More Than Pizza Parties and Pudgy-bunny

Photo by Evelyn on Unsplash

Youth ministry stereotypes abound, and like most stereotypes, they depreciate the value of a critically needed ministry. Next Generation discipleship is essential to fulfilling the mission of the church! Such ministry cannot be done either effectively or affectively, in isolation from the rest of the church, and yet it often is expected to do just that. Multi-generational ministry relationships and mentoring need to be more pervasively employed if our churches are going to be healthy and growing in love.

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Eph. 4:15-16)

Every part needs to be working properly, but too often we don’t expect that our youth can and should be providing something essential to the whole body and we silo them into their own activities, services, and missions as though other generations can get on just fine without them. False. Such approaches lead our youth to think that they are not really part of the body, and so once they graduate from the youth group, they are churchless. Though we too often make youth feel as though they're undocumented aliens, they should have as much ownership in our services and mission as any other generation!

If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.

And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. (1 Cor. 12:15-16)

The parts of the body described by Paul’s figure of speech are not merely individuals but include all the sub-groups of the congregation be it generations, ethnicities, and genders not just our skills and talents.

In 1 Corinthians 12, St. Paul further addresses how spiritually gifted diversity in unity can function within a congregation. By extension, we should also consider how the “parts of the body” metaphor applies to NextGen ministry. The two major arguments of Paul in this chapter are that we don’t all have the same gift/role/function and it would look monstrous if we did, like Mike Wazowski from Disney’s Monsters, Inc.

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;

   and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord;

and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God

                                                       who empowers them all

                                      in everyone.

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit

                                               for the common good.” (1 Cor. 12:4-7)

The second argument is that the body is not complete without each part, and each part is not viable without the rest of the body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,”

nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”

On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor… (v.21-23)

Photo by Alexis Brown on Unsplash

It is time that we took these verses to heart and discussed how we need each other and seek to bestow greater honor on others! Such a shared glory paradigm takes the risk of giving subsequent generations full participation in the gathered worship of the church, if not every week, then with regularity. Are our young people included in prayer meetings and on the worship team? Do they get to work alongside teachers from the time they first show interest? But this critique is not all about the young. How well does the church honor our older members and look for ways that they can continue to be valued participants in the mission of the church? Grey is the color of experience, and of dust. May our elder saints be so active in using their experience, in support of the next generations, for the good of all, that they never gather the dust and doubts of disuse.

But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. (v. 24-26)

Youth Ministers face increasingly complicated issues and concerns. Issues that require a depth of understanding, sensitivity, and wisdom that comes from intentional preparation and mentoring. Youth ministers need a biblical and theological depth combined with a relational authenticity that surpasses our stereotypes. So, how are we as the church working to come alongside them and support them? Do we dare to ask them what they need and how we can help? One way to do so is to help your youth workers get further training to stay current and fruitful in the mission for the long term.

We believe that Youth Ministry is inseparable from the mission of the church. If you are a senior pastor, I would challenge you to consider subsidizing the costs for your youth leaders to participate in a learning community!

For those who don't know what "pudgy bunny" or "chubby bunny" is, there is Wikipedia and YouTube, of course.

Who Put Me Here? (A SOAP Journal from 2 Timothy 1)

In addition to regular articles, I will once again be posting highlights of some simple SOAP journals that were produced during a regular gathering of pastors to journal, pray, and encourage one another. These are not exhaustively studied as they are generally the work of 20 minutes of reading, 20 minutes of writing, and 20 minutes of sharing with each other what we have written. These brief devotional journal posts will begin in the Pastoral Epistles (1 & 2 Timothy, Titus). Hopefully, they will be encouraging to the readers of this blog.

We used the simple SOAP acronym as a devotional guide... which stands for:

• Scripture—what verse or short section caught my attention today? 
• Observation—what can I briefly notice that the passage specifically says?
• Application—what will I do differently as a result of having read this today?
• Prayer—what will I ask the Triune God to do for, in, and through me today?

S = 2 Timothy 1:1, 6-7, 8-9, 11 

v.1 “…an apostle by the will of God”

v. 6-7 “Fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

v. 8-9 “Do not be ashamed…but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace.”

v. 11 “…for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher which is why I suffer as I do.”

Photo by Cristian Newman on Unsplash

O = When faced with hardship and suffering for my trust in Christ, and for my work as a pastor/teacher, I need to be reminded of how I got here, why I am here, and what resources I have available to me. Paul knew he was an apostle by God’s will, not by his own choice. It was God who had commissioned him to go forth with a gospel message of reconciliation. Timothy, to who Paul was writing, had been gifted by God for his ministry assignment. When Timothy was tempted to give in to the fear that what we do makes no difference in the kingdom when tempted to become cynical about people and their motives and ability to change when tempted to give in to his laundry list of subtle appetites that make it easy to forget the nature of the Spirit that God has given him/us Paul reminded him to fan the gift into flame (v. 6-7). It is by that Spirit—the Holy Spirit that enables Christians to trust, love, and obey—that Timothy and, by extension, we today, can guard the good deposit that has been entrusted to us by Christ.

