An Extraordinary Shift
The Possibilities and Potential
Of Youth Ministry Reformation
Mike Higgs, Editor
Barry St. Clair
David Sliker
David Perkins
Richard Ross
Paul Fleischmann
with Lillian Poon
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An Extraordinary Shift
© 2014 sondance, inc.
PO Box 220
Carey, ID 83320
First printing April 2014
Second printing December 2014
Permission is granted to reprint, copy, or otherwise use this resource for the glory of God,
the advancement of His Kingdom, and the furtherance of the mission of youth ministry.
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Contents
Preface: Learning To Shift
4
Part I. Reflect
1. Reflecting on The Man
2. Reflecting on The Mission
3. Reflecting on The Methods
10
19
22
Part II. Return
4. Returning to the Person of Jesus
5. Returning to the Presence of Jesus
6. Returning to the Power of Jesus
30
36
43
Part III. Restore
7. Restoring The First Commandment to First Place
8. Restoring A Culture of Prayer
9. Restoring The Practice of Prayer
10. Restoring The Priority of Unity
11. Restoring A Sustainable Focus
12. Restoring a Jesus-Focused Strategy
48
53
58
62
68
74
Conclusion: Reform
82
About The Authors
89
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Preface
Learning To Shift
Mike Higgs
My first car was a white 1960’s Volkswagon Squareback. It had a sunroof that I
thought was really cool until it blew off on a highway and the truck behind me ran over it.
I then thought Duct tape was cool, as it held my mangled piece of metal into the hole in the
top of my car. The car also had a souped-up engine and a manual transmission. Those two
things were supposed to go together to produce cool acceleration, and since I was into cool
at the time, I liked that. But I had never operated a clutch or otherwise driven a manual
transmission. My learning curve was, uh, a curve, with lots of grinding and stalling which
was not at all cool. It took me a while to learn to shift.
It took us a while to learn to shift when it came to the theme, and focus, of this book. It
was originally supposed to be a White Paper, and eventually a book, on prayer. The four
original authors are men given to prayer, we all have plenty to say about prayer, and the
process of developing this project has been bathed in prayer. But this is not a book on
prayer, per se. God hijacked us along the way, and we had to learn to shift.
I have some experience in being hijacked by God. In 1977 I was a fledgling sports
reporter for my city’s daily newspaper, covering local high school sports, and
moonlighting as a freelance writer. The church I was attending was starting up a new high
school ministry, needed a guitar-playing song leader, and recruited me to help out. Four
months later I was an intern at the church, enrolled in seminary, and no longer a journalist.
I didn't see that one coming as a viable career trajectory. God hijacked me. And I shifted.
In 1979, stoked about this new career but still feeling a little hijacked, I somehow
ended up at the first National Convention on High School Discipleship in Minneapolis,
along with a thousand or so of my peers. That week transformed me from a hijack-ee to a
fully devoted youth worker. When one of the speakers asked those of us ready and willing
to commit our lives to youth ministry to stand, I was up in a heartbeat. While I have never
considered that a vow, and on numerous occasions have prayerfully considered other ways
to serve God, He still has me in youth ministry and my passion for the emerging
generations who are “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt. 9:36) is
as great as ever.
A Growing Unease
But in recent years there has been a growing unease within me regarding the
effectiveness of contemporary/postmodern/emergent/missional (pick one or more labels)
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youth ministry at making disciples among the emerging generations. To be honest, the
dreams I had in 1977 of reaching kids for Christ have been somewhat unfulfilled. Yes, I
can point to lots of personal ministry high points. God has used my wife, Terri, and me to
help populate the Kingdom of God. We have been a part of gatherings of teen and young
adult Christ-followers, ranging from dozens to tens of thousands, all crying out to God for
their peers and campuses. We have seen five thousand high school students kneeling in
prayer, in humility and repentance, in a city square, and taken my shoes off because I knew
I was standing on holy ground. But I have not been able to shake the nagging feeling that
there is more. I wrote a monograph that was distributed at the Atlanta ’96: Youth Leaders
United For Awakening event entitled “Preparing Youth Ministry For The Coming
Revival.” Well, the revival has not arrived. Yet.
So in the fall of 2011 I approached my friend Barry St. Clair and shared my heart. His
response was what I expected – we were on the same page, paragraph and sentence. So,
what to do? Since we were also of one mind regarding the tendency we youth workers
have to make plans and ask God to bless them, rather than asking Him for His plans and
responding in obedient action, we decided to pray and ask God what to do. Our praying led
to a Prayer Consultation in May of 2012 attended by 15 leaders from around the country.
One of the results of that gathering was a short document that is worth including, in
abbreviated form, here:
We believe our nation is in desperate need of significant spiritual renewal. The
chorus of those calling the American church to humility, prayer and repentance has
grown in recent years, and the roar of their corporate prophetic voice is increasingly
difficult to ignore . . . (We) agreed that current strategies and methodologies, while
certainly good ones, are insufficient for the task at hand, the fulfillment of the Great
Commission among the emerging generations. While we may or may not be “losing”
the battle for the souls of American youth, we believe God has much more for us. But
we must adjust our current approach. And to do that, we must discover what is on
God’s heart so that we may join Him in His mission.
(At our Consultation) a few shared convictions emerged:
• Youth ministry must restore the supremacy of Christ and the fullness of His
finished work on the Cross.
• Youth ministry must preach and incarnate a whole gospel of the Kingdom to a
wounded, fatherless generation desperate for healing, deliverance, forgiveness, and
Kingdom life now as well as eternal life.
• Prayer is the primary strategy God has given us for fulfilling the Great
Commission.
• As youth ministries and youth ministers reaffirm the supremacy of Christ, embrace
a whole gospel message, incarnate a crucified life, and pray as never before, unity
will increase, disciplemaking will increase, and progress toward our goal of
reaching the emerging generations will be greatly accelerated.
The Consultation was followed by a year of monthly prayer conference calls, and an
expansion of our little two-person core group to involve two more very like-minded men:
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David Sliker from the International House of Prayer (IHOP) Missions Base in Kansas City,
and David Perkins from New Life Church and Desperation Ministries in Colorado Springs.
During this season, the Lord prompted me to read the biographies of some of the founders
of the major youth ministry organizations of today – Young Life, Youth For Christ, and
the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. In these books, I discovered that most of these youth
ministry pioneers were men and women of prayer, and their ministries were birthed out
of extraordinary prayer. The biographies were not sugar-coated - most of the founders had
their foibles – but the biographers made it clear that youth ministry as most of us know it
today was formed in the crucible of prayer.
So when the four of us gathered in Colorado Springs for some face-to-face interaction
and prayer regarding the possibility of some sort of collaborative initiative, a theme, taken
from one of the statements in the Consultation document, emerged: “Restoring A Culture
Of Prayer In Youth Ministry.” That theme implies something significant. Because of my
role in youth ministry both local and national over the past twenty years as “an advocate
for prayer in the youth ministry movement, and an advocate for youth ministry in the
prayer movement,” I have a pretty good feel for the role of prayer in youth ministry over
the past several decades. I know youth workers who are mighty in prayer. I know of youth
ministries that are bathed in prayer. I know of youth ministry prayer initiatives that are
cutting-edge and powerful. That being said - and I don’t know how to say this any more
gently - there is not a strong culture of prayer in American youth ministry today.
And that has to change. Or shift.
Perhaps?
“Back in the day” (read: hot seats, chubby bunnies, burger bashes, etc.) Dawson
McAllister used to pose this question to youth workers: “what do you think Jesus would
see if He walked on a high school campus today?” His response, which most of us would
agree with today, is that Jesus would see young people who are at least as “harassed and
helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt. 9:36) as the crowds following Jesus were.
He would see teenagers desperately needing to know there is a Shepherd who loves them
and has the answers to the questions that fill their minds regarding their lives and destinies.
Jesus’ compassionate response to the crowds in that passage was to tell His disciples to
pray: “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest
field.” Today, the combination of the desperate needs of kids and the massive shortage of
skilled laborers leads easily to the conclusion that we have missed something in “asking
the Lord of the harvest.” Perhaps we are not praying as we should.
Paul told the Corinthian church, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of
unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.” (2 Cor.
4:4) Paul also knew the Divine remedy for that blindness, because at his conversion the
Lord had told him, “I am sending you to (the Gentiles) to open their eyes and turn them
from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive
forgiveness of sins . . .” (Acts.26:17-18). Accordingly, Paul’s consistent message to the
New Testament churches was to “pray continually . . . pray in the Spirit on
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all occasions . . . devote yourselves to prayer . . . for though we live in the world, we do not
wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.
On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds” (2 Thess. 5:17; Eph.
6:18; Col. 4:2; 2 Cor. 10:3-4). If spiritual blindness is still pervasive among young people
(that is a no-brainer), and the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ is not shining all that
brightly, then again, perhaps we are not praying as we should.
Therein was, at least in part, the motivation for the Culture Of Prayer Project.
Another Hijacking
So we all showed up in Colorado Springs ready to make the Project a reality. That’s
when the hijacking took place . . . and we shifted, walking away with a new project, the
evidence of which is found in what you are now reading. How did that happen? Well, the
details are in the chapters to come, but here’s a summary: as we began to pray together into
our original Project idea, it became clear to us all that the mighty, prevailing prayer that we
long to characterize youth ministry today would be just another religious exercise unless it
was birthed in the hearts of consecrated, surrendered youth workers who were passionately
engaged in intimate relationships with Jesus. So if we were to help youth workers (and, by
extension, youth ministry and young people) shift and connect to the Person, Presence and
Power of Jesus in fresh and deeper ways that would truly “re-form” them, prayer would
naturally (or, to be more precise, supernaturally) follow and flow. We all still feel that a
Culture of Prayer Project is a worthy, and even necessary, endeavor. But prayer is not the
main thing; Jesus is the main thing . . . and everything.
This book is our attempt to communicate to our tribe - youth worker men and women,
vocational and volunteer, from every generation - our shared conviction (you could call
this our thesis) that an extraordinary shift in youth ministry – yes, a reformation of
sorts - is necessary to restore Christ to His proper place in our lives and in our
mission of discipling the emerging generations. As each of us has shared this conviction
within our spheres of influence, many have resonated with the thesis. Is this resonation
widespread? Is there a critical mass of youth workers out there who are hungry for more of
Jesus, more prayer, and more power in their own lives and ministries, so that reformation
is viable? Read on, and as you do, ask the Lord to show you His heart on the matter. That’s
all we can ask of you.
•••••
Before we move on to the heart of the matter, a few thoughts about the “re-“ words we
have chosen . . .
We have taken a bit of a risk in choosing words with the “re-“ prefix for our chapter
titles. All of them are loaded with meaning. While reflect, return and restore are not
particularly incendiary, issuing a call for youth ministry reformation can come across as
rather bold and even audacious, if not outright arrogant. The dictionary definition may
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apply (“the action or process of reforming an institution or practice”) but the context
(Luther, 16th century Protestant Reformation, a literal world-changing event) may be a
distraction. That being said, while we consciously avoided the use of revival for a similar
reason – that word conjures up wildly differing images among members of our youth
ministry tribe – we decided to stick with reformation. Why? Because we felt the boldness
would help get across our point that this is not the time for business as usual in youth
ministry.
We are convinced that if we shift - if Jesus takes His rightful places in the hearts, lives
and ministries of this tribe of youth workers that the six of us are proud to identify with then prayer will happen as never before. Our dreams will become realities. God’s Kingdom
will come and His will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven. Everything will change.
And it won’t really matter what you call it. This is our hope and prayer. So I suppose, in a
sense, this is a book on prayer after all.
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Part I
Reflect
Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.
(2 Tim. 2:7)
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One
Reflecting On The Man
Richard Ross
“He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in everything He might be preeminent.”
(Colossians 1:18)
The National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR) sent shock waves through the
youth ministry world.1 This in-depth and trustworthy research project discovered that the
faith of most church teenagers can be described as Moral Therapeutic Deism. The core
tenants of this belief system are:
•
God exists.
•
He is nice and He wants me to be nice.
He is not relevant to my daily life, with one exception. Any time I have a need, He
quickly shows up and takes care of that need. Then He goes back to being distant
and irrelevant.
Teenagers invited to give a public testimony often say, “I just love Jesus. He’s always
there for me.” By that they may mean Jesus is getting them through hard times at home or
with friends. And of course, Jesus is very in touch with every life challenge they face and
He is omnipotent in His ability to intervene in any situation. But notice the primary focus
of the teenage testimony: “He’s always there for me.” Many believing teenagers tend to
know Jesus primarily as a friend who brings them good things.
•
Worse yet, some teenagers may see Jesus as their little buddy who rides with them in
their shirt pocket. He always is there in case they need to pull Him out to “poof” some
difficulty away. But the problem is, teenagers may believe He can be returned to their
pocket - conveniently out of sight and out of mind until needed again.
Most teenagers are focused on the benefits of religion, but not desperately in love with
Jesus. Youth ministry has its share of shortcomings, but this limited view of Christ may be
the most important of all. Why? Because a limited view of Christ (and thus of God) has all
the conditions necessary for Moral Therapeutic Deism to thrive and remain unchallenged.
1
1. Christian Smith with Melinda Lundquist Denton, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of
American Teenagers (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005).
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Teenagers Mirror Adults
The NSYR study made a second discovery that is just as important. For the most part
teenagers do not reject the faith of parents and important adults in their lives. Instead, they
almost perfectly mirror that faith. Christian Smith, architect of the NSYR, reports that
teenagers “. . . serve as a very accurate barometer of the condition of the culture and
institutions of our larger society. Far from being alien creatures from another planet,
American teenagers actually well reflect back to us the best and worst of our own adult
condition and culture.”2
If church teenagers are full of Moral Therapeutic Deism and teenagers tend to mirror
the faith of mom and dad, then this is a church-wide issue. Most church teenagers have
grown up surrounded by Christian adults who also embrace Christ for His benefits, a
Christ who is too small. Kenda Dean, one of the NSYR researchers, says it this way:
“(The study) is significant because it reframes the issues of youth ministry as issues
facing the twenty-first century church as a whole. Since the religious and spiritual
choices of American teenagers echo, with astonishing clarity, the religious and spiritual
choices of the adults who love them, lackadaisical faith is not the young people’s issue,
but ours.”3
Dean goes on to say, “The (study) reveals a theological fault line running underneath
American churches: an adherence to a do-good, feel-good spirituality that has little to do
with the Triune God of Christian tradition and even less to do with loving Jesus Christ
enough to follow him into the world.”4 Then she concludes that, “Moral Therapeutic
Deism is supplanting Christianity as the dominant religion in the United States.”5
Chasing the American dream has become a spiritual nightmare. Youth leaders can
demonstrate the truth of this by asking:
•
Are the parents in our church more excited about their children growing in the
spiritual disciplines, or winning trophies?
•
Are our parents more excited about church youth camp, or an athletic camp that
might lead to a varsity starting position?
Are they working harder toward seeing their children secure a full college
scholarship, or toward seeing their high school graduate take the gospel overseas?
Dean summarizes this issue by noting, “. . . the religiosity of American teenagers must
be read primarily as a reflection of their parents’ devotion (or lack thereof) and, by
extension, that of their congregation.”6
•
2
3
4
5
6
Ibid., 191.
Kenda Dean, Almost Christian (Oxford: University Press, 2010), 4.
Ibid.
Ibid., 14.
Ibid., 3-4.
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A well-known church worship leader provides this startling analogy:
“Often it feels to me as if, for many of our people, singing praise songs and hymns
on a Sunday morning has turned into an affair with Christ. . . Too many of us are far
more passionate about lesser, temporal concerns such as getting ahead at the office,
finding personal happiness in a hobby, driving a new car, or rearing well-balanced
children. But we rarely ever get that excited about Christ Himself, at least on any
consistent basis. Except when we enter a sanctuary on a Sunday. Then for awhile we
end up sort of ‘swooning’ over Christ with feel-good music and heart-stirring
prayers—only to return to the daily grind of secular seductions to which, for all
practical purposes, we’re thoroughly ‘married’. . . Christ is more like a ‘mistress’ to us.
He’s someone with whom we have these periodic affairs to reinvigorate our spirits so
we can return, refreshed, to engage all the other agendas that dominate us most of the
time.”7
Where Christ reigns, hope abounds. When the church embraces the supreme majesty of
the Son of God, passion abounds. But hope is draining from the Western church. In most
places, passion is about gone. The anemia of many youth ministries and many churches
proves there is a crisis in Christology.
This crisis has blindsided far too many believers. It has drained the vitality from
worship, prayer, evangelism, missions, and service. In too many cases it has numbed many
believers’ daily walk with Jesus. Above all, it has robbed God of His rightful praise
through His people in all the earth.
A low Christology is nothing new. The angels rebelled in heaven because of Self. The
root of sin in the garden was Self. The functional god of much of the American church
now has become Self. This inward belief is evidenced by the outward failure to speak of
Christ's current, powerful reign from the throne of heaven, and His claim over the hearts
and lives of His redeemed people. So they have little need to speak of His current,
powerful reign at the Father’s right hand.
Silence about Christ’s Current Reign
Silence about Christ's kingly reign perpetuates the making of impotent disciples unable
to reproduce themselves. But youth leaders may need proof that influential leaders today
seldom speak about Christ's current glory. Those leaders easily can demonstrate this to
themselves:
1. They can take from their shelves three or four Christian nonfiction best sellers.
They can scan the pages, looking for descriptions of Christ’s current reign and
glory. They may find a few references to what Christ said or did during His days on
earth as Suffering Servant, but they will have a hard time finding references to His
7
David Bryant and Richard Ross, Christ Is All, Revised (New Providence, NJ: New Providence Publishers,
2011) 6-7.
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ascension, enthronement, or kingly reign. Even if the book they are checking sold
millions of copies, they likely will find few such references, and often none.
2. Then youth leaders can go to blogs to see what their favorite Christian leaders are
discussing. They likely will search a long time before finding even one thread
dealing with the preeminence of Christ (Col 1:18). God is glorified by growing
attention to the gospel and to Christ’s sacrifice, but to date only a few are
discussing Christ’s current reign from heaven. This is problematic because it
reinforces small thinking about Christ rather than helping people come to terms
with the Lordship claims He makes on their lives.
3. Youth leaders then can examine podcasts from some of the most famous preachers
and speakers in the land. The speakers may use the generic “God” scores of times
in a sermon, but they may make few or no specific references to the glory of Christ
(other than quoting Him from His time on earth). In this age of the church, the
primary way the Father is revealing the Godhead is through the lens of the Son, in
the power of the Spirit (Heb 1:1). The "image of God" is most completely
understood in the "face of Christ" (2 Cor. 4:4-6).
4. Finally, leaders can scan their own computers for talks they have delivered and
lessons they have composed. They may find little about the current reign and
majesty of God’s Son. They also may find they use generic “God” almost
exclusively, only speaking of Jesus when referring to His brief time on earth.
Leaders may ask, “What recent talk of mine left our youth group more in awe of
the present glory of God’s Son and His Lordship?”
In our day most believers still speak of Jesus, but mostly concerning the days He
walked on earth. They are more likely to picture Him sitting on a big rock with giggling
children in His lap than reigning from the throne of heaven. Sermons, Bible lessons, and
church hallway conversations are almost completely devoid of any focus on the
transcendent majesty of who the Son is today.
The church Christ founded increasingly has stopped speaking of Him by name, much
less His power and kingly reign. When disciples are not shaped by clear language about
the majesty of Christ, that sets the stage for MTD, a weak Christology, and the perspective,
“It really is all about me.”
For good or ill, teenagers closely resemble the spiritual lives of their parents, youth
pastor, volunteer leaders, and congregation. If most believing teenagers have an inadequate
view of Christ, perhaps some of the key adults in their lives also need to be reintroduced to
the real Jesus for all He is.
High Christology and MTD
Because of the NSYR, youth ministries first revealed the presence of Moral
Therapeutic Deism in the church. But this dark cloud can have a silver lining:
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Youth ministries also represent a way to first address this error
and then to lead the entire church into a new way of believing
and then to rear up a new generation of King Jesus followers.
The antidote to Moral Therapeutic Deism is a biblical understanding of the second
member of the Trinity. Today Triune God most clearly is revealing Himself through the
Son (Heb. 1:1-2) in the power of the Spirit. God is orchestrating the surrender of all things
to the hold-nothing-back supreme Lordship of Christ (Col 1:18). Young and old believers
who grasp the Son begin to grasp God. The higher Jesus is lifted, the greater the Father He
reveals. A rising tide lifts all boats. A rising Christology lifts theology, discipleship,
lordship, missiology, ecclesiology, and family ministry. A low Christology leaves room for
low, vague, and uncompelling theology and church life.
At the moment of His second coming, Christ will appear, more majestic and powerful
than believers can possibly imagine. He will split the heavens. All humanity will see Him
for who He is. A youth leader might consider:
•
Do our teenagers know that who Christ will be on that day is precisely who He is
today?
•
Do they know that His sovereign glory on that day is His sovereign glory now?
•
When our teenagers prayed this morning, were they seeing Christ on His throne?
•
Do we as leaders really know Him today the way He will be when He returns?
The senior pastor and youth leader can lock arms on this issue. From the pulpit and the
front of the youth room they can begin to proclaim to teenagers:
•
Your King is not distant. The Spirit of Christ is present and living in your heart just
as He is seated on the throne of heaven.
•
Jesus Christ is not irrelevant. He is at this moment reigning over every element of
the cosmos. That includes all that is happening in and around you.
•
He is not the divine butler who only lives to make you happy. He is the majestic
King who exists for His glory and for the coming of His kingdom on the earth. He
does not primarily exist for you. You exist for Him.
