Church Leadership

The Kingdom Misunderstood, Part 1

August 15, 2011 by Charles

Editor’s Note: This is the first of a two part article dealing with the misperceptions many Christians have of the kingdom of God. What is ther ole of believers in the kingdom, how are they to impact the broader kingdom? Are there really two kingdoms?

Introduction

I begin by introducing you to Bill and Mary Wright. Bill is a 34 year old husband and father of two children, Terry 10 and Susan 7. Mary is a stay at home mom and has home schooled her children for a couple years, though they are presently attending a Christian school that meets in their church. Bill and Mary are active church members and clearly demonstrate a love for the Lord that is obvious to others.

Bill is a member of a successful law firm. He teaches a young adult Sunday school class in his church and is very active in civic events. He is on the church’s board of officers. You might call the Wright’s the quintessential Christian family.

Bill majored in political science in college and later entered law school. Presently, he is an active member of the bar. For several years Bill has had a desire to become more involved in politics. His friends have suggested that on a number of occasions, so has his wife Mary. He represents the more conservative line of political thinking and is certainly an advocate for rule of law in our country.

Read entire Equip 3rd Quarter, 2011 (Acrobat Reader required).

But as Bill thinks about this, he wrestles with a dilemma. He is a Christian and believes in church and state separation; therefore he wonders how he can be a good Christian and involved in politics at the same time. He has been taught by the system to think of religion as belonging to the private area of his life, including family and church, but politics is more for the public arena. He does not want to compromise his Christian faith by involving himself in an area that would require him to keep his religious beliefs, his Christian faith, to himself.

Bill’s situation reminds me of another occasion when I was teaching a seminar to leaders from several churches. The topic for the day was making kingdom disciples. I spent some time developing the point that there is actually more involved in making disciples than is often reflected and practiced by many today. I was explaining how being a Christian involved more than merely having a personal relationship with the Lord, than reading the Bible, praying, and witnessing. My point was that Christianity is a way of life, a total way of life, which many Christians fail to understand, especially today.

Christianity is a way of life, a total way of life

In trying to be as clear as possible, I said there is a sense in which you are no more spiritual when teaching a teenage Sunday school class on John 3:16, than you are teaching an eleventh grade mathematics class. The Bible teaches God’s special truth in what we would call the spiritual realm and the mathematics class teaches God’s truth in that broader realm. I continued–the only way you can know what John 3:16 means is for God to teach it to you and the only way that you can know that 2 plus 2 is 4 is because God is the author of all truth. Both are true because they come from God, as the God of all truth. Jesus commanded us to “make disciples” and we do that according to him, by teaching to observe all things whatsoever he has commanded, and by necessary inference, he has taught us. (Matthew 28:19 & 20).

If we see God’s truth wholistically, we are to be spiritual in everything that we do, 24/7 both in an out of the church. I am aware in saying this, many Christians do not understand this discipleship process. Their paradigm has been based on a wrong view of the church and kingdom, as well as discipleship itself. We will show this later, but for now, some see the church and kingdom as two separate entities while others see them as one and the same. While we believe neither of those are representative of the Bible’s teaching on the church of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God, it is so important to understand what the two are and how they are related, especially as they impact our worship and service of God.

On another occasion I was speaking at an annual convention of Christian school leaders. On the program was a young man who had also been influenced by the teachings of Francis Schaeffer. At that time he was serving in a staff position in Washington, D. C. He said in his address, that we would be pleased and amazed at how many of our members of Congress attend regular Bible studies. (This was several years ago). But then he said, you would be disappointed to see some of those same people move into the legislative hall and fail to incorporate those biblical truths into the issues with which they were dealing.

There is a false scenario that has penetrated our western world, including many of our churches, and it has caused people to see life from a dualistic, even fragmented perspective, thus creating Bill’s dilemma and keeping that 11th grade math teacher from seeing himself as a disciple maker in teaching math.

My purpose in this series of articles is to understand and evaluate the fallacy of Bill and Mary’s thinking about politics, and their misunderstanding of the church and Christianity, the false dichotomy reflected in the math class, and the failure of those politicians in Washington to know how to apply biblical truth to their civil responsibilities.

