By: Corby Shields, Youth Minister

In the world of youth ministry there is often an unstated contract between parents and youth leaders (as an aside, helpful synonyms for ‘youth leader’ include but are not limited to youth sponsor, youth volunteer, ungrownup grownup, or teen-ult). This contract goes as follows: ‘I the parent dutifully drop off my kid at all youth events and even offer to bring snacks occasionally to the end that you will produce out of unpleasant child someone with whom I can live.’ Combined with, ‘I the youth leader agree to attend all youth events and work hard to use that 1 ½ hours every week to effect a total transformation in your child. Eventually producing an obedient, respectful young person.’

Tragedy of tragedies when this contract plays itself out. Surprisingly, in all of Scripture there is not one command for a teen-ult to fix up a kid apart from his or her parent. There are, however, plentiful commands for parents to raise their children in the fear of the Lord, in the way in which they should go, to drive folly from their hearts through loving discipline, and to teach them all the stories of how God has rescued his children. There are also commands for the body of Christ to work with each other in building the whole body up toward unity and maturity, including older members discipling younger members of that body.

So what is the place of youth ministry in the body of believers? It is much too simplistic to say that ‘there was no youth ministry in the early church, so we shouldn’t have one now.’ To be consistent with this kind of statement a church would have to continue to use almost only agrarian illustrations and deal solely with Ancient Greek and Hebrew modes of questioning the claims of Christ. This is clearly not the case in many of our churches today. In fact, any good pastor preaching from any text will use various analogies, illustrations, metaphors, and applications suited to the diverse congregants under his care. Just as a well-placed illustration can acutely affect the heart of its hearer, youth ministry when done well seeks to bring the truth of Christ to teenagers in their language and into their lives.

Youth ministry is always part of a healthy church, and as such must include the parents of the students as well as other members of the body. This partnership is a major part of what will transform youth ministry as the severed appendage of the church into an integral part of the body. Parents have insight into their kids from over a decade of living with and loving them. Youth volunteers (unadult adults) have extremely limited time compared to that vast quantity. We need each other in order to raise a child in the way he or she should go, to confront folly and instill wisdom, and to invite students to a life of true faith and love for the Living God as revealed in Jesus Christ.