What might happen if teenagers begin to grasp all this? Rather than seeing Jesus as a
little buddy tucked down in their pocket, what if they begin to embrace His transcendence
and His kingdom purposes? What if they discover new awe over the overwhelming glory
of Triune God as He reveals himself through the Son?
What if a true awakening to the Almighty begins in the youth group? Could teenagers
and their parents and leaders then spark a similar awakening in the full church? Is such a
possibility worthy of prayer-filled support?
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A Christ Awakening
Just now there is every indication the Father and the Spirit are initiating a movement waking the sleeping church to the reigning glory of the Son. The Scripture passages at the
end of this chapter amplify a God-initiated and Spirit-empowered awakening to Christ.
A growing number are praying for a full Christ awakening in the American church. A
Christ-awakening unfolds whenever God’s Spirit uses God’s Word to reintroduce God’s
people to God’s Son for all He is.
At its root the Christian faith is a relationship. It is a relationship initiated by God who
loves individuals so much He sent His Son to redeem them. Triune God draws them into a
relationship with Himself for fellowship and adoration, to join Him in His kingdom
purposes, and for the display of His splendor. He desires the exaltation of His Son for
eternity, not for eighteen years.
Christ created everything, He rules the universe, and He is bringing His kingdom on
earth for the glory of Triune God. He is the head of every facet of the church. That means:
Christ is the founder of youth ministry, the goal of youth ministry,
and the one who should shape youth ministry.
“It is Christology (the exploration of the person, teachings and impact of Jesus Christ)
that determines missiology (our purpose and function in the world), which in turn
determines our ecclesiology (the forms and functions of the church).”8 Therefore, a goal
for youth ministry might look like this:
Teenagers who, for the glory of the Father and in the power of the Spirit,
spend a lifetime embracing the supreme majesty of the Son,
responding to His majestic reign over all of life,
inviting Christ to live His life through them,
and joining Him in making disciples among all peoples.
That simple statement carries many implications. Youth leaders who picture a youth
ministry drenched in Jesus might envision:
8
•
Teenagers who love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.
•
Teenagers who love others more than they love themselves.
•
Teenagers who know their identity is in Christ and their purpose is to know, enjoy,
and share the glory of God.
•
Teenagers who grasp more and more of the grandeur and majesty of the Son,
enthroned at the right hand of the Father.
•
Teenagers who worship with awe intertwined with intimacy.
Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch, ReJesus (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2009),
16
•
Teenagers who abide in Christ as branches infused by the vine.
•
Teenagers who embrace the spiritual disciplines and who pray in running
conversations with Jesus through the day.
•
Teenagers who invite the Holy Spirit to fill their lives.
•
Teenagers who increasingly die to self and invite Christ to live through them.
•
Teenagers who know they exist to reflect Christ’s sovereign rule and to join Him in
bringing His kingdom on the earth.
•
Teenagers who joyfully serve out of gratitude for the gospel and Christ’s completed
work—who love Him because He first loved them.
•
Teenagers who feel no need to earn what is already theirs.
•
Teenagers who so love Jesus that they introduce others to Him.
•
Teenagers who increasingly become like Christ, thinking His thoughts, sharing His
world view, and demonstrating His sacrificial compassion.
•
Teenagers who make disciples who make disciples.
•
Teenagers who risk everything - comfort, possessions, security, family, and their
very lives - to be abandoned to Jesus and to make the gospel known among all
peoples.
•
Teenagers who have an allegiance to their King that far transcends their allegiance
to the culture.
•
Teenagers who know how to search and interpret the Scriptures to discover more of
what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.
•
Teenagers who can articulate, defend, and live out the faith that is in them for a
lifetime.
•
Teenagers who look forward to adoring and reigning with King Jesus forever and
ever.
The Youth Leader
A youth group awakening to Christ usually begins with the youth leader. That leader
might ask the Spirit for immersion in Scriptures, books, and prayer about the current
majesty of the Son. Studying, meditating on, and praying over the Scriptures at the close of
this chapter would be a good place to begin. Carefully reading the book Christ Is All!
might follow. David Bryant has done some of the clearest thinking and writing about the
supreme glory of King Jesus. His thinking forms the foundation for this chapter.
The youth leader’s new vision of the enthroned Christ may well splash over on other
staff ministers, parents, and youth leaders. Soon after, they may see their teenagers filled
with wonder concerning King Jesus. Then maybe, just maybe, a Christ awakening will
spill out of the youth room and will begin to flood the entire congregation. The fulfillment
of every hope the leader has for the church begins when the Spirit awakens believers to the
majesty of the Son for the glory of the Father.
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Scripture Related to the Majesty of God’s Son
Below are passages of Scripture that speak of the glory of Christ. They are best read
slowly, allowing time to soak up the wonder of this message. Reading may well lead
leaders to stop and worship King Jesus. Later, the Father may prompt leaders to proclaim
these texts to the youth group. The Son is revealed by the Father through the Word in the
power of the Spirit.
Teenagers Exist for God’s Glory
• God says, “Do not withhold; bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the
end of the earth, everyone who is called by My name, whom I created for My glory,
whom I formed and made.” (Isaiah 43:6–7).
Triune God Most Clearly is Revealing Himself through the Son
• “He (the Son) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation”
(Col. 1:15).
•
“For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” (Col. 1:19).
•
“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the
prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He
appointed the heir of all things, through whom also He created the world. He is the
radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature . . .” (Heb. 1:1-3).
The Father is Orchestrating Attention on the Son
• “. . . according to the working of His great might that He worked in Christ when
He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly
places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every
name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all
things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is
His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:19-23).
• “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on Him the name that is
above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven
and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11).
Christ is Reigning King, Not a Divine Butler
• “The Lord says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make Your enemies Your
footstool.’ The Lord sends forth from Zion Your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of
Your enemies! Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of Your power, in
holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of Your youth will be
Yours.” (Ps. 110:1-3).
• “For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon
His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and of
peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over His kingdom, to
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establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth
and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.” (Isa. 9:6-7).
•
“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to Me,’” (Matt. 28:18).
•
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and
without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life, and the life
was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not
overcome it.” (Jn. 1:1-5).
•
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory,
glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (Jn. 1:14).
•
“This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore
exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise
of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and
hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, ’The Lord
said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool.’
Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made Him both
Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2:32-36).
•
“For by Him (the Son) all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were
created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all
things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the
beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent.”
(Col. 1:16-18)
•
“(The Son) upholds the universe by the word of His power. After making
purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having
become as much superior to angels as the name He has inherited is more excellent
than theirs.” (Heb. 1:3-4)
•
“And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are You to take the scroll and to open
its seals, for You were slain, and by Your blood You ransomed people for God from
every tribe and language and people and nation, and You have made them a
kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.’ Then I looked,
and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of
many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying
with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth
and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!’” (Rev. 5:9-12).
•
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
(Rev. 22:13).
Note: This chapter is an expanded adaptation of Chapter 2 of the book, The Senior Pastor and the
Reformation of Youth Ministry by Richard Ross (CrossBooks).
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Two
Reflecting On the Mission
Mike Higgs and David Perkins
Most of us have tried in vain to find youth ministry in the Bible. Yes, Mary was likely
a teenager when she gave birth to Jesus, and many of the early disciples were probably in
their late teens or early twenties, but that is not a real strong argument to take into an elder
meeting when you are lobbying for a raise. What is a more legitimate argument is that the
essence of youth ministry – preaching the gospel of Jesus, advancing the Kingdom of God
on earth, and making disciples among an “unreached people group” generation – is as
biblical as baptism. Running on the timeless and tested tracks of relational, incarnational
ministry, God clearly raised up youth ministry for a season in history, and that season
endures. But perhaps we have come off the tracks just a bit. A short crash-course in the
history of youth ministry will be helpful here. We confess up front that what follows will
be brief - smart people have written entire dissertations and books, good ones at that, on
this subject - and to the point.
We would not be shocked if eventually, some archaeologist in the Holy Land uncovers
a fragment of ancient papyrus that features the Greek or Aramaic equivalent of the term
“youth worker.” But until that does happen, we are left with anecdotal evidence, going
back to the 18th and 19th centuries, of people in the church being assigned to minister to the
children or youth in congregations. One could make a strong argument that the American
school system and the church institution of Sunday School were both early prototypes of
youth ministry, as were the YMCA, Christian Endeavor, Epworth League, Word of Life,
and scores of independent local and regional outreaches to young people.
The Birth Of Modern Youth Ministry
However, “modern” youth ministry probably began in the 1940’s with the rise of the
“big three” youth ministry organizations: Young Life (YL), founded by Jim Rayburn;
Youth For Christ (YFC), founded by Torrey Johnson with Billy Graham as the first
employee; and Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), founded by Don McClanen. Our
contention is that God raised up these ministries, and subsequently many others like them,
in order to reach a generation rendered spiritually, emotionally and/or physically fatherless
by World War II, modern industrialization, the myth of the American Dream, and the
erosion of disciplemaking as a foundational pillar of the faith. But that argument is for
another time and another book.
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In the 1950’s and ‘60’s, Saturday night youth rallies and Bible clubs attracted huge
crowds of teenagers in many American cities, and millions of teens came to Christ. By the
early 70’s, local churches responded, “Hey, we need to get in on the action, too!” and
starting hiring youth pastors in earnest. (OK, don’t get bothered, that last statement was a
bit tongue-in-cheek.) The attractional models employed by the parachurch organizations
were adopted, and modified, by local church youth groups. Live music, multimedia
presentations, drama, competition, humorous talks by charismatic youth leaders, and often
food (Burger Bash! All-you-can-eat pizza!) drew crowds of young people to youth groups.
Often, their curious parents ended up in church on Sunday mornings.
A Diminishing Impact
The attractional model of youth ministry was well-intended and very successful in
leading kids to Christ. But along the way (perhaps in the 80’s?) the cart started pulling the
horse, so to speak. Youth ministry programs started taking on more and more importance,
with disciple-making taking a back seat to evangelism. Church parents started asking,
“Why is Youth Pastor Pete spending so much time with unchurched kids while our little
cherubs are getting neglected?” And, unfortunately, the wheels came off some carts as
more than a few high-profile rock star youth workers imploded morally and/or ethically.
By the 90’s and the start of the 21st century, the attractional method was waning in
popularity and effectiveness. Kids were increasingly distracted by the plethora of available
entertainment and activity options that vied for their time and attention. They and their
parents often became too busy or otherwise preoccupied to regularly attend a midweek
youth group or even a Sunday morning church service. And when they did find time to
attend youth group, often the program was not all that compelling, and the message not
particularly inspiring. The youth ministry flavor of Christianity did not seem to provide
enduring answers for fatherlessness, depression, anxiety, or a host of other adolescent
maladies that the culture was fueling. Youth group attendance across the country began to
decline, and the youth pastor was longer the near-automatic second pastoral hire at many
churches. Research began to substantiate what many feared: we were struggling in our
discipling of the emerging generations.
Yes, there are some encouraging signs that youth ministry has not run it’s course, or
worse, turned into a train wreck of a parody. Here’s one example: in late December of
2012, 16,000 teens and twentysomethings – mostly college students – gathered in St. Louis
for Urbana 2012, a Student Missions Conference held by InterVarsity Christian
Fellowship every three years. Across the state in Kansas City, 25,000 students showed up
for the International House Of Prayer’s One Thing. And in early January of 2013, close to
65,000 students showed up at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta for Passion 2013. Do the math:
over 100,000 students gave up close to a week of their Christmas break to attend one of
these conferences, which were anything but milquetoast: all boldly called attendees to
radically follow Christ and commit their lives to His service. And these three events were
just the ones with more national visibility; there were likely many thousands of students
attending other conferences around the country over the holidays. Where did all these “hair
on fire for Jesus” students come from? Just a few years earlier, many were likely involved
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in high school youth groups. For all the chatter about teenagers bailing on their youth
groups and their churches and their faith, something spiritually significant is still going on
to prepare so many young adults to show up at these events.
Other encouraging signs have appeared as well. Short-term missions trips have
exploded in popularity. See You At The Pole became one of the largest single-day multisite prayer events in history. Student-led campus prayer groups are rapidly multiplying.
Contemporary Christian Music (CCM), long a staple of youth ministry, has become
increasingly dominated by worship music, which helped give students and youth groups
more of a vertical focus.
A Needed Shift
So, youth ministry is not a train wreck, but our conviction remains: we are going to
need a reformation of significant proportions to get back on God’s tracks. We need an
extraordinary shift. And we can’t waste time arguing about that; the stakes remain high!
Most youth workers have Matthew 9:35-38 in their arsenal as a go-to passage for
convincing audiences of the importance of youth ministry, for recruiting workers, and for
raising prayer support:
“Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues,
preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When
He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and
helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is
plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out
workers into His harvest field.’”
While it is hard to support a claim that any people group or generation has cornered the
market on being harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd, most any youth
worker would agree that young people fit the description quite well. The statistics to back
that up that assertion are legion: fatherlessness, family dysfunction, depression, suicide,
etc. (There are stacks of good books on this stuff, as well as more than a few that delineate
the failures of the church to attract and/or retain young people.) Add to this the failures of
the church in general to “go and make disciples,” and we find ourselves with a desperate
need for a divine reformation!
So, what might such a reformation look like? In our view, God has raised up 20th and 21st
century youth ministry with intentionality. Our cause is noble; our mission field is, as
always, ready for harvest; the emerging generations are ready to become disciples.
However, as Jesus reminded us:
“. . . no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst
the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be
poured into new wineskins.” (Luke 5:37-38)
If revival is in the near future, then new wine is ready to flow. Perhaps now is the time to
take a closer look at our wineskins.
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Three
Reflecting On The Methods
Barry St. Clair
A recent conversation with a young, aspiring youth leader crystalizes the stark contrast
in the two basic methods used to reach for success in youth ministry. He described his year
of internship with a ministry highly recognizable for its big events, famous speakers and
celebrity musicians. Let’s call this The Event-Driven Model. Yet he grew up in a local
ministry that developed leaders, invested in relational disciple-making, and has influence
globally. Let’s call this The Relational Disciple-Making Model. I asked him to describe his
response to both approaches. After a year in The Event-Driven Model he found himself
dissatisfied. Looking toward his future in youth ministry he expressed a strong desire to
pursue The Relational Disciple-Making Model.
The Choices
Though this is a one-person, subjective illustration, it does identify the two major,
historical approaches to youth ministry. And it clarifies the clear choice that every youth
leader makes, whether consciously or unconsciously, about his/her ministry methodology.
The event-driven approach, which can result in some students following Jesus, more often
leads to a ministry that is “a mile wide and an inch deep.” The relational disciple-making
approach, though slower to produce visible results, most often leads to youth ministry
characterized by transformed lives and multiplied ministry.
The choice between these two methods dramatically influenced the trajectory of my
own ministry. In my first youth ministry assignment I followed the event-driven method by
default. I did not know another option existed. It led me to plan my first “Lock In”. As a
person who always has gone to bed by 10 pm, this “locked-in-a-gym-all-night-with-60kids event” almost took me out of youth ministry before I got in to it. Coming out of my
stupor the next afternoon, I vowed that if I wanted to stay in youth ministry long term, I
must never do that again! At the same church some time later, I planned a Saturday event
that I called “Teen-A-Rama”. By the name it’s clear that it was doomed to failure before it
began! Saturday came and we had three school buses in the parking lot waiting for kids to
show up. Two kids showed! This disappointing failure caused me to make a second vow:
never do that again, either! Though later I planned and executed a number of “successful”
events, and have spoken at many large events over the years, those two experiences
marked me with serious doubts about the event-driven approach. Oh yeah . . . out of the
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two years spent doing events in that church, I know of only one teenager in that group who
in adulthood pursued a serious relationship with Jesus.
My conversion from event-driven to relational disciple-making came soon after.
Invited to lead my large denomination’s youth ministry at 26 years old, I knew I was
swimming in water way over my head, and I had great confidence that I did not know how
to swim well. I asked all kinds of people for insights, input, help, anything! On a trip to
California several people recommended that I see Chuck Miller. Although I had never
heard of Chuck, I decided to give him a call. He suggested I come to see him at 6 am on
Tuesday morning. Waking up at 3 am to make the 1-hour drive to his church, I was not a
happy camper. On a dark Los Angeles freeway, I complained to myself all the way there.
“Three snotty-nosed kids will show up at 6 am,” I thought. But I walked in to find over
300 kids eating pancakes on paper plates. To myself I said, “300 kids at 6 am! They must
have the hottest new band playing.” I watched, anticipating the band that never
materialized, as students led throughout the morning - MC, worship, telling their Jesus
stories, sharing the gospel, offering a prayer. Blown away, afterwards I sat with Chuck and
asked how that happened. He pulled out a napkin and pen, and showed me: “It’s simple.
We make disciples like Jesus did. I disciple our twelve adult leaders; they each disciple
eight kids; then each student brings three friends. That equals about 300 kids.”
You can’t see what you don’t see! I had never seen that approach before. My eyes were
opened. And I never looked back! By no means does my lone experience define youth
ministry methods for all time. But when looked at through the lens of Scripture, history,
experience, relationships, practicality and fruit-production, making disciples the way Jesus
made disciples, though still pretty rare, offers by far the best and most viable youth
ministry method!
“Where do events fit in?” you ask. The event is only as good as the process. And the
process is ongoing, day-after-day, relational disciple-making like Jesus did it. Yes, He
gathered people in large groups to speak to them. But His every day, often unseen, lifetransforming ministry method took place with His disciples.
The Event-Driven Method
Now that you know my strong bias, let’s see if we can discover where the EventDriven Method takes us, and why we must reject it. In Dave Kinneman’s book, You Lost
Me, he quotes one young person saying, “We did not leave the church; the church left us.”
Kinneman follows that quote and others with this:
“We are at a critical point in the life of the North American church; the
Christian community must rethink our efforts to make disciples. Many of the
assumptions on which we have built our work with young people are rooted in
modern, mechanistic, and mass production paradigm . . . taking cues from the
assembly line, doing everything possible to streamline the manufacture of shiny
new Jesus-followers, fresh from the factory floor. But disciples cannot be massproduced. Disciples are handmade, one relationship at a time . . . We need to
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rethink our assumptions and we need the creativity, honesty, and vitality of the next
generation to help us.”9
In that same spirit, Mike Higgs, my fellow author, analyzed what drives youth leaders to
pursue the event-business:
“For the past decade or so, Apple Inc. has been the arbiter of The Next Big
Thing in personal computing. I admit I am biased: I am writing this newsletter on a
MacBook; if you call me, I will answer on an iPhone; when I exercise my iPod
Shuffle is plugged into my ears…thousands used to show up to see the late Steve
Jobs announce new Apple products, and literally millions would follow online to
hear about the Next . . . Big . . . Thing. The Next Big Thing is not limited to the
computer world: it’s the title of a movie, a national concert tour…etc. The Next Big
Thing functions as the foundational principle of our modern consumer culture, and
drives almost all marketing--the car you can’t live without, a band you must see, a
fragrance that will set you apart…Unsurprisingly, the Next Big Thing surfaced
some time ago in the faith community: the next big conference, the next big author,
the next big cool church, the next big short-term mission experience, the next big
worship band, and so on.”
My heart breaks that the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in America has become so
impotent. We have become so engulfed by our culture that we have lost our influence on
our culture, and even our influence on each other inside the church. Hopefully you are the
exception, but the way we operate seldom resembles what happened in the New Testament
church.
•
Many churches function like a business, with elaborate systems that necessitate
“Executive Pastors.”
•
The CEO pastor executes his vision—from God of course. And everyone else staff, elders, deacons and congregation - serve his vision. He leads as a “top down”
executive, rather than as the “bottom up” servant leader.
•
Often, decisions get made based more on power politics than on humble prayer.
Success becomes defined by “nickels and noses.” How many rears are in the seats?
How much money is in the offering?
• The buildings express our identity and image. They must be impressive and
measured in the millions of dollars spent, so we can feel good about ourselves.
• Church people show up on Sunday if it fits their busy schedule, and if nothing else
interferes. They hear more sermons, gather more information, hopefully enjoy
themselves, but generally leave un-changed.
God’s people have become more of an audience than an army!
•
We have bought into the myth of the mega-church and the hype of the evangelical
industrial complex that makes it appear that the church is large and influential, but now we
9
David Kinneman, You Lost Me, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI, 2011, page 13.
25
are discovering how little influence the church actually has in culture. These modes of
operation have become so ingrained in our church culture that people think of them as
normal. As a result, few churches seem to have the will to change. So we go on in our
stupor while our culture and the people in it miss knowing Jesus.
All of this dramatically impacts youth leaders. Since pastors measure success by their
“successful church scorecard,” we youth leaders, by default, knowingly or unknowingly,
often follow suit. We find ourselves trapped by these “big church scorecard” measurement
devices, and we get sucked in to believing that our value is found in measuring up
accordingly.
This is deadly . . . to one’s soul . . . to the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ . . .and to all
of those young people who really do want to follow the Jesus of the Gospels!
The Relational Disciple-Making Method
How do we get out of this trap, and move toward a healthier, more life-giving
approach? One bold statement will get us going: We need a radical shift: a return to
Jesus and His way of doing life and ministry! With that statement careening around our
brains and making its way into our hearts, let’s see if we can get a quick glimpse into the
Relational Disciple-Making method, the value it holds, and what we can do to embrace it.
