spiritually absent in HUGE numbers - either don't want to assume their biblical role, or are woefully ill-equipped to do so. This is the proverbial elephant in the living room of the church, not a flawed youth ministry model.
There have been a number of recent men's movements - Promise Keepers being the most visible example - that have sought to address this glaring issue, but with limited success. Perhaps it is time for the church to align our praying with Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. When facing an no-win scenario - an opposing army that was too close and too large for a normal military response - he called for national prayer and fasting, and led his nation in a passionate, desperate prayer that concluded, "We have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you." (2 Chron. 20:12, emphasis mine).
Could the ramifications of fatherlessness a curse on our nation, prophecied by Malachi in the last verse of the Old Testament? "He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, or else I will come and strike the land with a curse" (Mal. 4:6). Perhaps it's time for passionate, desperate praying.
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This seems to be a both and situation. The flawed youth minister model is a continuing problem. Fatherlessness is a growing scourge eating away at the fiber of our nation. The church needs to be revived. Revival will not come if we remain in blatant disobedience to God's order for the home. The best place to win a child to Christ is in the home. The most effective place to disciple a child is in the home. Churches must align themselves with those purposes. That does not mean we stop youth evangelism but that we rethink what is the most effective method of getting that done. Certainly falling on our face in repentence and prayer is a good start. If we want God to send a revival the church should strive to get right first before we go out and get kids and innoculate them against godliness by locking them into models that don't reflect Biblical truth.
In Love and with great respect for those who have given their lives to youth ministry
David
A few months ago I spoke with a pastor who is in his 80's and he told me that when he graduated from high school he left the church but not Jesus. One thing I noticed is how those who have been to church for a long time pick up on the model they see which is mostly people going to church and doing things. One of the biggest troubles I have had with adults is their unwillingness to get out of their comfort zone and be challenged in reaching others. What this tells me is that they are self focused and cannot be discipled until they become others focused. If a church is led by those who lead with a self focus and encourage self focused people by programs they like with little or no personal accountability to take action for their spiritual growth then what we have is adults who are self focused and what youth wants to go to them for help or see them as examples.
So ... what would our "one prayer" be to see a reviving and revising of ministry and discipleship with youth?
It is not about a prayer. Jesus gave the command to make disciples. The leaders must be disciples who reproduce themselves. If the leaders do not have followers then they are not leaders. They are just taking a walk. When I see what Jesus did he met them where they were and dealt with them according to their needs.
A few months ago I met with some staff with a church that focuses on discipleship and all of their staff are required to be building teams and leading them. If they do not then they are asked to leave their position. The quality of discipleship depends on the quality of the disciple. If a church or organization is not willing to do what is necessary to stay focused on discipleship then it is willing to let the "cockroaches" of life take over and devour what is good.
Babies are born each day. It is the adults who must help them to be mature adults. That requires adults to live like mature adults.
Hi Gerald ~ thanks for keeping the conversation alive.
I agree with what you have said, except the first 6 words.
It seems to me one of our problems is that discipleship has become less and less about prayer. Or that prayer is spiritual and the expression of discipleship is practical. Somehow, we have divorced praying and discipling (Full disclosure: I manage both TheDiscipleshipNetwork.com and PrayNetwork.org) as if they are two separate functions.
If you read my comment as a statement that prayer is more important than the other components of discipleship, I apologize for not communicating clearly. In my understanding, prayer is not the most important thing in our development as a disciple of Jesus, but it is important to everything that is important to our development as a disciple of Jesus.
I agree with you that maturity is a clear mark of a growing-in-Christ disciple. I am convinced that is why "Epaphras...(was always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. (Colossians 4:12)
Maybe I misunderstand what you mean by "It is not about a prayer" ... eager for your reply,
Phil
My point was that it is not about one prayer such as "the secret to success", as if we can just give God a prayer from our lips. I definitely agree with you in that prayer is a must. One thing I noticed in scripture is that the disciples never prayed for opportunity but for boldness. We must teach disciples to be bold and that it is a spiritual battle and not a recreation room. In more recent years I have asked those I meet with to describe what they would do if they wanted to destroy something. Once we have discussed the matter then I tell them that is exactly what Satan does, so expect it. Expect trouble.
Thanks for replying ...