I want us to consider how the above examples have grown out of a wrong paradigm regarding education, especially Christian education and disciple-making but especially a wrong paradigm of the church and the kingdom of God (“The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all” Psalm 103:19; “Your Kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations.” Psalm 145:13).

Jack Scott, January 2, 1928 – June 13, 2011

June 14, 2011 by Charles

Jack Brown Scott, former CEP Staff Writer and Teacher, January 2, 1928-June 13, 2011

While attending the 39^th General Assembly of the PCA last week in Virginia Beach, I received word along with a request for prayer from John Thomas Scott that his dad Jack was near death. We requested prayer from the General Assembly and Jack Scott revived a bit; however, Monday afternoon 12:45 pm, Jack was called home to be with the Lord.

I need not remind those who knew him, Jack Scott was an amazing man of God. I have had the privilege of knowing him for many years and then the special privilege and honor of having him on our CEP staff of over seven years. When I began serving the PCA as the Coordinator of CEP, Jack Scott was on that committee. At that time he was professor of Old Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. (Jack was one of the founding professors of RTS). We had been together on several previous occasions, Bible conferences, various committee meetings, etc.

Part of my desire from the beginning was to develop an adult Bible study series that would help people in the church to better know the English Bible from a Reformed perspective. As I shared my vision at that first CEP Committee meeting in January of 1977, Dr. Scott expressed his appreciation. My response was “Jack, I really need someone to help me actualize that. Would you consider being that man?” To my surprise his response gave me encouragement.

After a period of prayer over the next couple of weeks, we continued to talk and early 1977 Jack left RTS and joined our CEP staff. He shared both the concern and vision for such a curriculum. He and his precious wife Eleanor Caslick Scott joined us.

At that point he began writing a 26 volume curriculum for studying the English Bible, including two outstanding surveys of the Old and New Testament. Over the next six years Jack wrote that curriculum with great diligence. Of course when I say English Bible, he was a brilliant linguist, having mastered the Hebrew language for which he soon received his PhD. Among his many writings, I would have to call the Adult Biblical Education Series (ABES) his magnum opus. The first volume appeared in late 1977 and since that time we have continued to print and reprint those studies. (I had the privilege and responsibility of writing the early leader’s guides which required reading each one. What a spiritual education and blessing!).

Jack Scott was an exemplary husband and father, a faithful brother in Christ, an outstanding Bible scholar, and a servant leader with an obvious pastor’s heart. Jack loved his family, his friends, as well as his Lord, and that was reflected in every aspect of Jack’s life.

His love and care for Eleanor, his children, Edward, Caroline, John Thomas, and Ann modeled a real covenant family for all of us.

Having begun as a missionary in Korea where he met and married Eleanor, to pastoring churches in Kentucky and Mississippi, to the faculty of RTS, and then CEP. Jack demonstrated his commitment to Christian education as the fulfillment of God’s great commission.

His love and counsel sustained me through many hard and frustrating times in our ministry together. Jack modeled a consistency in his Christian life that has been a challenge to us all. Kennedy Smartt, a former classmate of Jack’s at Davidson College, prior to serving together later in the PCA, said to me this morning, “my fondest memory of Jack is teaching himself Hebrew while in college.”

We continue to reprint many of his writings, especially the ABES series which PCA churches have been using now for over 25 years. Though Jack did not like for me to say it, I had to because it was true, namely, “when you read Jack Scott’s material, you have read the best of biblical scholarship.” It was my privilege to write a chapter in a book honoring Dr. Jack B. Scott three years ago, Interpreting and Teaching the Word of Hope, Essays in Honor of Jack Brown Scott on His Seventy-Seventh Birthday.”

Jack was a gifted man of God and his life has blessed us in so many ways.

We join with Eleanor, and the family in remembering Jack Scott and we do so with the confidence of the Apostle Paul’s words, “…To depart and be with Christ, for that is far better,” Phil. 1:23 “And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: “Blessed are the dead, who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Sprit, “That they may rest from their labors, for this deeds follow him,” Rev. 14:13.

Charles Dunahoo, CEP Coordinator.

Presenting Christ to Children

May 20, 2011 by Bob

Editor’s Note: The following article was written by Bob Edmiston who has served CEP as Coordinator of Training and is presently a consultant. A major part of CEP’s ministry is oriented to the “rising generations.” With that word, we commend the following article to you.