Larry Taunton, quoted on “Breakpoint” with Eric Metaxis, interviewed college-aged
Phil, representative of the many who have left the church after high school:
“Phil’s loss of faith coincided with his church’s attempt to ingratiate itself to him
instead of challenging him. Phil’s story ‘was on the whole typical of the stories we
would hear from students across the country.’ These kids had attended church but ‘the
mission and message of their churches was vague,’ and manifested itself in offering
‘superficial answers to life’s difficult questions.’ The ministers they respected were
those ‘who took the Bible seriously,’ not those who sought to entertain them or be their
‘buddy.’”
Taunton found that the fear of boring kids or losing them drove youth leaders to try to
entertain them. But he found that even atheist teenagers respect people with conviction.
One of the students told him, “Christianity is something that if you really believed it, it
would change your life and you would want to change (the lives of) others. I haven’t seen
too much of that.”
If we do fear losing kids, which any viable youth leader does, how do we move from
“losing them to “gaining” them? To “gain” kids we must recover “the lost art of disciplemaking.” Leroy Eims wrote a profound book by that title years ago. A cursory glance and
an honest evaluation would lead us to say that the church has definitely lost the art of
making disciples!
Consider what most church attenders know:
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•
•
•
Jesus had 12 _________?
For 3 years he _________ them.
His last words to them were: “Go and make _____________”
With this in mind, consider these questions:
•
•
•
•
Do you know one pastor who disciples his staff/elders/deacons?
Do you know one church leader who disciples a group?
Do you know older men/women/couples who disciple younger
men/women/couples?
Do you know one youth leader who structures his ministry around seriously
discipling kids?
So, how do we make that radical return to Jesus and His way of doing life and ministry?
Here are a few thoughts and “secrets”:
Refocus on the Lost Goal. Since we have lost sight of the Great Commission goal of the
church, let’s refocus on it: to make disciples who experience life-change and become lifechangers.
Return to the Lost Model. We will look at other models later, but for now let’s take a
very brief look at David - one disciple-making model in the Old Testament - and how he
led people: “And David shepherded them with integrity of heart and with skillful hands he
led them.” (Psalm 78:72)
Rediscover the Lost Secrets. Youth leaders have access to a gold mine! Many don’t even
know it exists—it is hidden to them--or if they know of its existence, they rarely go in and
mine the gold. Psalm 78:1-7 takes us down into the mine to find what has been hidden.
“O my people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth. I will open my
mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old - what we have heard
and known, what our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children;
we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, His power, and the
wonders He has done. He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel,
which He commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation
would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their
children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget His deeds but
would keep His commands.”
What “hidden things” in the mine need to be found?
Hidden Secret #1: Through disciple-making our leaders and students can experience
more of the dynamic power of God. In a fast paced world, the church, which represents
God, seems boring especially to kids! But God is not boring - quite the opposite! Dynamic
power more closely describes God.
“…we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power and
the wonders he has done… “ (Psalm 78:4)
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In making disciples we want our leaders and kids to experience…
•
•
•
“the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord” like a teenager converting to Christ.
the “power” of a student experiencing physical and/or emotional healing.
the “wonders He has done” in freeing a young person from life-destroying
demonic strongholds
In the process of disciple-making, our ministries – leaders and students - can access and
encounter daily the dynamic power of God!
Hidden Secret #2: Through disciple-making, our leaders and kids can discover God’s
commands and apply them personally. Kids want to do their own thing, but they need
the authority, structure, protection and guidance that actually lead them to freedom. God
gave us His commands as a path to follow for that to happen.
“He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which He
commanded our forefathers to teach their children.” (Psalm 78:5)
Most kids chew on God’s Word like ABC (Already-Been-Chewed) gum. Let’s say you
spend time preparing a message from the Bible, chewing God’s Word. And then you offer
that message - the gum that you have already chewed - to your kids, expecting them to
chew what you have already chewed. Gross. Tasteless. Stale. No appeal. When we do not
help our kids to “chew their own gum,” they rarely read, study or memorize God’s Word,
much less apply it personally.
This week, ask one of your kids to quote a Bible verse. Ninety percent can’t get past
John 3:16, yet their brains retain the lyrics to hundreds of songs. Hmmm.
However, when we make disciples, and kids dig into God’s Word for themselves, then…
“… the Word is living, active, sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing…discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)
When we make disciples the Word comes alive, active and sharp. Kids love things that are
alive, active and sharp!
Hidden Secret #3: Through disciple-making, our leaders, parents and students pass
on a passionate faith that leads kids into a heart-changing, life-altering relationship
with Jesus Christ. Parents get scared when their kids become teenagers; it’s like they turn
into werewolves! They start acting weird. One day they hug us, the next day they hate us.
One moment they want to be around us, the next moment we have leprosy - “unclean,
unclean!” When this happens, parents tend to panic and pull away. Not good! The Psalmist
challenges us:
“…what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us…we will tell the
next generation … He commanded our forefathers to teach their children…and they
in turn would tell their children …” (Psalm 78:3, 4, 5)
Most parents leave the spiritual development of their kids to someone else - a youth pastor,
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volunteer leader or coach. This is a mistake of gigantic proportions! Part of the disciplemaking opportunity is for youth leaders to disciple parents, who then prayerfully and
creatively build a relational bridge to their teenagers, and intensify their spiritual
investment in them.
The Found Treasure
When we enter into relational disciple-making and open our eyes to the hidden
treasures inside it, then we can give away those treasures to our leaders and kids.
We discover the treasures of relational disciple-making when we do this:
This diagram, put into practice, opens the treasure chest of God’s amazing promises for
our ministries. Our leaders, parents and kids will…
§ put their trust in God—even in difficult circumstances
§ not forget His deeds – even when the world is tempting them
§ keep His commands - even when the choices are hard.
§
No approach, other than investing in disciple-making relationships, brings the treasure of
life-change and life-changers!
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Part II
Return
"Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord."
(Lam. 3:40)
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Four
Returning to the Person of Jesus
Barry St. Clair
The good news of Jesus is greater than we - any of us - have ever imagined!
Throughout my life I have astounded myself at how little of Jesus I know. But I do want
more of Him! And I am confident that you want more of Him too . . . as do most of those
younger generation people under your care. So how do we - each and all - pursue the
person of Jesus Christ?
The desire for more of Jesus gets amplified when I spend time with people like my
friend, Charles Juma. In 2003 I met Charles when I spoke at a youth leaders gathering in
Louisville, KY. During a break I grabbed my bag lunch and turned to see the lone black
person sitting by himself. Not good. I wandered over and introduced myself to Charles.
Over the course of that conversation and afterward, I discovered a uniquely gifted leader in
Charles. As a result of that lunch, both of us knew we were kindred spirits.
Charles grew up an impoverished child —a product of the poorest family, in the
poorest village, in the poorest region of Kenya. Grass provided most of his daily
nourishment. At 15, this brilliant Muslim boy graduated from high school, and ran away
from the misery in his small village to Nairobi, even though he knew only one person
there. Miraculously, he ran into that person in a city of 18 million people! His friend took
him in, but with no job, he roamed the streets. One day he heard music outside of a church.
As Charles listened through a fence, the choir leader invited him to church. When he heard
the good news of Jesus, he immediately responded to follow Jesus.
During the next two years the church leaders discipled Charles, and eventually all of
his family began to follow Jesus. Later he became the youth leader in his church. For over
ten years he developed a dynamic and influential ministry to kids in schools all across
Nairobi and throughout Kenya. Now he leads Reach Out’s East Africa ministry. We work
together to equip African youth leaders who reach and disciple young people . . . like
Charles years ago.
In Charles I see the beauty of the gospel of Jesus. After my phone conversations with
him my wife says, “You have been talking to Charles, haven’t you?” My enthusiasm level
spikes every time we talk. When I encounter Charles I experience Jesus! And really, I want
people to say the same about me!
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Clearing the Confusion
But somehow the splendor and wonder of Jesus easily escapes me. Like Victor Hugo of
“Les Mis” fame said, “God is behind everything, but everything hides God.” God gets
hidden from me because I get confused . . . about who He is, my relationship to Him, and
my role in His plan. In this regard, Francis Frangipane helped me clear up the confusion:
“We long to be sent by the Almighty for the sake of some great task…or some
significant act of service. However, the greatest task awaiting the church is not to be
sent by God but to actually come to Him. Indeed, we have assumed a strange role: We
think we are the Lord's bodyguards. Armed with the doctrines of our faith, we are set to
defend Christ against blasphemy, heresy, or misinformation. Yet in seeking to face and
confront the heretics of our age, we have positioned ourselves with our backs toward
the Almighty. If we would but turn and glance toward Him, we would see He does not
need us to protect Him! Indeed, if we would cease striving, even for a moment, we
would find His gaze has never left us. He awaits our undivided love.
“Over the years we have developed a host of programs, outreaches and ministries all
designed to bring people into church and make them better Christians. A number of
these efforts the Lord has blessed; some He has accommodated and used; while still
others, in truth, He has simply ignored. However, the closer we draw to the end of the
age, the less the church will be able to depend upon anything other than Christ Himself.
Even now [the effectiveness] of our myriad activities and programs is quietly
diminishing. In spite of the multiplicity of our ideas, before Jesus returns the church
will know simply and unequivocally: there is no substitute for God…what we need is
passion for Immanuel, Jesus Himself!”
So how we all – you, me, our youth ministry leaders, parents, kids - pursue a passion for
Jesus? How do we go farther on and deeper into this journey of an extraordinary shift
toward a radical return to Jesus?
Personalizing the Person of Jesus
One solution certainty prevails: before I can take anyone else on the Jesus journey, I
must go on it myself. I will never take anyone else farther than I have gone myself.
Personally, I need to personalize the person of Jesus. Experiencing Jesus necessitates
internalizing Him. As I/we more fully internalize Jesus, then, intuitively, we will know
how to guide our leaders, parents and students to do the same.
What does “internalizing Jesus more fully” mean? Not only do we invite Jesus to come
into our hearts, as happens at salvation, but also we give Him free reign to change
everything that is broken inside of us. Our goal is a “renovation of the heart,” as Dallas
Willard calls it. He writes, “So spiritual transformation, the renovation of the human heart,
is an inescapable human problem with no human solution . . . We can only live the life of
the renovated heart by nourishing ourselves constantly on His personal presence.”
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Personalizing Jesus calls for a series of very personal decisions to live in His presence.
If your understanding of the Christian life resembles mine, then at one time you thought
about God once or twice a week when you went to church. Once I invited Jesus to move
from my head to my heart, I realized my need to have a daily Quiet Time--to read the Bible
and pray. Eventually I learned to do that consistently. But the “pray unceasingly” piece
puzzled me. “How do I pray unceasingly?” I wondered. Then one day, working at my
desk, minding my own business, not doing anything “spiritual”, a phrase came to me out of
the blue, yet so very clearly. Immediately I wrote it on a Post-It and now it stays on my
desk as a reminder. God gave it to me: “In My Presence, in the present.” Later I
understood what that phrase meant for me at a heart level:
“Barry, this is how you ‘pray unceasingly’…and live in my presence moment-bymoment…and go on the journey of letting me change you to be more like me…and use
you to influence others. Watch for Me. Listen to Me. Pay attention to Me. I am always
with you! Whether you are consciously or subconsciously aware, I am present with you.
Because of that you can live in My Presence, in the present!”
That became a game-changer for me.
Seeing Our Hearts
Once we become aware (a key word: “aware”), the Spirit of Jesus has more room to
work in us and on us - to change us. For Jesus to transform our hearts, the Holy Spirit must
heal them. Honestly, I am a mess, and, honestly, you are too. Dysfunction seeps deep
inside of us. My wife and I have a game we play called “Scratch and Sniff”. You have seen
the little pieces of paper that emit a fragrance if you scratch them? Well, if we see a person,
or family, who looks like they have everything together, outwardly looking pretty much
perfect, we just say, “Scratch and sniff.” Phew! Under the surface all of us have issues in
our lives that smell messy and that stink up the place. That’s what Jesus wants to renovate!
John Eldridge begins The Utter Relief of Holiness pointing out what he calls one of the
strangest quirks on the planet: the one face we rarely see is the one closest—our own. Most
of us only get a quick glance in the mirror. He observes:
•
•
•
•
How rarely we see ourselves for who we really are.
And most of the time we don’t like what we see.
And then we don’t know what to do with what we see that we don’t like.
So we hide what we can, clean up what we can, and despise the rest.
Take a look in the mirror to see your self—the good, bad and ugly. All of humanity, with
only a slight degree of difference, looks just like you. Look again: how does God see
you/us? After an honest look we can conclude with confidence:
•
•
•
God formed us in His image.
Because of radical sin we became deformed.
Through the gospel we become transformed.
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•
And so through the Holy Spirit working in us, we become reformed.
All of this happens in a person’s heart. Thus, my life now and in the future is the result of
how my heart has been formed, deformed, transformed and reformed.
The greatest need of all human beings is a change of heart. The only hope of humanity
is a change of heart. And the one and only way in the world to change a heart: for the
Father who loves us, the Son who rescued us, and the Holy Spirit who lives inside of us to
renovate us—to heal our brokenness and bring us back to health and wholeness!
For a myriad of reasons, our eyes get distracted, and we lose sight of this essential
focus of the gospel for our own lives and for the lives of others. And, honestly, few in the
church have the courage or desire to take this internal look at them selves. Many would
rather “deal with their own wrongness” by some form of denial, rationalization or blame.
Yet when we do we see the gospel after looking at a reflection of ourselves in the mirror,
then we see that “the Gospel is greater than we ever imagined.” As Dallas Willard points
out, “Without this realization of our utter ruin and without the genuine revisioning and
redirecting of our lives . . . no clear path to inner transformation can be found.” 10
Healing Our Hearts
So now we must ask ourselves: “How do I ‘revision and redirect’ my life? How do I
engage with the person of Jesus to renovate my heart? How does He heal my internal
brokenness and restore me to health and wholeness, so I can reflect more of the glory of
God?” Jesus gave us the healing prescription. And every believer around the world has the
medicine sitting on the table, available and ready to take. The “table” is The Lord’s Table.
All of my life I have taken the bread and wine elements at Communion, yet I had only
superficial insight into what they do to heal us and make us whole? Now I know! Living
out what I am about to describe has dramatically helped to heal my brokenness and restore
me to wholeness.
In 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 as well as in the gospels (see Mt. 26:26-29, Mk. 14:22-25,
Lk. 22:14-20 these words are repeated again and again for us to remember how He brings
healing to us.
“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on
the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it
and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the
same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in
My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For whenever
you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He
comes.”
Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it. The external symbol of the bread
reveals the internal way He offers healing to me.
10
Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart, Nav Press, Colorado Springs, CO, page 20.
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Jesus took me. He chose me, as He has chosen you, before time began. As the Psalmist
affirms, He laid his hand upon me…He created my inmost being, he knit me together in my
mother’s womb…I am fearfully and wonderfully make (Psalm 139: 5, 13, 14).
Jesus blessed me. His promise to me/us: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly
places . . .” (Eph. 1:3) When, at 19, I asked Jesus to move from my head (informational
understanding of the gospel from growing up in church) to my heart (internal
understanding of the gospel from having Jesus live inside of me), I thought that the words
of John 10:10 would be the ongoing trajectory of my life: I have come that you might have
life and have it more abundantly. I liked the “abundantly” part because I grew up with a
silver spoon in my mouth. So I was certain that now with Jesus, I would have a greater
abundance, more of the silver spoon. Up to this point I had been a “super star” - my
grandmother’s favorite grandson, my parent’s oldest child, my picture in the paper weekly
as an All-State basketball player with a college scholarship, my leadership affirmed as
President of the Student Body. You get the “silver-spoon” idea. By His grace, He did bless
me abundantly before I came to Christ . . . but going forward the “blessing” and
“abundance” pieces were about to look totally different.
Jesus broke me. Yes, Jesus kept on blessing me after I came to Christ, yet in a much
different way. After a series of disappointments my freshman year in college, Jesus drew
me to Himself. I wanted Him, but for all the wrong reasons. I wanted more abundance.
Instead He gave me brokenness. Jesus began to do in me what He did in John the Baptist:
He must increase; I must decrease (John 3:30). He began to “decrease” me by breaking
me, starting with basketball. In one of the toughest obedience decisions of my life, I quit
basketball and gave up my scholarship, not because I wanted to, but because God showed
me it had become an idol (Matthew 6:33). Later as the Director of Youth Ministry for my
large denomination, I got fired. Further on, my first wife, Carol, died - by far most tragic,
breaking experience of my life. Then I tried to raise my eleven-year-old daughter as a
single dad - overwhelming, more breaking. When I remarried, blending my family became
intensely and relationally challenging – thus more breaking. Add to those experiences a
much longer list such as a difficult financial crisis and a personal, internal crisis that
pointed to my need for emotional healing.
At first when these brokenness experiences came I saw them as unwelcome intrusions,
so I tried to push them away. “Who wants that? My life is about positive achievement, not
these negative experiences.” But as I went through one after another, I discovered that God
wants to bring my brokenness under His blessing. This insight came from Henri Nouwen,
and it brings tears to my eyes as I write it:
“The great spiritual call of the Beloved Children of God is to pull their
brokenness away from the shadow of the curse and put it under the light of the
blessing…when we keep listening attentively to the voice calling us the Beloved, it
becomes possible to live our brokenness, not as the confirmation of our fear that we
are worthless, but as an opportunity to purify and deepen the blessing that rests
upon us.”
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Healing begins with mourning! Every brokenness experience brings loss and pain. I found
that stepping into my loss and pain, not away from it, brought healing. And so I started to
face squarely these difficult situations; to mourn what I had lost, and to embrace each one.
That’s when healing began.
Outwardly, people tell me they view me as “successful” in my life and ministry beautiful wife, five children happily married, eleven grandkids, and a ministry that touches
thirty-plus countries. But inwardly, Jesus has had something much more important than my
personal “success” in mind. He wanted me to draw closer to Him, to hold on to nothing but
Him, and above all to love Him. He has taken me through the painful process of
brokenness, so I could have what I really needed and wanted most: Him! Without taking
up the cross of brokenness, that never would have happened.
Jesus gave me . . . to others. The Lord affirmed to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you,
for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9). And Jesus instructed His
disciples, “Freely you have received, freely give.” (Matt. 10:8)
As brought my brokenness under Jesus’ blessing, and as He has healed the broken
places in my life, He has increased my internal capacity for presence and power. He has
used my brokenness as a “gentle pruning” to “bear more fruit” (See John 15). Over time,
the wounds turned to scars. After a while, the Beloved took what were my worst
nightmares, and turned them into a new vision of my life and ministry. He took my
greatest discomforts, and used those to comfort others.
As the Holy Spirit has increased my capacity for the Beloved in me, for the life and
love of Jesus in me, I found myself giving my life away without even trying. People
became more important than projects. Loving and serving my wife in small ways became
more valuable than doing “big” ministry. I listened better. I paid more attention to people’s
hurts. Instead of walking on by, I embraced hurting people. Bottom line: instead of caring
about my self and my agenda, I became much more caring of other people and their
agenda. He still has plenty of work to do in me, but at this point: Less of me, more of Him!
Also, His increased Presence in me resulted in increased power in ministry. I freely
received from Jesus what He gave His disciples: authority. Not “authority over”, but rather
“authority under”—to serve others, to gently preach the good news in to people’s deep
hurts, to pray for healing for people’s pains, wounds and sickness, and to deliver those
with strongholds of addiction. (Matt.10:1, 7-8) His authority is exercised through my
serving; His strength is manifest through my weakness. The outcome: His powerful life
and love, embedded in me to preach, heal and deliver, has begun to flow out to others.
Taking this a step further, He wants to freely give this to you! And while I am on a roll
. . . He wants to freely give this to the teenagers in your ministry! When that starts
happening, the Person of Jesus will radically express Himself through your life and
ministry!
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Five
Returning to the Presence of Jesus
David Sliker
The presence of Jesus puts in the hands of a youth leader the most power tool in the
Youth Ministry Toolbox! It connects to one of the deepest desires of the human heart: the
longing for nearness to God without shame. Young believers long for the assurance of
something deeper than being “saved” by God; they long for the assurance that God enjoys
them as well! “I believe that God loves me,” I’ve had many students assert, tentatively. “I
do believe that He loves me,” but then they add, “But does He like me?”
There often is, unfortunately, a huge disparity between these two seemingly similar
ideas. For many Christian teenagers, love means “unconditional forgiveness” when they
sin or make a mistake. Somewhere in their mind they know that “Jesus paid the price to
forgive me of my sins.” Usually this is what caused them to respond to the message of the
gospel in the first place. But they often believe that God loves them because He has to.
Love is who He is and what He does. But His love has nothing to do with them. God loves
because He loves, not because they are lovable. As they grope for understanding about this
Heavenly Father that loves them enough to save them from hell, forgive their sins, and
help them make life work, the question remains: “Does He like who I am?”
Teenagers often know experientially what it’s like to deal with someone you love, but
struggle to like. They often have to cope with angry, weak, broken, and at times (in their
worldview) irrational parents. They struggle with whether or not their fickle friends like
them. They feel they have to project a “false self” because if their friends discovered who
they really are and what they are really like, they will hate them. And at times they
experience how “un-enjoyable” they are to their parents, friends and even themselves. So
they subsequently project onto their relationship with God how they see and experience the
relationships in their world.
Kids lack confidence, but crave it deeply. Often they project an air of confidence,
but just beneath the surface lucks deep insecurity and fear. They try to gravitate toward
others who project confidence, but find that those people feel as insecure and fearful as
they do. As youth leaders, we know that real confidence resides in the presence of Jesus.
His presence reveals to us, and to young people, not only the reality that Jesus forgives sin
because of the Cross, but why He chose the Cross in the first place. This is the secret every
teenager (and youth worker!) deeply desires to know: Jesus went to the cross because He
loves each of us individually, and everyone He loves, He likes!
