I am always thinking about ministry since that is what I do. Last year, I was faced with a question that stumped me and it has made me debate in my mind over and over again, constantly going from one side to the other. The question concerns my minstry (and any other youth worker's ministry for that matter) and the effectiveness of it.
The question is this, "If Christianity is about denying self (Mark 8:34) how can we ask these teenagers and children to deny the person that they have not even found?" This question causes me to understand why so few of our churched teenagers have remained faithful to Christ. We bring them into the church and nearly force them to "get baptized" (or in denominations other than my own "to accept Jesus into their heart") at an early age by either guilting them into it or just expecting it. The children want to do what is expected of them and their soft hearts are easily broken so that they feel guilty for what they have done. Then, they act and are baptized. However, they have no idea that what Christ expects of them is to deny themselves and follow him. They then become this pseudo Christian who goes on mission trips, goes to camp and service projects and Bible studies, etc. During all this "Christian" stuff they are finding out who they are. The sad thing is that what they have truly become is not even what they think they are. They think that they are an active Christian. What they have become, however, thanks to our jazzed up view of youth ministry, is a Christian parasite. Looking for what they can get out of Christianity. They are always looking for the next big thing to inspire them, the most awesome music, the amazing worship experience and on and on. They will be let down eventually because that is how life is. It is not perfect. When they are let down they have to stop and review their Christianity. And often this means that they say to themselves, "this is not working, I guess I'll try something else that does." Then they leave.
I am not saying that all teenagers leave. Some, when forced to review their Christianity, realize what has happened and thanks to God touching their hearts, they shift gears and go the right way. But many leave.
The reason I bring these dismal thoughts up is because last week at camp I saw that teenagers can be broken into true denial of self. We had 5 baptisms (4 boys and one girl). These kids did not have their parents breathing down their necks. They did have lessons all week focusing on what it means to be baptized into Christ but I don't believe there was as much pressure as there is at some camps. There was not a continual barrage of guilting lessons about how bad they should feel for sinning. There were lessons on the amazing life that is only found in Christ. These kids were not baptized after calls to come forward, or after class, they were baptized after long periods of time for them to think. The middle of the night, rest time, or any other random times when there was not much going on. And I saw their faces. Tears streaming down and broken hearts and attitudes. These were not young children. They were mostly between 15 and 17 years of age (one may have been 14). This gives me hope for my ministry. It helps me to realize that kids can become Chistians by the hand of God on them and that he can bring them into true self-denial. We, however, as adults, preachers, youth ministers, teachers, etc. who work and talk with teenagers, need to take seriously the responsibility that God has called us to and make sure that we do not prematurely dunk kids in the water. Parasites are not what we need in the church. We need members who will deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Christ.
