Too many times local church youth leaders become trapped into thinking that they must personally impact every young person in their youth ministry influence. In doing so, the youth leader limits the amount of people that can be touched to only the amount that they can personally touch. Even more sadly, our youth are robbed of their opportunities to serve, lead, and grow. The lack of significant involvement and investment in ministry leadership by the youth themselves is a primary reason why so many young people leave the church soon after graduating high school. They just never are given the opportunity to own it for themselves. What does your youth ministry look like? Do your students have a stake in it? Have they been given the opportunity to take ownership?
For far too many years we have trained our youth to think that they are good Christians if they go to church on Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night to listen to an adult teach them the Bible while they take notes. Unfortunately, this teaches good attendance and listening skills rather than good leadership and ministry skills.
Simply said, youth ministry is not for us as adult leaders- it is for the youth. It is about releasing the awesome potential in students who are gifted, talented, and called by God to lead their generation for the cause of Christ. For 21 years now, First Priority has challenged youth ministries to become more student led. Of course the law requires that all of our First Priority campus clubs be student led. I have had many young adults come to me years after they finished high school and remark that the first time they had ever publicly prayed, played their instrument, sang, made an announcement, taught a Bible lesson, or gave their testimony was in middle school or high school at a First Priority club meeting.
Our job as youth leaders is to give away the ownership of the ministry which God has entrusted to us. In the days to come, let’s change the way we think. Instead of having youth ministry, let’s have youth ministering. The closer we come to that paradigm, the closer we will be to having a lasting spiritual impact on this generation.
Greg Davis
President
First Priority Greater Birmingham