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Even in their insecurity, fear, weakness and immaturity, Jesus likes kids. When they
step into His presence they find that He is gentle with them in their failures, and He enjoys
them even in their weakness and immaturity. “We love because first He first loved us.” (1
John 4:19) As kids enter in to and experience Jesus’ presence, not only do they find Him
lovable and unconditionally loving, but they also discover that His love in them gives them
a huge dose of confidence to love themselves and those around them.
Fear of rejection and the trauma of shame create powerful strongholds in the minds and
emotions of kids. They feel that God has rejected them because they have gone too far to
be forgiven. Those around them shame them, so they assume that God does too. However,
I have seen Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:16-19 radically transform kids’ lives when they
internalize the truth of it and grasp the depth of it for themselves. It breaks the strongholds,
and moves them from rejection and shame to acceptance and confidence. Right here in
these verses, kids have what they need to dive deep into the presence of Jesus:
“I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through
His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together
with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure
of all the fullness of God.”
Teenagers will only be satisfied as they step into the presence of Jesus. Jesus longs to
satisfy their deepest longings to be enjoyed. He wants them to know He enjoys them and
pursues them. When they discover that, then they can freely and fully enjoy Him. As they
experience the presence of Jesus in their thoughts, emotions and choices, they will resolve
to “go all the way” in loving Jesus.
Experiencing the Presence of Jesus
Restoration, healing, love, confidence, identity, security and joy come through
intimacy with the One who is intimately near to our kids. Yet without experiencing the
God who likes them, it is difficult for young people to even want to draw near to Him.
However, when they believe and feel that God enjoys them – even though they are
immature and “in process” in their spiritual journeys – then they will grow in confidence to
pursue Jesus and enjoy the richness of His presence.
What does it mean to pursue and experience the “presence of Jesus”? At our new birth,
God places the full measure of His Holy Spirit inside of us. He fills up the small capacity
of our human spirits with His Spirit. As we come into the presence of Jesus, our human
spirits grow, so that we have more and more capacity for His Spirit inside of us. When this
happens to our kids, then they grow in the confidence of their relationship with Jesus and
our new identity in Him. However, young believers rarely believe and experience the truth
about who they are in Christ. Though they have the Spirit of Jesus in them, they often fail
to enjoy the reality that “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy
Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:5).
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Enjoying the presence of God is about something so much more than being
momentarily moved by God on an emotional level. It is the power of truth connecting
deep within in our hearts in a way that completely transforms our emotions and desires.
The Apostle Paul called this “the spirit of revelation” in Ephesians 1:17. Young people
want more than a feeling that God loves them. They want to experience the truth of God’s
affections in a manner that causes small but permanent changes in how they view God,
themselves, others, their future, and more.
Consider this: once we have been born again and filled with the Holy Spirit, we begin
to encounter numerous amazing and even outrageous ideas about who God is and how He
wants us to live. Over time, we become so overly familiar with these ideas that we forget
how truly outrageous they are. So often it really doesn’t sink in that God became a human
being and lived among us for a while; He died and rose again, and ascended to heaven to
take His place upon His throne of glory; that, shortly afterwards, He opened up the heavens
and sent His Spirit to invade the earth and dwell within His followers.
These are incredible thoughts! The last one – that He would dwell within His followers
- seems beyond preposterous. Yet it’s true - the Holy Spirit of God dwells within us, in all
of His fullness. The same God that created everything, upholds all things, and will restore
and renew all things, dwells in me, and you, and the young Christ-followers in your
ministry! The fire of a billion suns and beyond is exploding within my innermost being;
incalculable power beyond measure is alive inside of me! Yet, because of the condition of
my heart, my mind, and my emotions, I often forget that He is there; I forget that I can
enjoy union in the deepest part of my being with my Best Friend and Most Intimate
Companion—Jesus.
In youth ministry we will do well to remember the consequences of forgetting,
ignoring, or minimizing this reality. When this happens, we rob ourselves of the joy of
walking in moment-by-moment intimacy with Jesus. And, when we move through life
content to live without experiencing the presence of God ourselves, then the students to
whom we minister may well lose out on experiencing His presence as well.
Pursuing the Presence of Jesus
Our relationship of living in the presence of the Lord begins, on a daily basis,
with attentiveness. In other words, the quality of our lives in His presence is directly
connected to our conscious efforts to remember that He is with us. The more we think
about Jesus, read, think about, or sing Bible passages, and talk about Jesus, the more we
allow His presence to be active in our lives. As born-again believers, there is continual
supernatural activity around our lives that is “beyond the veil,” activity that we cannot see
or have a conscious awareness of. Yet the Holy Spirit is actively engaged in supernatural
activity for our good, working on our behalf all the time. For example, Paul tells us that we
do not know how to pray as we should, but the Holy Spirit does know how to pray. So
when we offer up our feeble prayers, the Holy Spirit who hears our prayers intercedes in
the supernatural realm for us. (Romans 8:23-26)
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As in any relationship, the more we talk to the Lord, the closer we will walk with the
Him. Simply remembering that the Jesus is alive within us is an act of faith that positions
us to experience more of His presence and power in our lives. The more we connect with
what the Lord says is true about us – truth that often we cannot feel or consciously
perceive – the more we will ask Jesus about it, engage with Jesus through His Spirit
regarding it, and as a result the more we will know ourselves like Jesus knows us – and,
the more we will know Jesus as He really is. Jesus told us, “Ask and you shall receive.”
(Matthew 7:7), and in a similar light James reminded us, “We have not because we ask
not.” (James 4:2). This simple principle opens the door into the presence of Jesus: the
more we engage in asking/inquiring of Him, the more we will receive of Him.
Attentiveness to Jesus opens the door of our hearts to experience His heart in a
powerful way. Our attentiveness leads to humility, simplicity, and dependency – heart
attitudes that we can summarize as “child-like” in a healthy biblical sense (see Matt. 18:24; Mark 10:15; Luke 9:48; 18:7). Without these heart attitudes, we become distracted, too
busy to connect with God in prayer and worship. We become so task-oriented and “me”
focused that we forget Jesus died so that we might become “we” focused. His sacrificial
death and victory over sin was the culmination of His fight for an intimate relationship
with us. It is His joy to offer us infinite power to grow and mature in that relationship. We
have the Eternal God standing in the gap on our behalf, and dwelling within us to help us
overcome all obstacles to life and godliness in our relationship with Him!
If we are to love Jesus back with a tender, responsive heart of thanksgiving, we must do
so on His terms. His terms are the ones that propel our lives. They simply work better than
our terms. Therefore, we must continually fight for the three heart attitudes listed above.
When all three – humility, simplicity and dependency – are present, they help subdue our
prideful independence, the love of our own opinions and conclusions, and our distorted
sense of self-importance and self-righteousness. Then we can see Jesus – and ourselves – a
bit clearer with a little more objectivity. And we can do so without shame, with confidence
that we are loved. In the process, we receive real power to grow in love and authority in the
Spirit.
The Rewards of the Presence of Jesus
The more that we connect with the presence of the Lord, the more the activity of His
presence will invade our lives:
• Messages we hear, and words of counsel and godly wisdom that others speak to us,
will stick to our hearts.
• Our emotions will begin to line up with God’s emotions, and we will have more
compassion for those around us.
• What we see about ourselves, others and even our enemies, we will now see more
clearly through the eyes of Jesus.
• Our responses to people’s weaknesses and brokenness will change - from irritation to
patience and concern.
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Thousands of incremental changes transform our hearts. As God’s presence in us steadily
changes us in thousands of small but very important ways, we become radically different,
yet it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact moment when it all changed!
And something else happens that is quite glorious: His presence in our lives not only
changes us, but it begins to change our ministries. Others begin to seek His presence
because, knowingly or unknowingly, they sense God’s presence in us. What touches us,
moves us, captivates us, and impassions us now begins to influence others—all because of
God’s active presence in us.
Once the active presence of God begins to transform us, we develop a deep desire for
others to experience that transformation as well. We long for others to experience the same
closeness, goodness, kindness, and tenderness of God. The presence of God transforms our
lives, then transforms our ministry philosophy, and then transforms those we minister to
and serve. Somewhere in this process we realize that our young people do not need us.
They need Jesus—not the far off Jesus, but the actively present Jesus. What they need is
far beyond what we can give. Our gifts, our personal charisma, our organizational abilities
cannot answer the deepest needs and cries of a teenager’s heart. Very simply, we share our
Jesus’ presence journey with them. We tell them our encounters with Jesus stories. We
give them practical ways to live in and live out the presence of Jesus in their lives.
However, we cannot make others experience Jesus’ presence. They must choose that on
their own. We can do many things in serving the next generation, but we cannot make a
young person believe.
The Priority of the Presence of Jesus
When we as youth ministers prioritize the presence of Jesus in our own lives, then we
will long for the presence of God to touch the thoughts, emotions, and choices of the
teenagers we love. We will long for that more than we long for cool events and programs
that produce the bigger numbers that make us look good. Don’t get me wrong: growing the
ministry is good! It just needs to be the right kind of growth. Our priority must be on
Presence, not programs, on growing kids deep so they come up strong. That kind of
internal growth will usually lead to plenty of numerical growth. In fact, it will lead to the
kind of multiplied growth that will impact groups, and schools, and cities. Only the everspreading, multiplying presence of Jesus will cause that to happen!
Additional Thoughts
As we long, as youth workers, to see the Presence of God touch the thoughts, emotions,
and hearts of the teenagers we love so much, here are three additional suggestions
regarding methodology:
1. We can help young people learn to sing the Scriptures. The chariot that the Spirit of
God rides on best is the Word of God. Saint Augustine (430 AD) is credited with the
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saying, “Qui bene cantat bis orat”. This means, “He who sings well prays twice.” The
more precise phrase was, “Singing belongs to the one who loves”. Both sayings speak to
the incredible power of music to impact the soul. The truth of the Scripture goes so much
deeper when we sing it – both by the power of the Holy Spirit and through the power of
singing itself. Saint Augustine understood that the “love song of the heart” possesses
power to transform our emotions in a very deep way as we sing.
Why music? The mystery of music is in the being of God Himself. Music is the greatest
form of entertainment in every culture. Why? A musical God made the human spirit to be
musical as well. God is a musician, and music surrounds and fills His throne room in
Revelation Chapter 4. Around the throne of God, the saints and angels experience the
power of the Holy Spirit in music and singing as they worship and sing to the Father.
In the late 1600’s a Scottish politician named Andrew Fletcher asserted that, “if a man
were permitted to make all the ballads, he need not care who should make the laws of a
nation.” Music is the key to positioning our hearts to experience the presence of God in the
midst of our ministries and programs. The combination of biblical preaching on the
emotions of God with anointed music stirs the hearts of young people in a profound
manner. It helps them feel truth in a deeper way than they understand consciously.
Teenagers may not be able to break down the theological details of propitiation or
justification, but singing escorts their hearts into an encounter with Truth that is greater
than their understanding. A whole room filled with diverse believers who disagree on
many things can still feel the same things together through music in a deep way. Even
100,000 in a stadium can enter into the same depth of emotion together, experiencing the
same truths together for hours at a time with the combination of anointed music and
anointed truths.
3. We can help young people connect with Jesus through prayer. This is the most
difficult but most rewarding part. In chapter eight, in the chapter on prayer, we will explore
this in a deeper way. For now, suffice it to say that young people can be taught, coached,
and encouraged in a life of prayer. Daring to do so can have a dramatic on your life and
ministry.
2. We can help young people become fascinated with Jesus. Songs that move our hearts to
a measure today only increase in their ability to move us, as we understand them in a
deeper and more personal way. Our teaching and preaching content must expand to reflect
who Jesus is, what He is like, and the details of how He loves us. Youth ministers who are
fascinated with the beauty and majesty of Jesus and His heart and leadership are
desperately needed today. As explored in the last chapter, our young people must know
Jesus intimately because we do. We can help them move from knowing Him to being
fascinated in their hearts with Him and by Him in His presence.
Without having a sense of awe, we live aimless and spiritually bored. A spiritually
bored Church is weak and vulnerable to Satan. A fascinated believer is strong and
equipped to face temptation. There is a craving in every human spirit to be fascinated and
to marvel. Because of our Divine design, we have a sense of wonderment in the core of our
beings. We long to be awestruck and filled with endless wonder. The secular entertainment
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industry has identified this human longing and has targeted it commercially. They have
exploited it to their own profit and to our ruin. Many search in vain through secular
entertainment and recreation to fulfill this God-given craving to be fascinated. King David
was a man who was preoccupied with God while his hands were occupied with leading the
nation. He expressed his heart beautifully in Psalm 27:4: “One thing I desired, all the days
of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord. “
There is a growing cry among teenagers today to be fully committed to pursuing,
knowing, and encountering Jesus. The declaration of King David – for his life to about
“one thing” – is one that is being expressed by young men and women across the body of
Christ today. The grace of God is available for thousands of young believers to become
fascinated with the glory of Jesus and the greatness of His love. They too can become
preoccupied with God while their hands are occupied with the work of ministry.
A young person who knows the truth about Jesus and His heart and leadership is a
young person who is positioned and equipped to pursue and enjoy the presence of the
Lord. Truths about Jesus awaken the reach to know Him more. Young people want so
much more than knowing about Jesus – they want to know the Man intimately and fully.
They were made for this pursuit. The presence of the Lord becomes meaningful and
precious when there is objective truth informing the thoughts and emotions of a young
believer. The more young people know about Jesus, the more they able to stand
confidently before Jesus. As they do, they grow in valuing and desiring the times of
worship and thanksgiving more than the social and recreational dynamics of youth
ministry.
I have seen this firsthand. I have built youth ministries and have been involved with
other youth ministries that have prioritized the knowledge of God and music and singing in
the corporate gatherings. I have watched as, time and time again, bored, distracted, and
disconnected young people are awakened by grace to the beauty of who Jesus is. I have
watched them subsequently give all with tears and delight as they sing and present their
hearts to God. There are few things more beautiful to me on the earth than young people
opening their hearts to God, confident in and exhilarated by His love. We draw back from
this because we are afraid. We fear failure and imagine that teenagers will not be up for the
challenge. However, for twenty years I have found the opposite to be true. Teenagers are
hungry for the knowledge of God and the presence of God. The youth minister that seeks
to combine the two has found something explosive.
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Six
Returning To The Power of Jesus
David Perkins
I was recently at a missions conference where one of the speakers, a self-proclaimed
“non-charismatic,” talked about reaching people in foreign lands without the power of
God, because “we don’t operate in power like the charismatics do.” I shuddered at his
statement for two reasons: (1) It perpetuates the charismatic/evangelical divide; (2) it
implies that there is such as thing as missions without the power of God. As the former
student ministries and prayer pastor on the staff of a church that is both charismatic and
has strong ties to National Association of Evangelicals, I can speak with authority that the
distinction between charismatics and evangelicals is eroding rapidly, even as the
definitions of those two buzzwords are eroding as well. But the implication that missions,
or for that matter any ministry, can be done without the power of God is not so easily
dismissed. Unfortunately, many of us in youth ministry have learned that there is a lot we
can do in youth ministry without the power of Jesus.
Ouch. It hurt to say that. But it is true.
My observations in this regard are general trends, and there are always many
exceptions. But it seems to me that today’s youth ministry training, and probably
preparation for ministry in general, is based more on an educational or business model than
on a biblical model. Many of the skills that we value in youth ministry (and/or are valued
by those who hire us!) are acquired skills: how to develop and implement a philosophy of
ministry, how to prepare a sermon or message for youth, how to plan a youth night or an
outreach, how to understand contemporary youth culture, how to plan and execute a
retreat, how to build a volunteer staff team, how to do Sunday School lesson planning, and
so on. This is the stuff of most youth ministry books, conferences, and other resources.
And it is important to know! Where it becomes dangerous is when our acquisition and
implementation of said skills gives us the illusion that we can sustain, and even grow, our
ministries without the power of Jesus.
Over My Head
I remember very clearly when I preached at my local church for the first time at the
tender age of nineteen. I sat in the pew during the entire worship set before my message,
crying out to God in my heart, “I need You, I need You, I need You! I need You to show
up!” I was desperate for Him, and dependent on Him. And He did show up. But now, after
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almost 20 years of preaching and speaking, often several times a week, as I remember my
posture during that first sermon I am rather convicted. It is much, much too easy today to
rely on my own experience, my own ability to communicate, my own catalog of messages,
illustrations and humor, my own understanding on how to relate to, and connect with, my
audience. And I have a plethora of resources at my disposal – books, DVDs, blogs,
websites, podcasts, social media, conferences, seminaries, continuing education, and so on
– in case I get in over my head, beyond my own gifts, talents, training and abilities.
Or perhaps getting in over my head is a good thing.
I would imagine that the leaders of early church felt way, way over their heads much of
the time. The first disciples of Jesus spent several years listening to stuff that was lifechanging, or revolutionary, or completely confusing, or sometimes all three at once. Peter
understood that Jesus was the Messiah, and the others did as well to varying degrees, but
they also saw the advancement of Kingdom of God primarily in terms of long-awaited
political victory over the oppressive reign and rule of Rome. They were devastated by the
arrest and crucifiction of Jesus, jubilant over His resurrection, and were no doubt paying
close attention when He gave them their final marching orders:
“On one occasion, while He was eating with them, He gave them this command: ‘Do
not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift My Father promised, which you have heard Me
speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with
the Holy Spirit.’ So when they met together, they asked Him, ‘Lord, are You at this time
going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the
times or dates the Father has set by His own authority. But you will receive power when
the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all
Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’” (Acts 1:4-8)
They were not unfamiliar with the power of Jesus; they had seen it first-hand many
times, and had even been given power and authority by Jesus to do some supernatural
ministry on their own (see Luke 19:1-2; 10:17-19). But they likely weren’t exactly sure
what “receiving power” was going to look like. So, they waited, absolutely dependent,
joined together in desperate prayer (Acts 1:14), until the power came. It did, as the
Scriptures testify, and power marked the early church, just as power marked the life of
Jesus. The “Acts of the Apostles” became acts of the power of the Holy Spirit.
Evidence Of Power
Fast forward to contemporary, western church culture, and American youth ministry.
Do we readily see evidence of the power of the Holy Spirit manifest in our ministries?
Perhaps we do from time to time, but likely not on a consistent basis. And an even more
important question: does this even bother us? Have we been anesthetized by a religious
culture that minimizes the supernatural for any number of reasons, and a secular culture
that doesn’t expect anything out of the ordinary to come out of the religious community
because that’s our track record? Or, have we become cynical about power and the
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supernatural by the excesses of television evangelists and others on the edges of the
charismatic movement?
I am not saying that youth ministry today is powerless. I have seen the lives of many,
many young people transformed by an encounter with Jesus, and that transformation is
both supernatural and powerful. I have often felt and seen the power of God at work in
worship services, in outreaches, and on mission trips. But I am of the opinion (as are the
other authors of this book) that the spiritual strongholds and darkness that hold the
emerging generations in a firm grip are greater than our current firepower and light.
And so our attitude must be, “God, if You don’t show up, we’re in trouble, our ministries
are in trouble, and the multitudes that are ‘helpless and harassed, like sheep with a
shepherd’ (Matt. 9:36) will continue to be in trouble!” We need to place ourselves, our
ministries and our students in situations where we have to rely on Him, rather than on our
methods and training and skills. We need a new level of Godly desperation and Godly
dependence.
The Subtle Allure of Idolatry
We need one more thing, too. We need to drop the idols we hold so tightly, so we can
receive the power and authority that God would delight to place in our hands, if they were
not already otherwise occupied.
There is a reason why most of the Ten Commandments address, either explicitly or
implicitly, idolatry. There is a reason why one of the qualifications for “ascending the hill
of the Lord and standing in His holy place” is not lifting up one’s soul to an idol. (Psalm
24:3-4) There is a reason that Paul was so blunt with the Ephesian church: “For of this you
can be sure: no immoral, impure or greedy person – such a man is an idolater – has any
inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” (Eph. 5:5) and why John concluded his
epistle of love with the following exhortation: “Dear Children, keep yourselves from
idols.” (1 John 5:21)
Now, most of us don’t have bronze or gold or even stone statues of foreign deities on
the shelves in our offices or on our nightstand at home. But let’s cobble together a working
definition: idolatry is anything (or anyone) that keeps the First Commandment (see Matt.
22:34-40, and the next chapter) from being first place in our lives. Or to put it another way,
idolatry is reversing God’s original intended order by allowing anything to come before
Him. Idols in our lives are sometimes obvious, but they can also be subtle, even endorsed
by the religious community as acceptable or normal. And idolatry is usually manifest as
disobedience. Jesus points this out clearly: “If you love Me, you will obey what I command
. . . anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching.” (John 14:15,23) And then the Apostle
John drops the hammer: “We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His
commands. The man who says, ‘I know Him,’ but does not do what He commands is a liar,
and the truth is not in him.” (1 John 2:3-4)
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The temptation here is to provide a list of potential modern-day idols or idolatrous
practices. That is religion. The Holy Spirit is ready and waiting to show us our idols, be
they subtle or otherwise. When we are ready and willing to deal with them, we place
ourselves in a proper posture before God to receive the power of the Holy Spirit that has
always been promised to us.
Greater Things
When Jesus stood up in the synagogue, read Isaiah 61:1-2, and declared that passage
fulfilled, He was delineating a wholistic Kingdom mission statement. He then proceeded to
go out and authenticate His mission by not only forgiving sins, but also healing the sick,
giving sight to the blind, delivering the demonized, and raising the dead. Then He made
this audacious promise to His followers:
“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing. He
will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do
whatever you ask in My name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may
ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it.” (John 14:12-14)
That promise is for us today. Now, we can either get sidetracked about what “greater
things” means, or completely spiritualize the passage by making it refer only the ushering
of souls into the Kingdom. Or, we can adopt a posture before God of desperation and
dependence, crying out to Him for the empowerment that is so needed in our lives and
ministries if we are to fulfill the Great Commission among the emerging generations. I
choose the latter option.
