enroute

I have enjoyed slowly walking through Mark Yaconelli’s book on “Contemplative Youth Ministry.” I would love to say that it was an extremely easy book to read (which isn’t the case) but none-the-less the slow journey through his book has taught me some foundational principles of youth ministry.

Mark covers a variety of different topics that involve not only looking at the student but also looking at ourselves as ministers to these students. It is written from experience not just some theoretical hypothesis that has never been tested out in real life.

Anyways, there was a chapter that I re-read a few times this past week called, “teen angst and adult anxiety.” In this chapter, Mark really works to explore the disconnect between what is happening in the youth world and what happens when we cross the road from childhood to adulthood.

I admit that I found myself wanting to point the finger at the adults all around me who don’t understand students but rather I found myself asking some tough, deep questions.

Here’s the quote that rattled my core –

“The less contact that adults have with young people, the more mysterious they seem. Adults can fall into traps of projection, speculation, worry and fearful imaginings. Congregations and church leaders find themselves relying on media to learn about kids.”

How often do we talk about students and ministering to students out of our ignorance not because we have listened and walked with them?

Here is another other quote that is way to truthful for me to fully admit for myself.

“Adults have no friends, adults have no passions, and adults are stressed out. In a single sentence, this young person was able to articulate the fear that I felt among most young people during my 15 years of youth ministry. More and more it appears to me that this definition represents the nightmare of adulthood most young people are trying to escape.”

Wow – here’s the question to ponder today. What I am modeling to the students who are around me? Am I modeling to them that the journey of being a Christ follower gets better with time or am I modeling that being an adult is not something you want to become? (What am I modeling to my children? I need to show them the thrill of the journey of being a Christ follower.)

- Matt