MINISTRY TO CHILDREN

Making disciples and assisting parents to disciple their children is the long term task of the church’s ministry. Discipleship is more than eliciting a profession of faith and teaching Bible stories; it is helping children understand what it means to love God, and to love others with the prayer that God will make Himself known to them and bring them to Himself. Also, it is attempting to model, by word and deed, that Christianity is a way of life built on the Word of God and a personal relationship with Christ.

PRESENTING CHRIST TO CHILDREN

Theological Considerations

When we present our children publicly to the church, we do so on the basis of God’s covenant promise-to be our God and the God of our children. But we also acknowledge our children’s need of the cleansing blood of Christ and the renewal of the Holy Spirit.

Parents and the church agree they will be actively involved in teaching and modeling the Gospel of the Kingdom before them. This reminds us of two things:

1. Our children are covenant children of God and 2. The need to be taught and urged to see their need to believe in Jesus and repent of their sins, in order for our beliefs to become their beliefs, growing out of our faith and trust in God. Our hope is they will follow in the faith which they own for themselves.

Along with those covenant promises upon which kingdom discipleship operates:

The Bible indicates that we are sinners for at least two reasons:

1. We sin. Though the word “sin” is seldom used outside the church, and our society finds it increasingly difficult to objectively identify certain behavior as wrong, the concept permeates the Bible. Today the issue is “what is right for you?” But there is a standard of right and wrong. It is defined and described in the Scriptures. The human race, individually and collectively, has not measured up. The good news is God has dealt with our failure. It is not necessary to hopelessly travel the road leading to destruction.

2. We come into this world with the need for a new nature. In Romans 5, Paul indicates sin entered the world through one man – Adam (v. 12). Death reigned because of his disobedience (v. 17). As a result of that one trespass our entire race is condemned (v. 18).

While original sin is part of Christian theology, this doctrine has been at odds with contemporary understandings of human nature for some time. The idea that children are born with an innate goodness or innocence persists.

How does God look at a child? Christians have responded in several ways:

1. Some suggest that God will withhold judgment until an “age of accountability” – that is, the point at which a person knows the difference between right and wrong. The difficulty is that this view has no biblical support.

2. Others believe that baptism washes away the stain of “original sin.” That posits a view of baptism which has been, and continues to be, held by large constituencies in the church.

For theo Roman Catholoc view of baptism, timing was a consideration and baptism was to be done as quickly as possible for the protection of the child.

The PCA’s Book of Church Order (BOCO)says, “Baptism is not to be unnecessarily delayed.” It does not support the idea that baptism cleanses from original sin. Rather it is a sign that the child is part of the Christian family.

3. A third group goes back to the covenant God has made with his people. This is the PCA’s position.

The words of Paul are comforting to Christians. If a believer is married to an unbeliever, the unbeliever is sanctified by the believer (1 Cor. 7:14). Strong language; yet the covering given by the believer is short of salvation. To become part of God’s family the unbeliever must turn in faith to Jesus. Paul continues, “Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is they are holy” (v. 14). This is particularly hopeful to those who have lost young children.

The children who are part of the Christian family are:

1. Those who have at least one believing parent. They are “non-communicant” members of the church. They are members on the basis of the promise of God, and parents who claim that promise by faith.

Some have suggested the regeneration of such children is a given. Consequently, they are assumed to be believers and are seldom, if ever, challenged to believe in Jesus. Congregations, even entire denominations, have suffered as a result. The most acute pain, however, has been felt by those parents whose children grew into adulthood without ever making a commitment to Christ.

Even when children are faithfully challenged to follow, there are those who refuse to believe. Some within the church say, or imply, that if parents and others do certain things there is a virtual guarantee that children will turn out “right.” But the Bible does not support that. The classic example: “Jacob I loved; Esau I hated” (Mal.1:2, 3; Rom.9: 11-13).

God has given the church promises. It is much more likely that a child of believing parents will follow Christ. But it is also clear that many of our covenant children have forsaken their heritage. The promise is not void; in fact many children will come back. Still, it is sobering to consider how many we are losing.