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Part III
Restore
“Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but He will heal us; He has
injured us but He will bind up our wounds. After two days He will revive us; on the third
day He will restore us that we may live in His presence."
(Hosea 6:2)
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Seven
Restoring the First Commandment
To First Place
Mike Higgs
My first youth ministry mentor was a charismatic, larger-than-life guy who had a huge
local church ministry and a national platform. He invested a lot of time in me, probably
disproportionately so considering I was an obscure rookie youth worker in a small town. I
learned a whole lot about youth ministry from him. I also learned some horrible but, in
retrospect, invaluable lessons. From the perspective of 20/20 hindsight, I should have
known something was not quite right when we would spend time together, Unfortunately,
at the time I didn’t pay enough attention to the subtle but clear Holy Spirit warnings; the
strength of my mentor’s personality muted them. So when his hidden, immoral lifestyle
was brought into the light, with shockwaves rippling nationally and on a local level
negatively impacting literally hundreds of lives (some still struggle today, decades later), I
was stunned but not shocked.
Fast forward to another rookie season; I was transitioning from being a youth pastor to
a youth ministry networker and a pastor to youth pastors. One of my first orders of
business was to visit the existing networks in my city and figure out what God was doing
so I could join Him in it (thank you, Henry Blackaby). The very first network I visited
gathered monthly at a pancake house (not the ideal venue for fellowship and prayer) and
was co-led by three youth pastors. I showed up, ordered my meal, and began to listen. It
soon became very clear to me that one of these leaders was different from the others in the
room. I do not remember his name, what church he worked at, how big his youth group
was, or if he was “successful” by the standards we used at the time to measure such
nonsense. I have no idea what he is doing now. But I remember one thing: clearly, the guy
walked with Jesus in an unusual way. It oozed out of his pores. Jesus dominated his speech
because it was obvious that Jesus dominated his thoughts and every other area of his life.
There were no religious, self-righteous, “I am so very holy” overtones; this guy was
relational, approachable, and disarmingly authentic. The sum total of my time with him
over the period of the next three or four years was probably less than the time I would
spend with my rock star mentor in a month. But his impact on my life was huge. He never
said what Paul had the audacity to say to the Corinthians, “Therefore I urge you to imitate
me . . .” (1 Cor. 4:16) - but he didn't have to; his life “spread everywhere the fragrance of
the knowledge of Christ.” (2 Cor. 2:14)
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A Distinct Difference
What was the difference between my two mentors? All these years later, I’m still not
sure what fatal flaws were simmering under the surface in the life of the first guy. But I do
know that for the second guy, the First Commandment was clearly the highest priority in
his life. I never asked him about that, but I didn’t have to . . . he incarnated it.
When the Pharisees came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, which is the greatest
commandment in the law?” (Matt. 22:36) we are told earlier in the passage that their
question was not sincerely motivated; they were trying to “trap Him in His words” and
“test Him.” (22:15, 35) Between the time that the Ten Commandments and the Law were
given to Israel, and when Jesus showed up on the scene, Jewish religious teachers had
come up with a list of around 613 statutes, with varying levels of importance or “weight.”
(While many of these were explicit in the Old Testament, more than a few were religious
add-ons. We’re pretty good at the add-ons today, too . . . but I digress.) The Pharisees were
apparently hoping that Jesus’ answer to their question would conflict with their elaborate
system of belief to the extent that they could accuse Him of blasphemy or otherwise
discredit Him. But His response cut through their religious hypocrisy like a hot knife cuts
through butter, starting with well-known quotes from the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 6:6
and Lev. 19:18), and ending with a one-sentence commentary that silenced His critics:
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is
like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these
two commandments.” (vs. 37-40)
Jesus always chose His words carefully and intentionally (I think when you are the Son of
God, that comes naturally, or should I say, supernaturally?). So when He said “all ,” He
meant, uh, all. Similarly, “heart, soul and mind” paint a picture of love emanating from
all dimensions of our humanity, similar (although not exactly corresponding) to the
common practice of describing a human as consisting of body, soul and spirit. So, the First
Commandment is to love God in an all-inclusive, nothing-held-back manner.
A Fair Question
From my experience, most youth workers would readily affirm the importance of
having the First Commandment in first place in our lives. However . . . is that really the
case among members of our tribe? Since we know that “man looks at outward
appearances, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7), it is certainly not fair, or
appropriate, to make any sweeping, blanket judgments here. Yet I suppose one of the
reasons this chapter is included in this book is that the authors feel it’s a fair question for
all of us in the youth ministry tribe to ask ourselves: does the First Commandment have
first place in our lives?
For me, the books of Kings and Chronicles, which in large measure recount the good
king/bad king scenario that plagued Israel and Judah from the time of David and Solomon
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to the exile of the nations, are instructive here. As you may remember, the whole “we want
a king, like all the other nations” demand that Israel made to the prophet Samuel didn’t
work out real well. King #1 was a bummer (Saul), and while David set the bar high for
godly kings, his son Solomon started out quite promising but didn’t end well at all. After
that, Solomon’s kid Rehoboam managed to alienate all of Israel except Judah and
Benjamin, the kingdom split, and between the two new entities (Israel and Judah) they had
a total of 39 kings until exile. Israel had 19 bad kings and absolutely zero good ones, while
Judah had 12 bummer kings and eight good ones.
What made 21 kings bad and 8 kings good? There are some hints in the biblical text. In
most every case, the bad kings “did evil in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn away from
the sins of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit,” while the good kings were
commended for doing “what was right in the eyes of the Lord.” But . . . among the 8 good
kings, there were also distinctions between merely good kings, better kings, and the best
kings. And what separated the better and the best from the good? I think it comes down to
the word “all.” For example, the difference between a “best king” Josiah and a “good
king” Amaziah was that the former served the Lord “with all his heart and with all his soul
and with all his strength,”(2 Kings 23:25) while the latter also served the Lord, but “not
wholeheartedly.” (2 Chron. 25:2) Similarly, when twelve spies sent to scout out the
Promised Land, Caleb and Joshua were commended by God for having “different spirits”
and for following Him “wholeheartedly” (see Numbers 14), in contrast to the other ten
who came back with negative reports.
A modern metaphor that helps in understanding this quality comes from Texas Hold ‘Em
Poker, which had a run on TV not long ago and popularized the phrase “I’m all in.” I liked
that metaphor, and when speaking to students about being wholehearted in their love for
and commitment to Christ I used to hand out poker chips as reminders. But I now realize
the metaphor doesn’t quite go far enough. In poker, you can bet all of your chips (which is
what going “all in” means) on a particular hand, but if you lose you can still walk away to
play another day. Being spiritually “all in” is more than that; walking away is not an option.
The Bible actually gives us two excellent (if not as culturally relevant) metaphors in this
regard: circumcision, and the bondservant. If you don’t mind, I will leave a detailed study
on circumcision for another book, and focus here on the bondservant metaphor. I have
found that it resonates better with young people anyway, for reasons that will become clear
soon.
Spiritual Gauging
In the Old Testament, an Israelite could keep a fellow Hebrew as a slave for only six
years. At that point, the slave was free to go – unless the slave decided that since his
master was taking such good care of him, a life of service to his master was preferable to a
free life elsewhere. Apparently this was not unusual, which is why it is mentioned in
Exodus:
“If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh
year, he shall go free, without paying anything . . . But if the servant declares, ‘I love my
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master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ then his master must take
him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear
with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.” (Ex. 21:2-5)
Today, a popular practice among young people is ear gauging, which is a widening of
the hole made by ear piercing so that larger earrings, or other objects (coins, huge hoops,
dinner plates, whatever) will fit in the hole. The process of stretching the skin is a gradual
one, taking several months or more, depending on the desired size of hole. And it is
understood that once the gauging reaches a certain size, there is no going back. Apart from
reconstructive surgery, a gauged hole is a permanent hole. Similarly, the biblical process of
piercing an ear with an awl was one of “instant gauging.” A sizeable, permanent hole was
created, so that others would know that the individual was a bondservant, irrevocably
committed to serving his master for the duration of his life. This is why Paul often called
himself a “bond-servant” (Greek word ‘doulos’) of Christ Jesus (see Rom. 1:1), as did
James, Peter and Jude (see James 1:1, 2 Peter 1:1 and Jude 1:1 in the New American
Standard; the NIV uses the softened translation “servant”). They were 100 percent, all-in,
wholehearted servants of Christ: no holding anything back, no entertaining of the
possibility of bailing, and no walking away to perhaps play another day.
Here’s where things can get tricky: being an “all in” bondservant is not something that
can be measured by a religious yardstick, i.e. a modern-day Pharisee. Certainly there are
biblical standards regarding loving God and living holy that are given for our benefit, but
we need to be very careful in applying those standards to others. And, we need to allow the
Holy Spirit to be the One who determines if our love for God is “all” in, or is lacking in
some way. Speaking of which . . .
Idolatry Revisited
Back to the Old Testament good king/bad king scenario . . . something else that tended
to separate “all in” bondservant-style kings from the rest was their willingness to remove
the “high places,” physical locations where people worshipped other gods and sacrificed to
idols. Any level of accommodation of idolatry (an idol being any thing, or practice, or even
mindset, that detracts or distracts from our love for, and worship of, God) was, and is,
incompatible with the call to love God wholly. Unfortunately, the persistent idolatry
encouraged by these high places finally resulted in Israel being sent into exile. The
Assyrians let a few Jews remain, but re-settled the land with a melting pot of other
nationalities. The resulting mix made a half-hearted attempt at worshipping the God of
Israel, but 2 Kings reports their eventual compromised situation:
“The Lord . . . commanded them . . . ‘Do not worship other gods. Rather, worship
the Lord your God; it is He who will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.’
They would not listen, however, but persisted in their former practices. Even while
these people were worshiping the Lord, they were serving their idols. To this day their
children and grandchildren continue to do as their fathers did.” (2 Kings 17:35, 38-40)
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This identifies one of the biggest barriers to wholeheartedness today: worshiping God
on Sundays and maybe even during daily devotional times, but also serving idols. (I know
this was mentioned in the last chapter, but it bears repeating . . . again and again.) Idols can
be subtle, even endorsed by the religious community as acceptable or normal. But the Holy
Spirit is ready and waiting to show us our idols, be they subtle or otherwise. How we
respond to His promptings will determine, or more accurately, reveal, our
wholeheartedness.
“Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place? He who
has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by
what is false. He will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God his
Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face, O God of
Jacob.” (Ps. 24:3-6)
Jack was of the first kids I ever discipled as a youth worker. Jack was the outdoors type
(in this regard, being the world’s hairiest human helped him project the right image) and
we shared a love of fishing. One of my longest-standing ministry memories is of winter
steelhead fishing with Jack, him landing a female full of eggs, proclaiming the eggs
“steelhead caviar” and swallowing a mouthful of the nasty things. It only took about a
month of treatment for Jack to clear the newly acquired parasites out of his system. But
another one of my long-standing memories regarding Jack is nowhere near that fond: I
clearly remember when I began to notice Jack mimicking some of my less-than-stellar
character traits. This startled and even frightened me, as the following passage came to
mind: “The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like
their teacher.” (Luke 6:40) Sure, Jack and I met weekly for Bible study and prayer, and we
were faithfully going through the discipleship materials that our ministry used at the time.
He was even meeting with a group of younger students. But what was I really imparting to
Jack?
I have thought a lot about that over the ensuing years, as I have worked with countless
students and adults, seeking to both teach them biblical truth and incarnate it. I ask myself
often: Am I living in such a way that the First Commandment clearly is in first place in my
life? Am I so full of Jesus, like the youth pastor who was helping lead a network meeting
in a pancake house all those years ago, that it is obvious to others? These are good
questions for us all to consider: Are we “all in” for Jesus? Are our spiritual ears gauged as
signs of an irrevocable, all-consuming passion for Him? Are we allowing the Holy Spirit to
identify anything that could be possibly be idolatrous in our lives, and are we relentless in
dealing with it? If so, then the fragrance of Christ is what we will impart to the kids in our
ministries, as well as to all others. And even more importantly, we will be pleasing our
Audience of One, which is what really matters.
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Eight
Restoring a Culture of Prayer
David Sliker
The Preface to this book set the stage for the necessity of this chapter: while early
modern youth ministry was born out of extraordinary prayer, there is not a strong culture
of prayer in most youth ministries today. Certainly, youth leaders today pray! But a culture
of prayer is more than leaders who pray and even hold prayer meetings. A prayer culture
speaks of an environment that encourages, nurtures and facilitates prayer. The acts of
prayer in a praying culture are structured and scheduled as well as spontaneous and
organic. Believers who are blessed to be a part of a culture of prayer are in an environment
conducive to the pursuit of more of God. It is surprising how often the busyness and
distractions of a typical ministry culture can accidentally work against a wholehearted
pursuit of Jesus. A prayer culture, however, facilitates and encourages it.
A Prayer-Friendly Culture
The challenge in building a culture that encourages, sustains, and equips people in
prayer is ensuring that the culture flows directly from the primary leaders’ prayer lives into
the value systems of others. The values that a leader and the leadership team possess –
what moves them to pray, and why - are far more important in building a prayer culture
than how one prays. In teaching His church how to pray, Jesus gave us a model of prayer
based on what God is like and on the nature of the kingdom. Jesus’ prayer model covered
all the foundational basics that are expanded on throughout Scripture; He told us the things
that we must know and keep central in our quest to grow strong in prayer.
Although it is beyond our scope here to expound on the entirely of The Lord’s Prayer –
others have written volumes on the subject – for our purposes it is important to note that
Jesus’ teaching on prayer starts with a strong focus on who God is: He is our Father in
heaven. Foundational to a strong prayer life is a right view of God as our Heavenly Father.
A.W. Tozer insisted that a low view of God has been the biggest problem in the Church in
every generation:
“It is my opinion that the Christian conception of God current in these middle years of
the twentieth century is so decadent as to be utterly beneath the dignity of the Most
High God and actually to constitute for professed believers something amounting to a
moral calamity. All the problems of heaven and earth, though they were to confront us
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together and at once, would be nothing compared with the overwhelming problem of
God: That He is; what He is like; and what we as moral beings must do about Him.”
As we pray, we must intentionally take time to recall who He is according to His
Word. Therefore, teaching on who God is and how He feels about us (addressed in Chapter
Five) becomes central in building a culture of prayer. Our worship and love for Jesus will
never surpass our knowledge of Him. The revelation of God and the subsequent inevitable
fascination with Him are the very foundation of the worship movement (Matthew 16:15);
sustaining the effort it takes to grow deep in the knowledge of God is the key to sustaining
a culture of prayer. When we understand Jesus, it makes sense to adore Him continually,
regardless of the cost.
The Lord is worthy of unceasing worship in heaven and on earth (Rev. 4:8). He desires
to be worshiped on earth as He is in heaven (Mt. 6:10). Worship is primary because Jesus
is preeminent. Worship is both an end and a means to an end. Worship is the ultimate goal
of the Church and all missions. Jesus’ infinite beauty is enough to warrant extravagant and
continual worship. The angelic host worship because they see His greatness, not because
they have been forgiven for sin, healed physically, or provided for financially. Worship is a
response to the revelation of God. All who encounter His beauty respond in worship.
From What and Why to How
Once a leadership team is on the same page regarding what needs to be done, and why,
regarding developing a prayer culture, it is essential that leadership then establishes how
the team moves forward most effectively. Prayer must be doable. To build a culture of
prayer within a ministry, there must be a pragmatic vision for regular times of corporate
prayer. It is godly and biblical to establish a clear order that is logical and simple for all to
follow in a manner that makes group (corporate) prayer meetings sustainable, enjoyable,
and urgent. This must be the goal for any that desire to establish fiery prayer meetings in
their ministries.
Sustainable speaks of a vision to commit to establishing prayer meetings that happen
consistently for a long time. Prayer meetings grow into a prayer culture over time if we
stay steady. Leaders who attend and lead prayer meetings regardless of attendance
numbers and fluctuating circumstances model the value of gathering together, as well as
the worthiness of Christ, a value that transcends who comes to the meeting and who does
not.
As discussed earlier, music is a primary component of enjoyable prayer. It quickly
connects us to the throne room of heaven, removes relational, emotional, and social
obstacles, and unifies hearts with God in a powerful way. We were made by God to enjoy
singing about Him – and we can receive the gift of a tender heart in the place of worship
while we pray. A tender heart fueled by music is a powerful weapon before the throne
room of heaven to see the spiritual atmosphere of a region shift.
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Another aspect of enjoyable prayer involves enjoyable prayers. It is important for the
leadership to establish a context of prayer in which the prayers that are being prayed are
positive, God-ward, and biblical. Positive prayers help fuel the spirit upward with life and
grace rather than cynicism and frustration; God-ward prayers are talking to God about
things that are on His heart rather than “preach-praying” or talking to the room about
things that are on our heart; biblical prayers provide a safe atmosphere for “God-ideas” that
move the heart.
Urgency in a prayer culture speaks to a cause and a goal in prayer that is larger than
any individual intercessor. Personal prayer burdens are secondary in a larger meeting.
Issues of biblical importance - such as those contained within the prayers of the apostles in
the New Testament - must form the content of the prayers of the saints as they gather
together to appeal to the Lord to move powerfully to bring great change - praying, literally,
that His Kingdom would come and His will would be done in a community, state, region,
and/or nation. A prayer culture forms best when it is fueled and governed by the heart and
will of God rather than the people.
A culture of prayer also includes:
Laboring in intercession. Night-and-day prayer expedites the full release of justice in
the Church and society (“And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who
cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they
get justice, and quickly.” Luke 18:7-8a) Worship and prayer change the spiritual
atmosphere of the region being prayed for. Night-and-day prayer results in the Spirit
moving in a greater measure. This causes the works of the Kingdom to have a greater
impact as we proclaim the Word to win the lost, revive the Church, and impact every
sphere of society with works of justice. The work and cost of continual prayers is a
practical expression of the commandment to love one another and to love justice. While
night-and-day prayer doesn’t have to translate to literal 24/7 prayer (although it often does
at the hundreds of Houses of Prayer that God has raised up around the world!), it does
imply that intercession involves labor.
Encountering God. Prayer positions us to receive more from the Holy Spirit - to
experience more of God’s grace to know, love, and obey Jesus in a deeper way. In
worship, we align our hearts with Him and we receive more from Him. Jesus has so much
to say to us! He wants a two-way relationship. It is the nature of God to communicate His
heart with His people.
Growing in revelation of the Word. We see the majesty of God as our Father, and of
Jesus as Bridegroom, King, and Judge; we gain insight into His will, ways, and plans; and
we understand the unique dynamics of His end-time plan to transition the earth to the age
to come.
Imparting The How
Young people can be trained and discipled to grow in these areas as they develop a life in
prayer with other believers. We must lay hold of a vision to move teenagers beyond
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occasional prayer and help them become a “praying people”, for whom prayer becomes the
default means to overcome pressure, relate tenderly to God, and find grace to love others
well on a daily basis.
A simple truth that we all know is that God releases more blessing if we will just ask
for it. In James 4:2 we are told, “You do not have because you do not ask.” He knows we
have needs, but Scripture is clear that the Lord withholds many things until we ask. When
we talk to Him, it puts us in a position to connect with Him. God knows that connecting
with Him will dynamically change our life. Therefore, He “starves us out” of our
prayerlessness by withholding certain blessings until we actually ask or talk to Him about
them. This is important to Him because He values His relationship with us. Teenagers can
catch a vision at a young age of the possibilities of “more” in God if they would simply ask
– by themselves, and together with other believers.
It is easy to think about our needs, without actually verbalizing them to the Lord. The
Bible makes it clear that we must actually speak our request to God. Philippians 4:6
commands, “In everything by prayer . . . let your requests be made known to God.” You
can whisper your request, mutter it, or even groan it, but it is not enough to simply think
about it without asking. Many fret and complain about their needs and even talk to others
about them, but they do not actually speak them out to the Lord. He is waiting for us to
approach Him. He longs to hear our requests and then to answer us.
A Praying People
Worship and intercession are set forth as supremely important to God’s kingdom
throughout all of biblical history. For example, human history began with daily “prayer
meetings” – relational connections between God and His creation - in the Garden of Eden
(Gen. 3:8). Israel began as a nation in a prayer meeting at Mt. Sinai (see Ex. 19). Israel’s
first building project was to build a worship sanctuary (see Ex. 25). God set apart an entire
tribe (Levites) in Israel to maintain day and night worship. David established night-andday worship in Jerusalem providing full-time financing for over 4,000 musicians and
singers in “the tabernacle of David” (1 Chr. 15-16; 23:5; 25:7). The early church began and
operated in prayer meetings (Acts 1:14; 2:42; 6:4). Natural history will end in the context
of a powerful global prayer movement.
Isaiah 56:7, Amos 9:11, Acts 15:6-29, Ephesians 3:1-21, and Revelation 7:9-17
provide for us a clear picture of diverse cultures, peoples groups, and nations reconciled in
Christ, enjoying and engaging with Yahweh together through the vehicle of prayer and
worship (Eph. 6:18). Unceasing adoration of Christ via worship and prayer is the optimum
context to bring a diverse people together to enjoyable engagement with Jesus in the
government of God. Building a culture of prayer among believers is the primary means of
God to unite His people and bring them into full maturity in love. This is the plan that the
Apostle Paul unfolds more comprehensively to the body of Christ in the book of
Ephesians.
