Thursday, March 12, 2009

Christless Youth Ministry


At my church we recently hosted the Youth Specialties (YS) "One Day" conference. Although the conference itself and the speaker had helpful and important things to say (this year's focus was getting students in the Bible which is always a good thing), I found some elements of YS' message somewhat skewed and even dangerous from a Christian perspective. Before I dive into this, I must admit that I already had some misgivings about the product that YS often puts out. This conference just confirmed those misgivings.

What I believe to be skewed about the YS message is most poignant in their books and curriculum. Check out a couple titles and see if you see a common theme emerge: Be the Change, Soul School, Nehemiah: Discovering what leadership means for students today, Choose, etc… What's missing from these titles? This:
1 Corinthians 15:3-4
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…
In short, much of what passes for youth ministry in this country is Christless and devoid of the gospel message. Now you might say, "well we do mention Jesus in the curriculum," but I say how do you mention him, as a gift for salvation or an example to be followed? Now, I'm not saying that the things they are trying to teach youth are bad, rather I'm saying that they are replacing and/or being confused with the gospel message itself (1 Corinthians 15:3-4 being a summation of that message). In his prophetic book, Christless Christianity, Michael Horton writes, "When even good, holy, and proper things become confused with the gospel, it is only a matter of time before we end up with Christless Christianity" (109). Don't believe me… Talk to any youth and ask them what the Christian message is all about and you'll receive this answer which takes a variety of forms, "being a good person…" That is not Christianity! Sure it might be a part of the natural fruit of the message, but that is not what Christianity is all about. As Luther himself said, "If Charity (i.e. being a good person) be the form and perfection of faith… then I am constrained to say that charity is the principal part of the Christian religion and so I lose Christ, his blood, and all his benefits, and rest in moral doing" (158). I firmly believe that in youth ministry's constant insistence on behavior modification we lose Christ and in losing the object of our faith we lose faith itself.
For example, from 2001-2005 a Notre Dame sociologist Christian Smith led a team in a study of teen spirituality in America. He concluded that the dominate form of religion for teens today is, "Moralistic, Therapeutic Deism" (Horton 40). In other words, it's moralistic because it's focused only on behavior; therapeutic because it depends on how I feel about myself; and deistic because God is watching our behavior from a distance. Thus, it is no wonder that teens are losing their faith in college because what they've been taught in the church is not the distinctive elements of the Gospel (God's one-way-love towards sinners), but rather a moral code and if Christianity is just a moral code than it is a moral code amongst many not "the Way, the Truth, and the Life."
Where do teens get this message? Youth Pastors (Obviously, there are other sources too). From the example we see that in giving teens behavior modification (practical atheism) rather than the gospel message we gradually "de-evangelize" them because when we replace Christ with moral doing we lose the object of our faith and faith itself. It's as Horton states, "Start with Christ (that is, the gospel) and you get sanctification in the bargain; begin with Christ and move on to something else, and you lose both" (62).
So what's the remedy? We need to get away from the moralistic, therapeutic, deism that so dominates nearly everything that is found in youth ministry products and give students the gospel message. As sinful creatures we will always want to return to a moralistic religion of self-help and because of this we need to be taught out of it. We need to be explicitly re-evangelized every day (Horton 42). In his book, Who Will Deliver Us?, Paul Zahl describes it this way, "It is carrying the good news to the unevangelized territories of our personal and social being" (76). In other words, we as youth ministers can't assume that we can leave the gospel behind because the students have heard and even accepted it. The gospel needs to be revisited again and again and again. I pray that YS begins to see this. Even the new Emergent stuff falls into the same trap. It's still what I can do, not what God has done for me.
I leave you today with the words of the apostle Paul and Martin Luther:
1 Corinthians 2:2
2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
We must set nothing else before our eyes, but Jesus Christ dying for our sins, and rising again for our righteousness: and him must we apprehend by faith, as a gift, not as an example. (Luther 141)
May this be the center of not only your ministry, but your life…

6 comments:

JDK said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
JDK said...

dude. . that's a little pitchy (JK). . seriously, AMAZING!. .

Liz Edrington said...

Right on, Shawn! We believe in a living God who is at work in the world- and youth ministry should reflect that reality! Why are youth pastors pointing kids to moralism and empty, powerless obligation instead of loving them? Or even using relationship as a means to an end (ie gaining influence in a kids' life in order to press Christianity upon them). Andrew Root has an amazing book looking into these things: Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry- From a Strategy of Influence to a Theology of Incarnation. A new favorite of mine (wish I'd discovered it sooner!).

Shawn said...

thanks guys... liz, i will def. check out that book...

Jay Miklovic said...

the more i read from you the more i like you. we should go out with our families together sometime

Shawn said...

most def jay!