A = I will remember that I am here because God put me here. I will remember that I am called because of Christ’s purpose & grace, not because of my own abilities and general awesomeness. I am his and am not my own… my life is to be lived today, this week, and always, for His glory, not my own! I don’t have to appear externally successful to bring glory to God, but rather internally faithful to his voice and responsive to his love. So, I can embrace the suffering for he is with me in it!

P = O Lord, thank you for your plan. Help me to follow boldly in love and purity—empowered by your Spirit today! Lord, if there is a gift that you have given me for the benefit of the church and the common good of the community, please move on my heart this week to create some margin to remember how it felt when it was first given and show me how to fan it into flame! You waste nothing, so may I not waste another day heeding discouragement and criticism more than the indwelling Spirit of God! 

Fan into Flame the Gift

My last post concluded with these verses and the following encouragement,

“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame [ἀναζωπυρέω] the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:6-7) 

Is there something that God has put on your heart to do, but the pressures of daily ministry and the fear of the unknown have kept you from doing it? Perhaps now is the time to revisit it.

I am going to take up that advice and revisit the topic here today...

Pastors and other Christian workers usually begin their ministry with an idealistic enthusiasm for the mission to which they have been called. The preceding verse suggests that this was true of Timothy, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.” (v.5)

Timothy not only had a sincere faith personally, but was part of a heritage of faith. He also had been given “the gift of God” through Paul’s prayer. And yet Paul considered it important to remind him to rekindle or “fan into flame” [anazopureo: to kindle again] that gift. In this post, I want to do the same thing.

It's harder to build a fire
in the rain. But all
 the more necessary.

So why would we need to hear this message again? I think that doing the work of the ministry and participating in ongoing spiritual warfare can tend to dampen the flame with distractions, doubts, and the fog of discouragement. This also happens as men and women get caught up in what I call the “machine” of ministry—dealing primarily with the organization, administration, planning, budgeting, production, and never-ending deadlines that come with western ministry leadership—which can quickly entomb their initial gift, starving it of the spiritual wind it needs to burst into flame.

We live in dark days—days when people need to see authentic lives empowered by the Holy Spirit, seeking to live out their love for Jesus. Such lives bring both light and heat for the good of all. However, the well-cooled machine of church culture is not so friendly to such divergent light and heat. So if we are going to revisit and rekindle the very reason Christ called us into his great mission, then we will need to be intentional about it.

Photo by Erwan Hesry on Unsplash

What is the gift that God has put in you for the Church? What is the purifying coal of service from the very altar of God that has been planted within you, that which, when we let God overcome both our fear and our fatigue, might change the world (Isaiah 6:5-8)? Perhaps it involves one of the five ecclesial gifts—mentioned by St. Paul—that the Lord has given to the church, “apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds (pastors), and teachers.” (Eph. 4:11-13). No church is complete without each and every God-given, Spirit-empowered part working together. Yet are we making the church look like only one of the gifts? Or are we leaving one of the essential gifts out of the local church because it might be culturally unseemly? Dr. Tim Robnett (the former MU faculty mentor for Global Evangelism) thinks so. He contends that we are systemically ignoring the need for gifted evangelists in the local church.

Photo by Madi Robson on Unsplash

Fanning the gift into flame might also involve one or more of the “sign” or “charismatic” gifts (1 Cor. 12), but it is not limited to such a list. These lists are certainly not exhaustive nor constrictive, but empowering for the evangelistic and discipling mission and the edification (building up) of the community of believers. Jesus has a place and a purpose for each of us to fill…without which the church is less than it should be. So, how has the love of Christ transformed us and quickened our spirit to humbly meet some needs, right some wrongs, or declare some truths, as a participation in his restorative mission?

The church grows when “every part is working properly” (Eph. 4:16). This doesn’t mean that we all should do the same things in the same way. Instead, we need to be working as God has designed, called, and empowered us to work; not merely doing what others have taught us to do. Just as the Lord inspired and worked through all the different people who wrote the Scriptures—processing his message through their backgrounds, personalities, passions, and education, so he desires to work through our uniqueness to touch the world. At the same time, this post is not an encouragement for us to do our own thing regardless of what others have done. God’s purposes for our lives, like good theology, are best discerned in community. This is one reason we should seek out someone who can be a Cupbearer in our lives. 

This is also a good reason why churches should invest in the continuing education of their pastors—such as what takes place through a cohort-based MA or DMin program. 

So I ask again, do you know what gift you are being called to develop, evaluate, refine, and give to bless the church? I hope you will not hide it under your bed (Luke 8:16) but, as Jesus instructed the twelve, "Freely you have received; freely give" (Matt. 10:8).

As we collectively fan into flame the gift of God within us, our authentic example becomes a beacon, encouraging others to do the same. Jesus said that if we are filled with the light of Christ’s love, and participate in the redemptive mission of God, no matter what kind of opposition we face, we will find that our light cannot be hidden. 

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