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I have seen the power of young believers who become captivated by the possibilities of
prayer. I have seen large numbers of young people take astonishing initiative to gather,
pray, and even fast when it is connected to real vision for more of God and more
breakthrough from God. When the dream of revival infects the heart of a young person, it
can carry them for many years in prayer. As more of the big activity of God begins to
happen in their lives in response to their small prayers, they can become hooked for life.
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Nine
Restoring The Practice Of Prayer
David Perkins
When a student in my ministry – let’s call him Steve - happened to meet Wooree
(pronounced Ude) Bae, the name sounded vaguely familiar. “I think I know your name,”
he told Wooree. “That’s not likely,” she replied. “My parents made up the name, and
there’s not another like it.” Steve was quiet for a moment, then blurted out, “I do know
your name! It’s on the prayer wall at my church!” Not exactly textbook evangelism
technique, but Wooree was curious how her name ended up on the wall of a church. So she
drove to New Life Church, asked where the prayer wall was, and found her name among
hundreds of others. On that same visit, on her knees in front of the wall that bore her name,
Wooree also met the God who loved her so much that He prompted somebody to put her
name on the prayer wall. It changed her life forever. And now, years later, Wooree is
serving Jesus on staff at that same church.
The prayer wall that held Wooree’s name exists at New Life Church because of the
value we placed on prayer. Yes, when I joined the staff 14 years ago, there was already a
culture of prayer at the church. The World Prayer Center building was located on our
church property! But a culture of prayer has both survived and thrived in our student
ministries, through some tumultuous times in the life of our church, not just because I
value prayer, or even because I have given myself to prayer. We have a culture of prayer
because we have a culture of Jesus. We worship Jesus and do His bidding. He modeled a
life of prayer, He told us that apart from Him we can do nothing, His Word tells us to pray
without ceasing. And so I pray, and we pray.
My journey in this regard began in 9th grade, when I saw the prayer group at my junior
high school grow from a handful to hundreds. It continued during my years of work with
Rock The Nations, a pioneering conference ministry in the 1990’s that called students to
extraordinary fasting and prayer. And it continued through my years at New Life. We
hosted 13 prayer meetings for students each week – a Sunday night service and prayer at 8
am, noon, and 6 pm on Monday through Thursday. Additionally, we have hosted an annual
Prayer Summit for youth workers for many years. We launched Desperation Ministries to
help sculpt a generation that desires to live in desperate pursuit of God, believing that if we
unite and pray then God will bring change to our generation as local churches gradually
and intentionally make disciples of Jesus.
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Some Lessons Learned
Along the way I have been mentored by men given to prayer – my own father, Mike
Bickle, Lou Engle, Dick Eastman, and many others - and have learned some lessons
regarding building, and sustaining, a culture of prayer among young people. Here are a few
of them:
• A culture of prayer begins with critical relational and theological convictions. The
relational conviction is that prayer is the primary means of cultivating an ongoing,
increasingly intimate relationship with Jesus. The theological conviction is that prayer
makes a difference, or as somebody once said, “When we pray, God does stuff!” These
convictions often are usually planted in our lives as truth, but unfortunately, they often fail
to take root and grow into convictions that shape our character as well as our conduct. Few
youth workers would argue with these convictions, but more than a few fail to incarnate
them.
• Prayer can’t be delegated to a Mom or an odd kid in the youth group who seems to have a
passion for prayer. Like I said before, we need to be the champions of prayer in our
ministries, and resist the temptation to put prayer on a to-do list, as opposed to making it
what informs the development of the list, and what empowers any and all of our
accomplishments from that list.
• The development a culture of prayer, or restoring it, or sustaining it, is hard work! Why
this comes as a surprise to some baffles me; anything worthwhile requires hard work. We
youth workers will put countless hours into our outreach programs, making sure we have
the best crowd-breakers, the best music, the best multimedia, the best speaker, the best of
everything – and that is all good. Excellence is God-honoring. But for the prayer meeting,
we just show up with a few songs on our iPod (or with song sheets and a Taylor guitar,
since all youth workers play Taylors), a list of things to pray about, and no real plan for the
evening. And we wonder why kids are snoozing after 30 minutes and attendance shrinks
weekly until all we are left with are the “faithful remnant.”
• Be prayerful about developing a culture of prayer. While that seems like another one of
those “oh, duh!” concepts, here is a refrain that by now you will have noticed is a common
thread in this book: youth workers have a tendency to make plans, then ask God to bless
then, rather than asking Him for the plans in the first place, and obediently following His
lead. Several generations of youth workers have grown up learning how to do ministry
“best practices”, rather than learning how to go to God in prayer for His best practices. At
New Life, our culture of prayer is birthed and bathed in prayer. And while I will list the
things that we do, don’t assume that what God has given us is what He will give you. Ask,
seek, and knock. If you ask your Father for a fish, He is not going to give you a snake; He
gives “good gifts to those who ask Him.” (Matt. 7:7-11) Here are some suggestions to
consider:
1. Do prayer meetings – by that, I mean to intentionally schedule regular gatherings in
which the primary, if not exclusive, purpose is to pray. Be sure to make them
creative. Nobody likes boring prayer meetings, much less students who have
enough trouble disengaging from social media for a few minutes. And build in
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opportunities for students to actually pray, not just listen to others pray. People
won’t come to a prayer meeting if they think it will be hijacked by the most
awkward and/or long-winded person in the room.
2. Develop resources that will be salt in the mouths of your students, making them
thirsty for God and for prayer. Have the best books, journals, videos, and podcasts
readily available.
3. Pray the Scriptures. This keeps the meetings rooted in a firm foundation, structured,
provides a biblical on-ramp for encounter, and helps kids learn to love the Bible.
4. Offer live worship if possible. It will get at least 5 teenagers to the prayer meeting
because they are playing in the worship band! I realize that not every church has a
worship band who tours and has several albums to their credit (yes, I am blessed!)
but the investment in putting something together here (even if it’s just one student
with a Taylor who can hold a tune) will pay off in the long run.
5. Have seasons of prayer – 21 days of prayer in January to start off the new year (our
whole church does this), a season of 24/7 prayer, Advent, Lent, a Labor Day
weekend of prayer before school starts; something (anything!) with a clear start and
end date, a distinct purpose, and some structure.
6. Set up a prayer room. Depending on the available facilities, it can be small and
intimate, or large enough to hold a good-sized youth group. Ideas: start a prayer
wall for requests; set up Stations of the Cross and teach your students about that
ancient, liturgical practice; provide instruments and/or a CD/MP3 player with lots
of music; provide art supplies (paints, Sharpees, etc.) and blank walls or easels for
creative expressions of prayer.
7. Incorporate fasting into your prayer culture – teenagers love it and will do it!
8. Give kids a taste of bigger-picture praying, beyond the scope of their own lives,
families, schools and relationships. Share testimonies of answers to prayer. Teach
about the men and women of God who have shaped the course of history not
through their exploits, but through their prayers.
Holy Desperation
At the Desperation Conference in the summer 2009, we were singing at the top of our
lungs, with Leeland leading us in worship. I looked around and there were thousands of
kids singing their hearts out. But there were no tears of desperation. I think it was A.W.
Tozer who said, “Christians don’t tell lies, they sing them.” Worship has become trendy in
youth ministry these days, and to a lesser degree, so has prayer, at least more so than in the
halcyon days of youth ministry with hot seats, competition, goofy skits and burger bashes.
We did those things because we believed they would attract students, and they did. We
worship and pray more today with similar good intentions. But where is the desperation?
But where are the tears? The Puritan used to ask God for the gift of tears – not because
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crying was a demonstration of religious fervor or piety, but more along the lines of the late
founder of World Vision, Bob Pierce: “Let me heart be broken by the things that break the
heart of God.” When our tears begin to flow from a holy desperation – for God in our own
lives, in our ministries, and in the lives of the students we are called to love and serve –
then youth ministry will become a culture of prayer.
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Ten
Restoring the Priority of Unity
Paul Fleischmann
“May they experience such perfect unity
that the world will know that You sent Me
and that You love them as much as you love Me.”
(John 17:23, NLB)
My wife, Toni, loves antiques. I didn’t used to. One day, over 30 years ago, she
persuaded me to spend $100 on a broken-down old fireplace mantle that I thought might be
better suited in the fireplace than over it. But, during the weeks to follow, she drew on her
God-given abilities to restore that abused piece of wood into a thing of beauty. We’ve
moved since then – but not without the mantle!
Restoring something implies that we are renewing it to its former condition,
reestablishing something that existed before. It’s debatable whether we need to “restore
unity” or just continue on our journey to “discover unity” at the level Jesus described. If
the standard for unity is what is described in John 17, then, I’m doubtful that any of us
would characterize the unity we’ve known in quite that way.
Discovering Unity
In John 17:21 Jesus didn’t just pray for believers to experience unity like He and His
Father share. He spoke of us experiencing actual unity with Him and God the Father –
knowing them eternally (v. 3), living in their protection (v. 11), joy (v. 13), and holiness
(vs. 17, 19). Jesus wants us to share the same glory and love that He and His Father share
(vs. 22-23).
Experiencing and demonstrating that kind of oneness, Jesus said, is the path that will
lead the world to believe in Him. But, a close look at John 17 shows that what speaks to
the world so loudly about Jesus is not focused only our unity with each other. There is
something transformational that happens to us as believers when we find oneness with
Jesus and God, the Father in the way just described.
I know this sounds a bit ethereal – but it’s not. We can experience some level of unity
as friends, business partners, etc. But to know the kind of supernatural unity Jesus talks
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about starts by experiencing intimate unity with Him. A.W. Tozer explains it with this
vivid picture:
“Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are
automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each
other, but . . . each one looking away to Christ. [Thus, they are] in heart, nearer to each
other than they could possibly be if they turn their eyes away from God to strive for
closer fellowship.”11
Unity Empowered by the Spirit
How is it possible to become that “in tune” with God? Certainly, it is beyond our
human ability. Jesus knows this, and that is why, just before He prays for our unity in John
17, He introduces the Holy Spirit as the means for us to establish that intimate unity with
God. To calm the disciples’ reaction to His announcement about returning to heaven, Jesus
promised a Helper that will unite believers with Him (John 14:16-18).
As a result, the Holy Spirit’s constant indwelling in the lives of believers enables us to
be in tune with God on a daily basis as we yield to the Holy Spirit’s leading. How? Jesus
said, “He will guide you into all truth…He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine
and declare it to you.” (John 16:13b-14) Think for a moment about the quality of unity
that is available to us when it proceeds from a Source like that!
I think Jesus emphasized the unity of believers in this last prayer before the cross
because He knew how difficult and yet important unity would be for the future of the
church (Ephesians 4:3). It would be His means of protecting us from Satan’s power (John
17:15) and the way the world would believe in Jesus and come to know God’s love for us
(John 17:23).
Even secular business recognizes the power of collaboration. But Jesus’ provision of
the Holy Spirit changes everything for believers. When we are walking in the Spirit, our
unity with others is sourced in the oneness the Holy Spirit provides with Jesus and God the
Father (John 17:21-23). Think of it!
When we trust in ourselves we get what man can do. When we walk in the Spirit’s
power we get what God can do (Psalm 56:3-4). But we must be sure we appropriate His
power through a life that is cleansed, aligned with God’s Word and walking by faith in
Him alone.
Unity takes Humility
Walking in the Spirit is also the only way to can walk humbly (Ephesians 5:18-21).
Otherwise, we are just too prone to operate according to the default of our own human
11
Tozer, A.W. The Pursuit of God, Christian Publications, Harrisburg, PA, 1948.
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nature! For instance, most people are naturally suspicious – at least that’s what I’ve seen in
over 30 years of networking. The potential for unity is often threatened if others look,
sound, act or think differently than we do. Sometimes we are hesitant to work together
because we are so partial to our own ministry philosophy or approach that we quietly
question if anyone else’s is as valid as ours. I remember hearing one person’s response to
criticism: “Well, maybe our way of doing it wrong is better than their way of not doing it!”
Of course, they were jesting – but were they really?
Just prior to the launch of the National Network of Youth Ministries in 1979, the
national leaders of Cru’s high school ministry met at their headquarters at Arrowhead
Springs, California to discuss a strategy to reach every teenager in the U.S. They shared
their passion for the millions of lost teenagers and their burden to do more to reach them.
As they knelt together to pray, the Spirit brought conviction to the whole group about how
arrogant it was to assume that any one ministry could reach every teenager. There was
weeping and a sense of God’s lingering presence. When the group reconvened, the
discussion shifted perspective – not “How could we reach every teenager?” but rather
“What role could we play in helping reach every teenager?” This proved to be a critical
adjustment, paving the way for the idea to host a meeting for discussion with national
youth ministry leaders. What they thought would be a one-time meeting spawned what
became the National Network of Youth Ministries.
The pattern in Scripture is that God is never impressed by those who are impressed
with themselves, their possessions, or their accomplishments. Rather, He wants us to
empty ourselves of those things so He can fill us fully with Himself. Talk about “contrary
to human nature!” Everything within us wants to project success and shun failure. Yet, the
irony of God’s way is that when we humble ourselves before Him, He bestows His grace
upon us (James 4:10) to accomplish His purposes.
When we find our unity first with God, it is not so hard to leave our “logos and egos at
the door.” Our ideas are really His ideas (Psalm 37:4). As we submit ourselves to His will
and His plan that spans the ages, we don’t have to hold so tightly to our own ideas,
thinking they are our “intellectual property.” I have found that God rarely gives a great
idea to just one person. He usually plants it in a number of unique individuals and in His
mysterious way, weaves their efforts together to accomplish His purpose.
In that scenario, there is no room for anything but humility. Still, it is hard not to feel a
sense of awe at the privilege of being united with God and with others in furthering His
kingdom purposes!
Unity Requires Mutual Trust
If there is a “secret sauce” for the working together in unity, mutual trust is
undoubtedly the main ingredient. When we first started the Network, I remember the
skepticism that different ones expressed about how difficult it would be to get some
denominations involved or some national youth ministries to be supportive. Some small
churches were intimidated by the involvement of a big church in town. Others didn’t have
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the time or didn’t see the need to network with anyone. Some feared that doctrinal purity
or ministry priorities might be compromised – or that unity might mean “uniformity.”
In the context of John 17 and Jesus’ prayer for unity within the body of Christ, it is
hard to argue against it. But, for most of us, it comes down to the practicalities – how do
we establish the kind of trust that will enable us to experience unity? Unity is not
automatic. It is not a mushy emotional feeling. It is a functional reality. When unity flows
out of our relationship with Christ, the Apostle Paul says it is as real as a human body
“joined and held together by every supporting ligament, [that] grows and builds itself
up in love, as each part does its work.” (Ephesians 4:16)
But unity is a process. I can tell you stories of well-meaning people who say they tried
partnering and it just didn’t work. Some walked away feeling that networking is overrated
– an idealistic attempt to accomplish something together that could have been easier to
accomplish alone.
The process of working in unity is multifaceted. Most failures in unity are the result of
ignoring the process. We connect with one another. We are impressed by the chemistry,
the giftedness, the reputations, the urgency, the opportunities, or any number of things.
Hopeful, we grab hands and dive into a united effort, investing manpower, time and
resources. But we may know little of what to expect because we have not sufficiently
counted the cost (Luke 14:28-32).
It is good to connect. That’s where unity starts – interacting with others who share
common interest. However, it is only the first step. Many give “networking” a bad rap
because they assume a monthly meeting is all there is being united and are disappointed
when this low-risk, entry- level activity yields few outcomes. Still, it is foundational.
In the spirit of Ecclesiastes 4:12, we’ve discovered a process that produces unity is a
cord of four strands. The foundational strand, as we discussed, is connecting. That can
grow into cooperating on something with low risk. The third strand is coordinating which
requires more commitment and medium risk. The highest level is that of collaborating
where there is a high commitment of resources, planning and decision making. With the
addition of each strand the “cord of unity” increases in strength.
There is much more that could be said about the process of building unity. (I’ve written
about it in my book, Better Together.) But the point here is that we must come to a point
of mutual trust if we are to have a foundation for unity with one another.
Though there is a lot to unity, it doesn’t have to be complicated. Charles Finney, a
leader of the Second Great Awakening in the 1800’s made a simple observation that has
great value as we seek to build mutual trust. He said, “Nothing tends more to cement the
hearts of Christians than praying together. Never do they love one another so well as when
they witness the outpouring of each other’s hearts in prayer.”
As simplistic as that sounds, I believe it is a profound truth. I have seen it happen many
times. When people of similar purpose come together, it is amazing how similar their
prayers are. Some may have hesitancies or stereotypes to begin with, but hearing a sincere
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prayer from their brother or sister – even someone they do not know – often resonates
within their own heart. God uses their prayers to help them trust each other and unite
around a common purpose.
The priority of Jesus’ prayer in John 17:21 was that believers would be one with each
other – and with Him and His Father. That gives a new meaning to “mutual trust” –
trusting each other because we trust God and His plan to redeem the world through our
oneness.
Unity Accomplishes God’s Highest Purposes
The kingdom purposes of God are huge! Jesus prays to His Father in John 17 for the
whole world to “believe that You sent me.” Jesus wants everyone to experience the same
kind of love that God has shown Him (v. 23). He wants the glory God gave Him to be
reflected within each of us through our unity (v. 21)!
For those of us in youth ministry, our deep burden to reach the emerging generations
has been the common cause that motivates us to work together. We are more passionate
about that cause than ever before due to the increased complexity of today’s culture
impacting the 42 million youth, ages 10-19.12 These are the future leaders of our families
and our churches, our institutions and our nation. Yet this precious resource is at risk as the
culture around them persistently tries to chip away at their beliefs, their ethics and their
hope.
This only increases our motivation to stand in the gap for this generation! The fact
remains that the vast majority of all who receive Christ will do so by age 18. Still, the
scope of the task seems foreboding at times.
It is amazing to consider the way Jesus accomplishes His will on earth. It will not by
programs, power or politics. Jesus indicated that the world will believe our message when
we come together in complete unity – both with God and with each other (John 17:21-23).
How is this possible? Probably not like we may think. We who live in the era of political,
military and technological power are still not accustomed to God’s simple manner, shown
in Scripture, where He accomplishes His will through humble means – aged parents, a
shepherd boy, a widow’s mite, loaves and fish, a baby in a manger. But that is God’s way.
It brings to mind what God told the prophet in Zechariah 4:6 about how His people would
find restoration: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty.”
We all have apprehensions, doubts and fears. Christ’s disciples had theirs – like when
Jesus announced that He was returning to His Father. At the same time, He told them that
He would provide the Holy Spirit to empower them, as they walked together in faith, to
minister at a revolutionary level: “…the works that I do he will do also; and greater
works than these he will do.” (John 14: 1-12) What a preposterous promise! Yet it is one
12
U.S. Census Bureau, ACS demographic and housing estimates, 2008-2012
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made totally possible because of our unity with God and each other through the Holy
Spirit.
Conclusion
It's a mystery to me that, in God's grand design for the universe, He repeatedly chooses
to demonstrate His attributes through partnership with people like you and me. And though
we have been talking about uniting with others, unity really starts with one person – you,
me – walking humbly with God (Micah 6:8) and responding to His voice in obedience
(1 Samuel 3). It is that individual’s response that God may use to set in motion a whole
network of people who will unite to accomplish God’s purposes. But first, there is that one
person who humbly leads the way.
“The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand,
any who seek God” (Psalm 14:2).
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Eleven
Restoring A Sustainable Focus
Barry St. Clair
Jesus has the younger generation on His heart! We know this because He said so
Himself. When His disciples tried to shoo the children away, Jesus got irritated and said:
“Don’t push these children away. Don’t ever get between them and me. These children are
at the very center of life in the kingdom.” (Mark 10: 13-16 MSG) Jesus gathered these kids
around him, hugged them and blessed them.
And Jesus has put the younger generation on your heart too! It’s not that youth leaders
and parents don’t love kids, but rather that we find it hard to express that love in a way that
maximizes our influence on them. If our lives and the church’s ministry stand a chance of
making a difference in kids’ lives, then it will take a different approach than what many
youth leaders and churches do now.
Needing Focus
Given that kids are, by nature, immature, erratic, unpredictable, and (add your
description), then youth leaders need to express the opposite—mature, stable, wise and
(add your description). Yet because a long-standing statistic remains the same - youth
leaders cycle through a church every 18-24 months - neither youth leaders, nor the church
stand a chance of maximizing their influence. And when leading a youth ministry ends up
akin to herding cats, with the youth leader finding himself/herself in “A.D.D. mode,” then
making a significant difference in the lives of kids goes out the window. Because God has
put the younger generation on your heart, you definitely do not want your life and ministry
to resemble this description!
Wherever we find ourselves in the youth ministry cycle (or “hamster wheel” if that
better describes your situation), our primary youth ministry pursuit involves focus! When
we focus on revamping our youth ministry to resemble Jesus’ ministry, then instead of
looking like herding cats, it will have qualities such as being biblical, simple, practical,
applicable, doable, multipliable . . . and in a word, sustainable. I have watched sustainable
happen. Sometimes it happens when a youth leader sees—the lights turn on. And often it
begins when a youth leader comes to the end - feeling burned out and ready to quit. Either
way, seeing leads to decades of sustainable influence on kids, who years later become
adults and have their own kids, scattered around the globe knowing, loving and following
Jesus. A long list of youth leaders with “decades of sustainable ministry” come to mind.
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Here are five: Rick (38 years); Sue (39 years); Mike (30 years); Stan (20 plus years); Terry
(38 years). That’s sustainable influence!