In baptism, children of believing parents formally become part of the church. When adults transfer membership, their baptized children are listed with them as “non-communicant” members (BOCO 12:5). However, those children must be continually challenged to claim the faith of their parents as their own, as expressed in the baptismal vows.

2. Those who have believed. Children are able to believe with whatever capabilities they have at any given age. Consequently, age characteristics should be considered when children are challenged to believe, not whether they should be challenged.

Some children express faith as preschoolers; however, it is imperative that their parents and the church continue to press the claims of Christ as they mature.

Believing children, whose parents have not come to faith, are also part of the church, even though there is no formal way to recognize that until such time as they are able to make a credible profession of faith. Most every church has children like this who are in Sunday school, Pioneer Clubs or VBS. They have responded in an age-appropriate way to the claims of Christ.

They are vivid illustrations of the way God constantly stretches the boundaries of his church. His grace is experienced not just in Christian homes but in the families of many who do not know him.

A high priority for the church should be incorporating such unbelieving parents into the Christian family.

Coming to faith in Christ can be:

1. A gradual experience. Faith is a process. The prevailing notion is that faith is an event. Many who point to an event however, do so because they are culturally conditioned, but in reality their faith grew over time and the event may or may not have had the significance they have attached to it. Some children seem to respond to Christ naturally from their earliest years. Such was the case with Samuel (I Samuel 1 & 2 especially, 1:23 – 28; 2:11). There are instances where regeneration occurred in the womb: John the Baptist (Luke l:15) and Jeremiah (Jeremiah l:5). Children raised in Christian homes hopefully will experience the nurture of parents and give evidence of saving faith.

2. An event – often a dramatic event. Many have professed faith in this way. But if the norm is the formulas present-day evangelicals use, there were centuries in the history of the church where almost no one came to faith.

The “sinner’s prayer” is often offered as the way to come to faith and has been the means by which large numbers of people have expressed belief in Christ. At the same time it can be an obstacle:

A. There are many who have prayed the prayer and believed that they have fulfilled all that is required to be “saved.” Sometimes it is necessary to explain why a person is not a Christian before it is possible to talk about how to come to faith. Large numbers of people have been lulled into a false sense of security, believing that they are right with God when, in fact, they are not. Children are particularly vulnerable to this distortion. They tend to be easily manipulated. It is possible to get them to raise their hands and repeat prayers asking Jesus to forgive them when they have no concept of what faith entails.

B. There are those who have prayed the prayer but nothing seemed to happen. There were no dramatic changes. The struggles remained. Consequently, doubts not only appeared, but were overwhelming. Some people have prayed the prayer again and again, each time hoping for light to dawn, feelings to change, and destructive behavior to suddenly become a thing of the past. After awhile they may wonder if it is possible for them to attain salvation.

Faith is not works, yet faith grows as it is expressed in the disciplines of faith. Through those disciplines commitment to Jesus is internalized.

Continue to Page 2

How We Teach and How They Learn, Part 9 – Learning Styles, Culture, and Denominations

May 20, 2011 by Dennis

We have looked at all four learning styles. Did you find where you fit? Even more, have you learned to appreciate that not everyone learns in the same way you learn? This time I want to go a step further and explain how learning styles fit in different cultural settings, and next time how it even affects different denominations.

In every culture, all four learning styles exist. However, not all cultures fit the same learning style(s). Let me explain. We live in a Western culture. The characteristics of Western thinking are that we like things to be done in a logical, sequential, and time-honoring way. When we teach something like Church History, we make sure we start from the very beginning and work straight through to today.

Well, not every culture works like this. Two-thirds of the world fits what is called a non-Western culture. Time is not measured the way we measure it in importance. In a non-Western setting, time is not as important as the event is. Let me give an example.

A colleague of mine in South Africa asked if he could teach Church History. He was educated in Western schools, colleges, and also two seminaries. But he was from a very non-Western culture, and his learning style was imaginative, stretching over into the dynamic. After teaching for a couple of weeks the students started coming to me complaining about the class. They could not figure out what he was doing. The first week he started with Martin Luther, then went back to Augustine, then to Constantine. As the students talked I began to realize what the prof was doing. I asked the students if they enjoyed the lessons on Luther, etc. They loved what he had to say, but they could not put together what he was doing. Nor were they happy that Church History was all over the place.