So, how do you find that kind of sustainable focus? Before we address that question,
let’s intensify the discussion by reminding ourselves that the life situations kids live in pull
hard against us finding focus:
Culture is destroying them. Often without positive adult guidance, teenagers find
themselves awash in the sewage of their culture. Movies, music, video games, the internet,
parties, sex…pick a topic and prove the point.
Parents have abandoned them. Broken families, busy parents, overwhelming
distractions fight against kids who need love, security, time and focused attention from
their parents. This generation, more than any other, find them selves isolated from caring
adults.
Churches have let them down. Careful research has shown that church-attending
students cheat, lie, get drunk and have sex at the same statistical rate as non-church
attending students. A couple of hours a week of “spiritual entertainment” have left our
teenagers spiritually unequipped to handle their world. As a result, many walk away
muttering “irrelevant”.
However, teenagers themselves continue to search for answers. They have serious
struggles with the painful problems they face, the unanswered questions they ask, and the
deep inner hunger for God that He has put inside of them. That’s why what we do has such
gigantic importance. Youth leaders can, and should, lead the charge in building
relationships with teenagers, rescuing them and bringing them to Jesus, making Jesus
relevant to their lives, and discipling them to know, love and follow Him.
Finding Sustainable Focus
So, how do we find focus? We discover the answer to that by starting at two ends and
coming to the middle. The two ends: Our end; and Jesus’ end. Those two must come
together for focus to occur.
On our end. Knowing where we are now is the starting point to get where we want to be.
So we must measure ourselves. But it’s hard to measure spirituality and ministry. How do I
“measure” my relationship to God? Plus, ministry never ends; the more we do the more we
have to do. Add in the “off the walls” youth ministry culture and it’s even tougher to
measure. Does bringing in more kids measurably translate into more money in the church
coffers? Hardly. And really, how does anyone measure externally what goes on internally
with a fifteen-year-old?
Yet if we ask ourselves a few hard questions and give honest answers it will help us
measure how focused—Jesus-focused—our lives and ministries really are . . . or are not.
Take a stab at it; answer these on a scale of 1-10; 1 is the lowest, 10 is the highest. (Relax
and take a deep breath. No one will grade these but you!)
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1.
How do you rate the amount of time and focused attention you give to pursue
intimacy with Jesus?
2.
To what degree do you, your volunteers, parents, and students carve out a
consistent time and place to pray with and for each other and for students who need
Jesus? 3.
How committed are your adult volunteers to Jesus, to each other, and to a relational
4.
What percentage of the believers in your ministry are involved in an intensive,
dedicated, ongoing discipleship group?
5.
What percentage of your volunteers and students see themselves as an active
influence for Jesus on the campus? 6.
What percentage of the total number of students at your last outreach opportunity
were non-believers?
Hopefully answering these questions will result in making us/you hungrier for focused
change.
On Jesus’ end. Now let’s go back to a statement made earlier in the book. For us to find
our focus in youth ministry we need a shift: sa radical return to Jesus and His way of
doing life and ministry!
All of us know this, but in the craziness of our youth ministry world, amidst the
expectations on us that come from others (senior pastors, parents, etc.), the activities that
create busyness beyond belief, and the religious systems and programs that burn us out to
keep them running, when does a person stop to focus on Jesus? We find it easy to shrug off
that question with “yeah, yeah, we’ve got Jesus covered”. So we continue operating with
the same insane youth ministry craziness, expectations, schedules and systems, with Jesus
wedged into the cracks. Insane! (You know Albert Einstein’s definition of insane: doing
the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.)
Surely you recognize the problem! If the previous paragraph even comes close to defining
you, for God’s sake – literally - stop. Hit “pause”. Call a time out. On our end, we
desperately need it. On Jesus’ end, He absolutely requires it, because He wants you! I
realize that it takes courage to honestly reflect, to look at our selves and what we do in a
fresh, different way. But let’s give it a shot. Let’s focus on Jesus to find out what that looks
like.
In our complex world, this diagram makes simple the way Jesus designed life and ministry
to function:
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Love%%
Jesus%
Love%%
People%
Love the Lord your God with all your heart…
Love your neighbor as yourself…
That’s it. All ministry is based on relationships, either vertical or horizontal. It’s vertical
when we love the Lord we connect with Jesus and Jesus connects with us. And it’s
horizontal when we love our neighbor we connect with people and we connect them to
Jesus through us.
Look again at Matthew 9:35-38; Jesus demonstrates this simple strategy in His own life
and ministry, and then He tells us how to do what He did.
“Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues,
proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.
When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and
helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is
plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out
workers into his harvest field.’”
In these verses Jesus gives us the basics of a Jesus-focused youth ministry. And then,
throughout the Gospels, we see that what He said and did in these verses is repeated again
and again. So let’s pay attention to what Jesus does and says here. The result will radically
change your life and ministry!
Acting on Jesus’ example and words can create an environment for Jesus’ presence and
power to transform you and the people around you. From deep within an intimate
relationship with His Father, Jesus had embodied in Himself the message of good news,
the medicine of healing and the motivation of compassion. That led to Him reaching out
horizontally to pained, broken, wounded, lost, ill, hurt, helpless, purposeless people people like you and me - and offering healing and wholeness.
Then and there, Jesus turned to His disciples as if to say, “See what I just did. You are
going to do the same things.” (See Matthew 10:7-8 and Mark 6:12-13.) At that point He
explained the simple basics of His Jesus-focused strategy.
Ask the Lord of the harvest
to send out workers
pray to pursue Jesus
equip to multiply leaders
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into the harvest field.
evangelize to reach people
As His disciples took their cue from Jesus, so do we. When we transfer His words into a
Jesus-focused youth ministry strategy, then we will
Pray by:
Going Deeper with Christ and Praying with Passion
Equip by:
Building Leaders and Discipling Students
Evangelize by:
Penetrating the Culture and Creating Outreach Opportunities
In a diagram it looks like this:
Now, before your very eyes you have found and possess a biblical, relational, simple,
practical, doable, and sustainable strategy!
Seeing Sustainable Focus
But you ask, “In reality, does it actually work?” Let me offer an illustration from my
life and ministry. In another context I wrote the story like this:
As a young youth leader, I discovered that Jesus was serious when He said, “make
disciples.” I was responsible for overseeing the youth ministry for 34,000 churches, yet I
had a disciple-making burden for a group of 10th grade guys in my church.
Though I had zeal for helping these young men follow Jesus, I knew almost nothing
about how to do it. I invited these young men to come to my house to meet. I stood as they
sat in a row, while I taught them the little I knew. I talked. They listened. We did this for
ten weeks. Then we stopped. A few weeks later I got word that one person in the group
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had started going to the Jewish synagogue. That concerned me since the outcome of the
discipleship group was not to make converts to Judaism! That young man was Lee Grady.
I met with Lee and asked him about going to the synagogue. As we talked I discovered that
he had grown up in the church, but no one had ever personally challenged him to follow
Jesus, including me. A few days later the other guys in the group and I shared the gospel
with him and he opened his heart to Jesus.
From my inept beginnings as a disciple-maker, Lee and I, along with the rest of the
guys in the group, started meeting again, only this time in heart-to-heart, life-sharing
conversations around the Word of God. I gave them time and focused attention both inside
and outside the group. Over time we built real friendships based on knowing and
following Jesus. In spite of my feeble attempt at “making disciples” like Jesus did, Lee
Grady emerged as a whole-hearted disciple of Jesus. I discipled him through the remainder
of high school and college. I was in his wedding and spoke at his ordination. We have been
close friends for over 40 years.
Was it worth it to disciple Lee?
Consider this: For several years Lee served as editor for The Forerunner, the largest
collegiate evangelistic newspaper in the country. Then for several years he led Charisma
Magazine. Lee has authored as number of compelling books, and today his global ministry,
The Mordecai Project, challenges the church to release women from bondage and abuse.
Beyond this, Lee loves people and invests in them. He leads Bold Venture gatherings in
countries around the world. One great privileges of my life is to lead some of these
gatherings with him. The people who attend either look to Lee as their discipler, or they
are disciples of people Lee has discipled. Many of these people have their own spheres of
influence as pastors, youth pastors, worship leaders, evangelists, and missionaries. Among
Bold Venture attendees, there is one common thread: “Lee has mentored me.”
My small Jesus-focused disciple-making investment in Lee as a teenager has led to
multiplied thousands whom He has discipled and influenced.
Yes, Jesus-Focused youth ministry works. Yet more than “working”, it “bears fruit”—
“fruit that lasts”—and even multiplies into “go make disciples of all nations” fruit! It is
yours for the picking!
Will you focus? When you do, then that focus will sustain your life and ministry for a
lifetime!
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Twelve
Restoring A Jesus-Focused Strategy
Barry St. Clair
How do you align your life and ministry with Jesus’ life and ministry? You might think
it’s aligned already. Surely in some ways it is. Yet, like the frog in the kettle, often we
don’t realize how hot the water has gotten above its normal temperature. Convinced that
our normal is God’s Normal, we keep doing a “normal” that does not resemble Normal at
all!
Our “Normal” and the “Jesus Normal”
What is our normal? How does that stack up with the “Jesus normal”? In the last
chapter, we looked at our “scorecard” for how churches define success. What Top 5
Activities do your pastor, parents and kids put on your “scorecard”?
What “normally” goes on the scorecard is “nickels and noses”, “bodies in seats”, “size
of the crowd”, “fun factor”, and “wow--dynamic”. Usually the youth ministry scorecard
reflects the church’s scorecard. The frog just got fried!
To discover the “Jesus normal” let’s go to the Source. Let’s measure the ministry by
the “Jesus normal”. How does the “mile wide, inch deep”, “outside in” approach of
activities, events and programs line up with Jesus’ “inside out” approach? In John 15:1-10,
Jesus defines how He desires our lives and ministries to function. He repeats eight times
“Remain in me, and I will remain in you…and you will bear fruit…more fruit…much more
fruit”. If not, “apart from me you can do nothing”. Simple and straightforward!
What keeps us from the “Jesus normal” of passionately pursing a more intimate
relationship with Him, and guiding our entire ministry to do the same?
Our Greatest Need
If your heart pulls you toward the “Jesus normal”, then what do you do? George Barna
gives some guidance:
The greatest need in our churches is for men and women who can envision the
better future God wills for His people; who will motivate people to action. Who will
create intelligent plans for positive change; and who will spearhead the
implementation of those plans, for the enduring glory of God. [George Barna,
quoted in Christ Is All by David Bryant, bold added]
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In spite of how you see yourself or others see you, God has positioned you to lead. In
your sphere of influence He has called you to envision, motivate, create and spearhead
implementation! That takes leadership courage.
How do you lead courageously to deeply influence leaders and kids? You focus on
Jesus--what He did and how He did it—and you do the same! What did Jesus do? He led
with a relational strategy that envisioned, created, motivated and implemented. What did
that look like?
What did Jesus’ strategy look like? focused on six essential elements (see diagram on
page 70) and demonstrated consistently throughout the four Gospels. Pause . . . will you
prayerfully reflect on how you deeply ingrain these elements in your life and ministry?
Go Deeper with Christ. How do you deepen your relationship to Jesus? Pursue an
intimate and a passionate relationship with Jesus, and then live out that relationship by
obeying Christ, thus reflecting His Life to those around you (Mark 1:7-8).
Pray with Passion. How do you pray God’s presence and power into your ministry?
Create a specific prayer strategy that involves you, your volunteers, parents, and
students (Matthew 18:18-20).
Build Leaders. How do you build quality leaders for an in-depth and long-term
ministry? Equip adults who have the heart and skills to reach and disciple students
(Mark 1:16-20).
Disciple Students. How do you disciple students to develop spiritual passion and
become spiritual influencers with their friends? Challenge students to move toward
maturity in their relationship to Jesus through small group discipling relationships
(Mark 3:13-15).
Penetrate the Culture. How do you motivate and mobilize your leaders, parents, and
students to penetrate the student culture? Go where students are by spending time in
their world and equip them to reach their friends in their culture (Mark 1:40-42).
Create Outreach Opportunities. How do you design outreach opportunities for
students to reach their friends? Create culturally relevant experiences for students to
bring their non-believing friends to discover Jesus (Mark 4:1-2).
This Jesus focused strategy is as old as the New Testament. From the core of Jesus’
life, message and ministry, it produces fruit through you. It offers “the new normal”. Your
younger generation leaders—pastor, youth leader, volunteers, parents and students—can
gather around a common vision of Jesus and His ministry.
This extraordinary shift redirects your vision, re-aligns your priorities and provides you
with the practical tools to pursue God’s unique vision for your ministry. When you
experience this fresh approach in your church, you will become a more powerful agent of
change with the younger generation!
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Our Plan to Apply the Essential Elements
How can you practically apply these six essential elements to your life and ministry? In
our ministry—Reach Out Youth Solutions--we have seen this strategy applied in thousands
of youth ministries for over thirty years and in over thirty countries globally. Many people
describe it as “biblical, simple, practical, do-able”. It’s not “Barry’s, one-size-fits-all,
American strategy”. Rather, rooted in Jesus you can uniquely apply each essential through
your personality and situation. It becomes your unique strategy.
Go Deeper with Christ
Question: How do we pursue an intimate relationship with Jesus that leads to deeper love
for Him?
Response: Flow. A pen’s purpose is to write. If the ink does not flow, it loses its purpose
and value. Just like us! God placed us here to make our unique mark. What keeps God
from flowing into us, and then flowing out of us, so we become a usable tool in His hand?
Our lives are our most valuable ministry tool! The quality of our lives determines the
quantity of our influence. When our lives get clogged the flow stops. We go through the
ministry motions, but we have little to give. This I know from my own clogging
experience. Once when I answered the questions below, it took three hours, and then six
months to unclog my life. Maybe you have gotten clogged, too. These specific questions
come from three phrases found in 1 Timothy 1:5: “The goal of this command is love, which
comes from a pure heart, a good conscience and a sincere faith.” Consider these questions
carefully.
Pure Heart: Do I have impure thoughts toward the opposite sex? (2 Timothy 2:22) Do I
gripe, complain, or have a critical attitude? (Philippians 2:14-15)
Good Conscience: Do I respect and honor my parents and family? (Ephesians 6:1-4) Is
bitterness or resentment keeping me from forgiving another person? (Matthew 6:14-15)
Have I treated another person wrongly? (Matthew 5:23-24)
Sincere Faith: Do I lie, steal, or cheat? (Colossians 3:9) Is there any area of my life where
Jesus is not first? (Matthew 6:33)
Once unclogged, we can still run out of ink. We can find ourselves tired, burned out,
overwhelmed, depressed. Yet we have all of the resources needed for God’s life to flow
into and through us. Consider this energy-producing promise.
But we Christians have no veil over our faces; we can be mirrors that brightly
reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works in us, we become
more and more like him (2 Corinthians 3:18. TLB).
God restores the flow as the Spirit works in us. Instead of burn out, blame, shame,
guilt, hurt and wounds, we become mirrors that brightly reflect Spirit-filled “pens” that
make a bold mark.
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Takeaway: Pursue an intimate relationship with Jesus by carving out 30 minutes a day for
30 days to replenish the flow of His life through you.
Pray with Passion
Question: How do we increase our passion for prayer and create an environment for others
to pray with passion?
Response: Stop plowing concrete! “Plowing concrete” describes how hard it is to get
people to pray. But also it expresses how hard ministry is without prayer. What massive
amounts of energy we expend to get so little accomplished without prayer!
Do you love to pray? I did not. When asked to pray out loud, my heart jumped out of my
chest. I did not know what to say. But over time, God “enlarged my heart” for praying as I
practiced the presence of God.
Love to pray. Feel often during the day the need for prayer, and take trouble to
pray. Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God’s gift of
himself. Ask and seek, and your heart will grow big enough to receive him and
keep him as your own. Mother Teresa
Jesus loved to pray! He knew that…
“…the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father
doing, because whatever the Father does, the Son also does.” (John 5:19)
Do you experience God’s power through prayer? My type A personality desires to
achieve, perform, and “make it happen”. In contrast, God has shown me that what takes me
20 years to accomplish, He can complete in 20 seconds! Jesus described how that works in
Matthew 18:18-20: “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in
heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Power) “Again I tell
you that if two of you on earth agree abut anything you ask for, it will be done for you by
My Father in heaven.” (Promise) “For where two or three come together in my name,
there I am with them.” (Plan)
That’s what we need! Do this and we will stop plowing concrete!
Takeaway: Increase your passion for prayer and create an environment for others to pray
with passion by engaging every leader, student and parent in a prayer triplet.
3 Christians meet
3 times a week to pray for
3 non-Christian friends!
This game-changer gives kids confidence in God’s presence to experience His power,
promise and plan. They learn to talk out loud to God, pray every time, deepen
relationships, develop leadership, pray for 9 non-Christians, and grow to love their
friends—through prayer. Jesus is simply brilliant. So – let’s do it now!
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Build Leaders
Question: How do you build leaders for in-depth and long-term ministry?
Response: Longevity. Since youth ministers only stay an average of 18-24 months and lay
leaders only serve a year or two, it’s easy see that the terms “youth ministry” and “in-depth
and long-term” can be an oxymoron! The two terms converge when the lights turn on
about building leaders!
Turning on the lights - building leaders - begins with a change in how we perceive
ourselves--from “kid magnets” to leader developers. And it will move our ministries from
mediocre to excellent! If no one has discipled us to become leaders, it’s tough to know
what that word even means, much less how to do it with others. Yet we have to start
somewhere. Why don’t you say, “I will break the cycle and disciple people to lead.”
That’s courageous leadership!
Jesus showed us how to build leaders. He chose twelve men, invested His life in them
for three years, and commissioned them – and us - to do the same. All Christians knows
Jesus’ Great Commission: “Go . . . and make disciples . . .” (Matthew 28:19). Yet rarely
do we find a leader who disciples a small group of people!
Over the three-year span of Jesus’ ministry, he progressively developed His disciples
by taking them through four stages, often interweaving and overlapping the stages. All of
the stages had one amazing element in common; explore these Scriptures to discover it.
1. I do it. (Luke 4:31-37 and 38-44)
2. I do it and they are with me. (Luke 5:1-11)
3. They do it and I am with them. (Luke 10:1-17)
4. They do it and I am in the background to encourage. (Luke 24:44-49 and all of Acts)
What is it?
§
§
§
§
The prophesied Jesus defines it - Isaiah 61:1.
The flesh-and-blood Jesus speaks of it and then did it - Luke 4:18-19.
The disciples of Jesus practiced it - Mark 6:12-13.
The truth-telling Jesus promised it - John 14:12.
It is the ministry of Jesus, given to His disciple and now passed on to us. We get to do the
ministry of Jesus that…
…preaches the good news
…heals the sick and broken-hearted
…releases those held captives by the devil.
Astoundingly, very few Christians know, believe or practice it! It will unleash your
ministry to change the world around you!
Takeaway: Start, join or improve a Leadership Team that builds courageous leaders who
do the ministry of Jesus with kids.
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Disciple Students
Question: How do you disciple students who experience life-change and become lifechangers?
Response: Relationships! Young people are bailing on the church at an alarming rate. And
even if they don’t bail, they often plunge into the same partying, drinking, sex and drugs as
non-believing students. Why? Was the youth group not cool enough? Rarely. The megacool churches lose a similar percentage of kids. Where’s the breakdown? Relationships!
What churches do best - events and programs - rarely enhances relationships. So it’s no
surprise that kids go south spiritually after graduation when their “discipleship” consisted
of a 20-minute group led by an un-discipled leader with barely an open Bible.
But Jesus-style discipleship always enhances relationships! What if we built our entire
youth ministry on the two simple goals of God’s Great Commandment, and guide kids to
(1) love God, and (2) love others? What if each member of our leadership team enters into
a discipling relationship with three kids, based on the discipling principles of 2 Timothy 2:
1-3: “You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you
have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable men who will also
be qualified to teach others. Endure hardship like a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”
The apostle Paul challenges us to disciple kids based on…
§ Grace instead of legalism. Grace provides the only healthy environment for making
disciples—not rules, behavior, achievement and performance.
§ Relationships instead of programs. Only through a relationship could Paul disciple
Timothy. And only through a relationship can we meaningfully connect with kids to
disciple them.
§ Process instead of events. Paul entrusts himself and the Gospel to Timothy. That trust
built over time into a real and deep relationship. Only a relationship built over time and
on trust will remove kid’s masks, expose their hurts, open their hearts, and move them
toward wholeness and maturity.
§ Multiplication instead of addition. Note the four generations in the 2 Timothy passage:
me . . . you . . . reliable men . . . others. When we disciple kids we raise up real, reliable
disciples who will multiply exponentially over time.
The result: good soldiers of Christ Jesus!
Takeaway: Disciple a group of three students. Make a relational investment in them over
time. You do this by offering students a small group, relational experience within which
the Holy Spirit can work through prayer triplets, Bible study, Scripture memory, discipline,
accountability, and encouragement that will result in life change and life-changers.
Penetrate the Culture
Question: How do we equip and mobilize volunteers, parents, and studentsto bring Jesus
into the student culture?
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Response: Go! That’s what Jesus said: “Go into all the world. . .” (Matthew 28:19) Where
do we go? Where kids are! Where are kids? Mostly they hang around school with their
friends. So go and hang out with the three kids you disciple, and you will be with their
friends who need Jesus. So go! Meet their friends. Enter their world. Invite them in to our
world. Build relationships. Share Jesus.
What compels us to go? We’re busy. We don’t know these people. They are younger
(sometimes much younger!) than us. The only motivating factor that will get us “out of the
seat and onto the street” is Jesus transforming us into compassionate lovers of God and
other people. What do we see in Jesus that compels us to go?
God’s Love Motivates Us. Jesus had compassion for people who were “like sheep
without a shepherd.” (Mark 6:34) And God desires to increase our “compassion
quotient” for students who need Jesus. He calls us to care in a world that does not care.
Jesus Calls Us Out of Our Comfort Zone. (John 20:21) Jesus stepped outside of His
comfort zone. Sitting at His Father’s right hand, He chose to come into a womb,
experience human birth, become imprisoned in a human body, get blisters from sandals,
and die. He made the hard choice to leave His Father’s comfort. He calls us to do the
same.
Teenagers Have Incredible Pain. (Luke 5:12-16) Jesus did not shy away from the pain
of the leper. He touched it. This generation has more pain than any other in history. Like
the leper, they have a desperate need for a healing touch. The Wounded Healer is their
only hope (Isaiah 53:4-6). We, like Jesus, can offer students the healing touch for their
pain.
Students Need Jesus. Students want Life, but they don’t know where to find it. We do.
Jesus said, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (John 17:3). More open than ever, students can find
Life in Him - through us.
Jesus Is Already There. After the Resurrection, the angel said, “[He] is going ahead of
you into Galilee.” (Matthew 28:7). The resurrected Christ does not send us into the
student world alone. He has already “gone ahead” and meets us there. Already working
in kids’ lives, Jesus waits for us to join Him there!
Takeaway: Identify, pray for and build a relationship with at least one non-believing
teenager. Since 88% of all students in America do not go to church or know Jesus, that
should not be too hard. And since Jesus is transforming us into compassionate lovers of
God and people, He will motivate us to go!
Create Outreach Opportunities
Question: How do we present Jesus through culturally relevant outreach opportunities to
which young people bring their non-believing friends?
Response: Pause! Here is where we spend most of our “old normal” energy. So pause.
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Since most kids have little motivation to bring their non-believing friends anyway, and
since youth leaders rarely have the other five essential elements in place to disciple them if
they do respond, then pause.
Takeaway: When leaders and teens have genuine relationships with non-believers… when
the other five essential elements function properly, then do another outreach. Until then . . .
pause!
One Real-Life Example
Do the essential elements of a Jesus-focused youth ministry actually work? Of the
thousands of examples I could give that it does, let me offer one: a discipleship group with
my son, Jonathan, and his friends.
Our family helped plant a church built on the essential elements of this chapter. My
friend, Dean, the principal at my kids’ school, had a son my son’s age. We sensed God
leading us to start a discipleship group with our sons. He discipled his son, and his friends,
while I discipled my son Jonathan, and his friends.
At Chick-Fil-A on Lawrenceville Highway in Lilburn, GA at 6:45 a.m. on Tuesday
mornings, we met weekly for four years. Tim, Trent, Rodney, Christian and Jonathan were
a motley crew of ninth-graders when we began. Each one I recruited personally. Jonathan
and I decided to do this group together. He picked the friends he wanted in the group.
When we met with each one about joining the group, I said something like, “Tim, I see
God’s potential in you. This discipleship group will help you become a man of God. We
will meet every week. You will need to prepare, memorize Scripture, pray out loud, and
grow in Christ. Will you pray about joining it? I will call you.” No one turned me down.
Each week, after we got our chicken biscuit, I would say, “OK guys, let’s find out how
to become men of God.” Some weeks it worked really well. After other weeks I sat in my
car banging my head on the steering wheel. These were fairly typical teenagers: they
played basketball and soccer, they obsessed about girls and struggled with lust, and they
didn’t always get along with their parents. Neither our preparation for the group, nor the
attention span of the kids while in the group, would have won any awards. Yet huddled in
a booth at a fast-food restaurant, we pursued Jesus. I invested my life in them, and they
invested their lives in each other and me. I went to their games. They came to my home
and I went to theirs. I took them on trips in the USA and overseas.
By their senior year, the prayer triplets had multiplied. Their prayers and those of
others changed their school. In college they continued to follow Jesus. Before my wife,
Carol, died, some of them stayed up all night praying for our family. My son, Jonathan,
would say that group and our relationship prepared him for the “class 6 rapids” of his
mother’s death. Now three of them serve in full-time ministry. Trent travels around the
world bringing the Gospel into the political arena. Rodney speaks regularly at the largest
church in Atlanta. And my son pastors a church in Berkeley, CA.
Guarantee: When you cast your bread on the water of a Jesus-focused youth ministry, it
will come back to you just as Jesus promised - one hundred fold!
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Conclusion
Reform
Mike Higgs
“Now reform your ways and your actions and obey the Lord your God.”
(Jer. 26:13)
I currently live within close proximity to some of the better flyfishing for trout to be
found on the planet. While that did not play a role in our relocation to south central Idaho
from Portland, Oregon in 2012, it has proved to be a nice side benefit, as I have been
chasing trout for over 40 years. And, the pursuit of the finned creatures has proven to be, in
many ways, a remarkable metaphor for the Christian life . . . and for youth ministry.
Over the years, I have learned that the life (or, more bluntly, the survival) of a trout
revolves around the conservation of energy while pursuing three essentials: oxygen, food,
and safety. In a stream, trout will tend to hang out in places where oxygen-laden water is
being pushed through their gills, where food is readily available with a minimum of energy
investment, and where they are relatively safe from predators - including fishermen. The
challenge of flyfishing is to present to a fish an imitation of a natural food source in a way
that looks and acts so real that the fish will ignore any latent fears, ingest the imitation, and
end up in your net! There is both a science and an art to flyfishing. The science involves
understanding trout behavior – knowing where they will tend to hang out in a river or lake,
and being able to discern the available food sources that comprise their diet at the time.
The art involves choosing the best imitation of that food source, and presenting it to the
fish in a natural way.
Many writers have explored the spiritual dimensions of flyfishing, and for good reason!
Norman McClain’s A River Runs Through It was given to me by my father many years
ago, and is a cherished possession. (While it was made into a popular, and very good,
movie starring Brad Pitt, the book is even better.) One of the more spiritually relevant
aspects of flyfishing is the imitation component: just as flyfishermen (and women) seek to
imitate real flies and food sources as they practice their craft, so we are called to imitate
Christ as we live out our faith. And, to do so in a way that attracts others, as artificial flies
that are accurate imitations of the real deal attract fish.
The Imitation of Christ
One of the most enduring and popular devotional books in history is called The
Imitation Of Christ. Written in the 1400’s in Latin, it has also been translated into more
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languages than any other book other than the Bible. There is good reason for its enduring
popularity: the call to discipleship – becoming disciples, or followers, or imitators, of
Christ – starts with Christ Himself. His common exhortation in the gospels to “follow Me”
was more than an invitation to travel with Him. It was a call to live one’s entire life in the
pattern of the Son of Man. In this regard, it’s too bad that the phrase, “what would Jesus
do?” has been reduced to a WWJD acronym on a bracelet. “Whoever claims to live in Him
must walk as Jesus did” (1 John 2:6) is both a challenging biblical admonition and a
practical measuring rod for our faith, as the previous verse makes clear: “This is how we
know we are in Him.” (1 John 2:5)
One of the many shifts we have addressed in this book is one from making converts to
making disciples. Converts have usually prayed a prayer or otherwise made a decision to
follow Jesus, but tend to linger in the spiritual immaturity of religious behavior
modification or therapeutic moral deism (to borrow two pithy and appropriate phrases
from contemporary writings on the subject) unless they are discipled. And since our
biblical mandate is to make converts who are also disciples (Matt. 28:18-20), discipling is
a very good thing. But what does that mean? Yes, it includes mentoring and coaching, but
it’s much more: discipleship is the process of becoming a fully devoted follower of Christ
by following the teaching and example of those who has gone before and know the way.
That begins with following the example of Jesus. But the biblical admonition, and pattern,
goes beyond that.
As the other authors so eloquently developed in earlier chapters, the process of
discipleship is described in the Apostle Paul’s second letter to Timothy, who was one of
his own disciples: “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many
witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” (2 Tim. 2:2)
But here’s the kicker: Paul also had the audacity to make the following bold statements:
“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” (1 Cor. 1:11)
“Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my
son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in
Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.” (1 Cor.
14:16-17)
“Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live
according to the pattern we gave you.” (Phil. 3:17)
Paul was not being arrogant; he could encourage others to imitate him because he had a
life worth imitating.
A Shift In Lifestyle
At a recent National Youth Workers Convention put on by Youth Specialties, Francis
Chan, one of the keynote speakers, posed a provocative question to the 2000 youth
workers in attendance: “How many youth workers, or youth ministry teams, are you aware
of who are known for their personal holiness?” The implication is that in a youth ministry
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culture where the pressures to attract and retain kids is at times overwhelming, cultivating
intimacy with Jesus can easily get pushed down the priority list. A similar question could
also be posed: How many youth workers you aware of who could say, with the authenticity
to back it up, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ?”
Of all the shifts that have been identified in this book, perhaps the most extraordinary,
and the most needed, is a shift among youth workers to living transparently holy,
consecrated lives worth imitating. Perhaps the pursuit of cultural relevance, the pressures
of pastoring church kids, and the tyranny of the urgent have eroded our cutting edge here.
Which begs the question: have we as youth workers become too lax when it comes to
personal holiness and godly character?
You may have noticed that in the chapter on Restoring The First Commandment To
First Place, I was very intentional about not identifying a “religious yardstick” for
measuring spiritual behavior. I’m not sure God is all that concerned about us having wine
with dinner, or a glass of bourbon (nasty!) with friends, or even smoking a cigar (even
nastier!) on occasion. After all, Paul made it clear, “to the pure, all things are pure.” (Titus
1:15) But to be dangerously honest, I have heard and experienced things at youth worker
gatherings, large and small, that are quite frankly incompatible with a consecrated lifestyle,
no matter how you define consecration or spin the speech and behavior.
As the Holy Spirit directs, we need to set the bar much higher when it comes to our own
holiness and character, and expect our peers to do likewise.
A Shift In Belief
A shift to the imitation of Christ may also requiring a bit of re-wiring of how we think
about ourselves “in Christ.” Even the treasured book The Imitation of Christ falls a bit
short in this regard, in my opinion. The tone of the book is, “Christ is amazing beyond our
wildest imaginations and following Him is why we were created, but most of us are pond
scum sinners in that regard.” Is that really true? While I get that perspective, I’m just sure
it’s good theology. My Bible tells me that those who follow Christ wholeheartedly are
“seated in the heavenlies” with Christ and the recipients of “every spiritual blessing” in
Him. (Eph. 2:6; 1:3); we are “new creatures in Christ; the old has gone and the new has
come!” (2 Cor. 5:17) Paul reminds us, “For we know that our old self was crucified with
Him so that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to
sin – because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.” (Romans 6:6-7) And John
sums it up clearly: “No one who live in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin
has either seen Him or known Him . . .we know that anyone born of God does not continue
to sin; the One who was born of God keeps him safe and the evil one cannot harm him.” (1
John 3:6, 5:18)
Those who think of themselves as “sinners” understandably have a hard time thinking
they have lives worth imitating, as do those who are caught up in patterns of sin, or have
let idolatry move Christ from the central focus of their lives. Therefore, our success in
making disciples by living lives worth imitating may depend, at least in part, on our
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willingness to adjust our theology and/or our obedience accordingly. This would be, truly,
an extraordinary shift.
*****
As a fitting, hope-filled conclusion, we have included the Commencement Address
given to the graduates of Simpson College in 2000 by Lillian Poon. I first stumbled upon it
in a Christian and Missionary Alliance denominational magazine. For me, it is one of the
more timely and prophetic words I have read, as she describes the emerging generations
who are the focus of our prayers and our ministry endeavors. The emergence of this
faceless generation, I believe, will be greatly accelerated by our own extraordinary shift!
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A Faceless Generation
Lillian Poon
Today God is raising up a faceless generation, a generation of believers who will
seek only His glory, not their own. They are similar to the 144,000 that John described
in Revelation: “They followed the Lamb wherever He goes” (Rev. 14:4). They are
wired to sense Jesus only, hear His voice only and obey His commands only. They are
single-minded in their following. They do not look to their left nor to their right. They
follow Him so closely, you can only see the face of Jesus on them. Their names fade
into the background. Their color and cultural distinctions are not recognizable.
Their First Love
Their first love is Jesus, the Lamb of God. They do not miss a beat when they
follow Jesus, because they know Him intimately. They are in rhythm with Him,
flowing with His desires, not their own. They linger in His chamber, “love sick” with
the King of Kings. They are totally satisfied in His banqueting house; His banner over
them is love (Song of Solomon 2:4), which nurtures their spirits, souls and bodies.
These faceless ones are not defiled. Maintaining sexual purity is not a chore or a
pious act; it is the natural character of someone who is full of the “best stuff.” They are
so intoxicated with the love of God that no other kinds of love could lure them away
from Him.
The faceless generation has been called to minister unto Jesus. They may be
following the Lamb under different divisions, regiments and battalions, carry out
different assignments and functions, but they are called first and foremost to minister to
the Lord. What will their ministry unto Jesus look like?
First, there is a fierce resolution on their faces. They are focused, determined and
single-minded. Their resolve comes from their deep knowledge of their purpose in
God’s plan. They understand authority and spiritual covering. When the going gets
tough and rough, they do not pack their bags and hit the road. They say, “More, Lord!
Teach me more of Your ways!” They have been set free from the spirit of
independence. They are not battered and bitter. They actively seek to be held
accountable, and nothing will lure them to operate without the umbrella of spiritual
covering and protection.
Second, they are the healed ones. They have been redeemed from humanity. The
blood of the Lamb purchased them from their fallenness. They are free of grumbling,
complaints, envy and jealousy. They are free of self-pity. They believe in His healing
power, going forward with confidence in His promise as stated in His Word. They
identify with the Lamb. They have put self on the cross. These faceless saints are
walking examples of the loving mercy of the Father and the healing power of the Son.
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Fully Satisfied With Christ
Third, the faceless generation reflects Jesus. As they follow the Lamb wherever He
goes, they become less and less, and the glory of Jesus takes over their faces. They do
not take the baits of recognition and acknowledgment. Their hearts do not go sour
when credits are not given to them for the things they do for God’s Kingdom. They
will live free of flattery and walk above self-promotion. The faceless ones have no taste
for perks and extra trimmings; they are consistent wherever they go, because Jesus is
there. They are fully satisfied with His presence.
Fourth, the faceless ones are selfless - not because they lack identity, but because
they are all so sure of who they are and what they are doing. Like Jesus, who “made
himself of no reputation (Phil. 2:7, KJV), those who follow Him also make themselves
of no reputation. Therefore, they are fearless; unstoppable by the world and its
tradition. Only the fear of God and the peace of Jesus rule in their hearts.
As a result, this will be a generation free of discouragement. They do not entertain
the sins of disappointment and worry. They no longer consider these as normal
emotions, for the Lamb has already nailed these emotions to the cross. They follow the
Lamb so closely that at the first glimpse of disappointment and worry, they quickly
pass them on to Him. What a deal!
They possess an attitude of total abandonment toward the Lord. They go for broke
in everything. They are intentionally extravagant for things of God. Extravagant
worship, extravagant obedience, extravagant service. Whatever it is - worshiping,
teaching, preaching, washing dishes, attending a meeting, mowing the lawn, cleaning
the floor, filing piles of documents, during nursery duty or anything else - they do it
with gusto. They do it with honor. They do it with vigorous conviction that Jesus is
pleased with their attitude of giving their all to Him.
Their First Work
Jesus spent three years on earth preaching the gospel, healing the sick and
modeling discipleship for us to follow. Yet He has been spending the last 2,000 years
in the work of intercession, and He is still doing it today.
At this very moment, where is the Lamb? The Lamb is at the right hand of the
Abba Father, interceding for all of us. That is where the faceless ones are also: next to
the Son, who is next to the Father. Intercession is their first work. They follow the last
command of Jesus before He ascended to the Father. As the disciples were to wait in
the Upper Room, pray and intercede until they were baptized and soaked with the
presence of the Holy Spirit, then they received power to preach the good news, heal the
sick and set captives free.
In this first work of intercession, they flow with His anointing, not their own effort.
They ride with Him on the waves of His awesome movements on earth. They ride with
Jesus; the Word and the Spirit are their dual weapons. They soak in the power of His
Holy Spirit, for His presence is power. The constant infilling enables them to live a
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deeper life, empowering them in the ministry of Jesus as they follow Him to preach, to
heal and to bring deliverance.
Looking Up To The Cross
The faceless generation is free of anxieties. As they lay everything at the foot of the
cross, they free themselves from the sins of worry, complaints, fear and unbelief. They
fill their daily activities by receiving forgiving grace and releasing forgiveness to all.
Gone are the migraine headaches and upset stomachs. In this position, they head
toward only one direction: All the way up, to the throne, jumping and leaping, praising
God. What a way to live, and then, one of these days, what a way to go.
They are the ones who point all to Jesus. They take people to the foot of the cross
for confession and repentance instead of giving them the human advice and counsel
they want to hear. They speak simple truth from God’s word with love and
compassion, cutting across the polluted mind and hardened defenses, all the way to the
depth of their souls.
The faceless ones have only one goal - to see that the Lord receives all the glory.
They stay right behind the Lamb, waiting for His command, His prompting, His gentle
nudging. They obey immediately, exalting His name and attributing all to His glory.
Then they step back and let Jesus shine.
The Call
The Almighty God is setting the state before His throne. He is calling forth this
generation, our generation, to be circumcised in your hearts and to cut away our carnal
nature. He is calling us to be holy as He is holy.
Would you, men and women of His Kingdom, join this faceless army, to be the
generation that would usher in the coming of the Lord? Would you, the faceless and
spotless Bride, join in with the Spirit and say, “Even so, Lord Jesus, come!” 13
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About The Authors
Mike Higgs and his wife Terri are founding partners of sondance, a ministry committed
to spiritual formation, family restoration and community transformation. They are hosts of
the Sondance Inn, a private guest and retreat house in Idaho, and are curators of the prayer
mobilization initiative pray4schools.us. Mike is a veteran prayer mobilizer, a prolific
writer, and has extensive experience as an advocate for youth ministry in the prayer
movement as well as an advocate for prayer in the youth ministry movement. Their
daughter Lilly is a recent graduate of the International House of Prayer University in
Kansas City, MO, and their son Levi is a student at Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry
in Redding, CA.
sondancemike@gmail.com
www.pray4schools.us
facebook.com/mike.higgs
Barry St. Clair desires to influence as many as possible in the younger generation to
follow Jesus. As founder and president of Reach Out Youth Solutions, he has been on the
cutting edge of youth ministry for over forty years, equipping youth leaders, parents and
students in over thirty countries. Through his leadership, thousands of churches have
implemented strategies for Jesus-focused youth ministry. He is the author of more than
twenty-five books, including Parent Fuel. He and his wife, Lawanna, have five married
children, eleven grandchildren, and live in Atlanta, Georgia.
barry@reach-out.org
www.reach-out.org
facebook.com/ReachOutYouthSolutions
Twitter: @ReachOut14
David Sliker is a senior leader at the International House of Prayer Missions Base in
Kansas City, Missouri, where he lives with his wife, Tracey, and their four children, Riley,
Lauren, Daniel and Finney. He is the director of the Elijah Revolution, a national
conference and equipping ministry for teenagers. David’s primary ministry calling is as an
intercessor, and he longs to see the Church filled with the love of Christ and prepared for
His return. He is an instructor at the International House of Prayer University, where he
teaches about prayer, intimacy with Jesus, missions, and biblical studies.
Twitter: @davidsliker
www.davidsliker.com
davidsliker@ihopkc.org
David Perkins serves as the USA Director for Every Home For Christ in Colorado
Springs. He spent fourteen years in youth ministry at New Life Church where he founded
the Desperation Conferences that mobilized thousands of students in prayer. He also
founded the Desperation Leadership Academy, a full-time discipleship school, which
serves over one hundred students annually. He continues to spearhead the annual
Desperation Youth Pastor Prayer Summit in Colorado. He’s a passionate advocate of
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making disciples, cultivating prayer in the local church, and global evangelism. David
graduated from Southern Nazarene University with a degree in Religion and a Masters in
Theology from The King’s University. David and his wife, Renata, enjoy raising their four
children in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains.
Twitter, Instagram: @davidperkins27
www.commission.tv
www.desperationonline.com
www.ehc.org
Richard Ross is husband to LaJuana, who has joined him in a lifetime of loving teenagers.
Richard served as youth minister for thirty years and now is a volunteer with teenagers and
parents at Wedgwood Church in Fort Worth. Richard is professor to the next generation of
youth ministers at Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth. Since its inception, Richard has
served as the spokesperson for the international True Love Waits movement. He is author
of over 20 books for youth leaders and parents and he has spoken in over 500 churches and
conferences.
www.RichardARoss.com
facebook.com/rossrichard
Twitter: @richardaross
RRoss@swbts.edu
Paul Fleischmann serves as President Emeritus of the National Network of Youth
Ministries, which he co-founded and led for 30 years. He also served with Student Venture,
the high school ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, for 20 years, working with
students locally and then nationally with youth workers. Paul attended Seattle Pacific
University (B.A.) and Western Seminary (M.Div.) in Portland, Oregon. His 1985 book
Discipling the Young Person won the Gold Medallion award, and his 2014 book Better
Together has become a networking resource for 20 national ministries. In 2013, he
received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Youth Specialties. He and his wife Toni
live in San Diego, California. They have two adult sons and two grandchildren.
paulf@nnym.org
www.youthworkers.net
facebook.com/paul.fleischmann
www.paulfleischmann.net
book ordering: www.nnym.org/BTbook