These students previously had my course on Teaching and Learning, so I went over with them what we studied regarding learning styles and their effects on culture. It was the events of history that were important to this prof more than where they fit in history. He was a global learner, more interested in people and events than in details like who came first. Once the students put all this together, they were able to go back to class, and together we worked with this prof to help him understand what was going to help these students the most.

Another way to understand this cultural divide is to see how it affects our observance regarding time. Westerners keep time, while non-Westerners make time. Which one is right? If you say one or the other you would be wrong. It is not a right/wrong issue. Both have their place, and both need to learn to play well with each other.

If you can grasp this difference, then there is one more thing that will help in your Bible study. The culture of the Bible is not Western! When you read the Gospels do you ever wonder why the events of Jesus’ life are not written chronologically? The Gospel writers were not Western. What was important to them was each event of Jesus’ life more than the sequence. Therefore, learn from what God has given us, and don’t try to read more into it than is there.

If you have questions about this, or anything regarding learning styles or Christian education, we are here to help. Feel free to email me, and I will do what I can. dbennett@pcanet.org

Targeting Comprehensive Christian Education

March 1, 2011 by Dennis

It never ceases to amaze me that anywhere in the world you say “Christian Education” people automatically think Sunday school. Is this the only Christian education the church does? If it is, then we are in big trouble. Let me explain.

In teaching the Christian Education (CE) courses in South Africa for eight years, the student’s first exercise was to list every church activity, i.e., worship, soup kitchens, Bible study, missions, etc. The challenge was for them to tell me which one was not CE! As you read further, that is my challenge to you, because the way you understand the educational ministry of your church will determine its spiritual depth. You disagree? Then my challenge is to prove my point.

Let’s start with missions. My contention is that missions is a sub-set of CE! What do missionaries do? They share the Gospel. To share the Gospel means to teach the meaning of the Gospel – this is CE! When there is a group of converts a church is started and training leaders is a number one priority. Training is CE! How about worship? Worship is leading people in worship to understand the importance of what they are doing. It is not only the sermon (which in itself is CE), but it is instructing the people to understand what they are singing and why. A well planned worship service is led by one who understands what it means to keep the people focused and aware of what they are doing. This too is CE!

View and download the complete Equip to Disciple Issue 1, 2011 (Acrobat Reader required).

Think about every ministry in your Church. Is there one thing that isn’t in actuality Christian education in some way?

So what is the point? In any good education program there must be good planning and coordination. This is where it appears that many churches fall short in seeing the big picture of what is really taking place.

If you had asked your child’s teacher what she was going to cover that year, how would you react if told she will figure that out as they go along? Imagine 12 years of this? Would anyone ever get an education? Then why do we think that we can do this in the church? This leads to a further challenge.

I will use several examples:

Youth: What are they being taught? Why? What is the plan? What should they know, be, and do after 4 years? Or is your group like most, simply teaching one topic this week and another the next; somehow hoping they will eventually develop a healthy Christian worldview by themselves. Is this what you want for your young people who will be going on to university where they will be confronted with philosophies that are not only not Christian, but in many cases anti-Christian? Have you really prepared them? This is like that teacher with no plan.

Bible studies: What is being studied? Why this study? What are you trying to accomplish in this group and study? At the end of this study what will they know, be, and do? Think about this – if you have no objectives then your objective is to accomplish nothing. But you say, “Our objective is to study the book of Romans.” Great! But what does that mean? If you ask the group at the end what they have learned about Romans you might be shocked that little was learned or remembered. Worse yet, little has happened to change anyone’s life. The goal for CE (discipleship) must be transformed lives! If our only goal is to cover a book, or to know a doctrine, then true discipleship has not taken place. Discipleship is moving people ever closer (by the work of the Holy Spirit) to being like Jesus (Rom. 8.29). So I ask you again, in your teaching, what are your goals for your group becoming more like Jesus? Will they see Jesus in every verse? Will they grow in their relationship with Jesus as a result of interacting with Romans?

Another area focuses on – preaching. Are your sermons planned for the next year? Why not? What are you trying to accomplish? What really “scares” me about wellmeaning preachers is when they say they believe they are discipling their people through their sermons. That is scary because you have already told me that you do not have a plan for what you hope your sermons will accomplish. How does your sermon connect with other teaching going on in the church? You have one ‘goal’ for this sermon and another for the next. If your people don’t know your objective, how can you expect them to figure it out when you haven’t? This is not discipleship; this is a hit-and-miss approach to giving disconnected information, with no thread to help the people tie it all together! This again is like the teacher you would not allow to teach your children.

Continued…

The Challenge of Discipling Youth in This Age of Indifference

November 22, 2010 by Danny

American young people are, theoretically, fine with religious faith-but it does not concern them very much, and it is not durable enough to survive on after they graduate high school. One more thing: we’re responsible.

So begins Kenda Casey Dean’s book Almost Christian: What The Faith of Our Teenagers Is Telling The American Church (see the book review in this edition of Equip to Disciple). As one of the original researchers for the National Study of Youth and Religion and Associate Professor of Youth, Church and Culture at Princeton Seminary, Dean has been forced to come to the same conclusion that so many other researchers have come to: young people in our churches are not being discipled in a way that leads to active faith as adults. Here is another observation from Almost Christian: “Since the religious and spiritual choices of American teenagers echo with astonishing clarity, the religious and spiritual choices of the adults who love them, lackadaisical faith is not young people’s issues, but ours.” Let me add just one more pointed conclusion that comes from the National Study of Youth and Religion: teenagers mirror their parents’ religious faith…by and large parents get “what they are” religiously.

Download and read this entire issue of Equip to Disciple (Acrobat Reader Required).

Now those of us who hold to a covenantal theological framework for understanding God’s relationship with humanity are quite fond of pointing out the blessings for our children that come from God’s covenant promises to his people. Parents love that the promises and blessings extend from generation to generation. However, we tend to get a little squeamish when the topic of covenant “curses” comes up in relation to our faithfulness. After all to suggest that one’s lack of faithfulness might have generational implications is a pill that does not go down smoothly for many folks. So, in light of Dean’s findings, I would like to suggest another category for us to think about that lies somewhere between blessings and curses. I call this third category “generational consequences.”

men To use a biblical phrase from Galatians 6, the church is quite possibly now reaping what we have sown. On occasion, I will hear people say something along the lines of “this current generation of young people is more biblically illiterate than at any point in church history.” Let’s lay aside for a moment the difficulty of quantifying such a statement and for the sake of this article take it at face value. If the myriad of researchers who have concluded that young people imitate the religious faith and actions of adults who love them are right and if this current generation of young people is indeed biblically illiterate, then it does not take much of an intellectual leap to conclude that the generational consequence of adult actions in regards to knowing and applying scripture is being seen in our young people. I suppose this is actually a simple mathematical equation: A (adult religious actions) + B (youth emulate adult religious actions) = C (generational consequence: biblically illiterate youth who are abandoning the church).

Thirty six years ago, Francis Schaeffer saw his generation moving from absolute truth, sound doctrinal positions, and biblical knowledge. With regularity he began exhorting the church to wake up to the potential outcomes of the slippery slope Christians were sliding down head first. One such occasion was The International Congress on World Evangelism in 1974 where Dr. Schaeffer presented a paper entitled Two Contents, Two Realities. This paper is now paired with his 25 Basic Bible Studies and published as a small book by Crossway. In Two Contents, Two Realities he warns “…if we have a latitudinarianism in religious cooperation, the next generation will have a latitudinarianism in doctrine, and specifically a weakness toward the Bible…We must have the courage to take a clear position.” Earlier in the paper, Schaeffer says that having strong doctrinal content is not enough by stating that “we must exhibit to our own children and to the watching world that we take truth seriously. It will not do in a relativistic age to say that we believe in the truth and fail to practice that truth in places where it may be observed…” It is disquieting that nearly four decades later many of the concerns of Dr. Schaeffer are coming to fruition. However, it would be egregious if the Church-the adults tasked with loving and raising the next generation-did not jump, holding tightly onto the next generation, from the sinking sand of biblical infidelity onto the solid foundation that is our only rule of faith and obedience; God’s Word.

The intention here is not to try to free young people from culpability for their apathy toward God’s Word by placing it totally on adults. Likewise, the intention is not to suggest that this generation of young people is hopeless. Instead, this should serve as a call to confession for being more akin to the “forefathers” spoken of in Psalm 78:8 who were a “stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not loyal to him” more so than we are to King David in Psalm 71:17 who desired, even in old age, to proclaim the power of God to the next generation. It should also be a call for intercessors to plead with God on behalf of our youth that they are freed from the generational consequences of their forbearers’ actions. Finally, this is a rallying cry for adult disciplers to step forward to begin building this generation as “the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob (Psalm 24:6).” In my travels as Christian Education andPublications Youth and Family Ministries Consultant, the constant refrain that I hear from youth pastors, directors, and leaders across our denomination is “we need more adult leaders.” That statement is most commonly followed by this question: “why is it so hard to get adults to help with youth ministry?” While the answer to that question may be complicated, the generational consequence is straightforward…without adults to teach the scriptures and demonstrate faithful living to our youth, biblical illiteracy and church abandonment as young adults should come as no surprise to anyone.

I asked a group of adults recently who work with youth whether Bible teaching was the primary purpose of their church’s youth program or if the teaching was a part of the whole. In other words, do the programmatic aspects of youth ministry (games, singing, refreshments, etc…) exist to enhance the Bible teaching or is Bible teaching just one of many parts of the program? The length of debate following my question and the nature of the comments verified for me one of the secret fears that many of us who work with youth harbor: If Bible study is too deep, too frequent, or too long then youth won’t come. One of my concerns as it relates to this fear is that we not dumb down the scriptures in an attempt to make it more palatable, easily digestible, or relevant. If you work with youth in your church then you understand the tension here: if no youth come then there is no one to hear God’s word being taught but if they come and are bored then they won’t come back and then there will be no one to hear God’s word next week so I need to make sure to make Bible study short, funny, relevant and non-offensive. This is a classic youth ministry conundrum.

Whatever Perhaps the best solution that I can give to this conundrum is anecdotal evidence from two youth groups. The first is from Safe Harbor Presbyterian in Stevensville, MD. When the youth director, Christian Graham, decided to make significant changes in the youth ministry moving from a more traditional youth program to one that revolved around a deeper Bible study in order to better foster Christian community, he did so with some trepidation. Not that he was going to stop the occasional games and other relational activities but Christian wanted to elevate the Bible study within the program. The first week a grand total of 2 students showed up. That would be fine if there were only 4 students in the youth group but this was a decrease of over 30 students. Perhaps teaching Romans verse by verse to teenagers was not the best idea for growing a youth group. However, within a month the group had grown again to over thirty students who each week eat homemade waffles and then feed on God’s word together. The second is about the youth group at Carriage Lane Presbyterian Church in Peachtree City, GA. Assistant Pastor of Youth, Brian Cosby, began feeling like his students were hindered in their study of the New Testament by not knowing Greek. So, he did what all the latest youth ministry books say to do for growing your youth group; he offered to teach a Greek class. Expecting 2 or 3 of his more academically minded youth to show up, Brian was shocked when fifty youth showed up to learn biblical Greek in order to be able to study scripture more fully. As with all anecdotal evidence, there are always instances that prove the opposite to be true as well. So, I cannot suggest that youth will show up in droves at your church if you start teaching God’s word in deeper ways. Yet, I am convinced that as adults who are charged with discipling our young people, we must begin teaching in a deeper, more satisfying manner and then demonstrating with our lives the transformational power of the Word.

I confess, I have utopian like intentions for this article. In the part of my brain that I reserve for imagining the big things that God is doing among the next generation, I am right now imagining that if you are an adult who is not currently involved with young people in your church that the Holy Spirit is starting to tickle your imagination about becoming a discipler of young people or becoming an intercessor in prayer on their behalf. I am also dreaming if you are already discipling youth that you are beginning to think about deeper, more satisfying ways to teach God’s Word. I do not want to be just a doom and gloom prognosticator because I am praying first and foremost that this current generation of youth will become known as the “revival” generation but I fear the generational consequences to the youth of 2040 if the church does not heed warning signs in 2010 and begin to send more adults into the battle for the souls of our young.