Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Jan/82

Contributor - Abram Blaak

Title - Teens: Menace or Ministry?

Topic - Youth

Youth ministry has long been a headache in which pastors, teachers, parents and youth councils, along with the youth have been involved over the years. The questions of "Did we get our point across?", "Did we do something worthwhile?", or "Did we just provide a babysitting service for our youth?" are highly volatile, and at times justifiably so. Are teens a ministry or a menace?

At time it seems that the Church, . as well as the parents, looks for non-existent teens. These are divided into four categories: first, the historical, this is when the parent(s) talk to their youth and compare them with the times and they were leading back when. It is the one that sounds like this: "When I was your age . . " The second is the statistical youth, the one of the sociologist. Here the youth is nothing but a statistic, no name, nothing personal, just a number. The third is the commercial youth. This is the youth who is shown on TV, and in magazines such as "17", and in other forms of the media. These kids aren't real, they are made up and glossed over, and all reality is taken out of the ads. You know them - the ones who use Ultrabrite, wear Calvin Klein jeans, never a hair out of place, no pimples, no blemishes. The fourth kind is the ideal teen, the ones that scholars make up. They are the ones who speak of the "well-adjusted" youth, whatever they are!

We have fallen into that type of trap, putting youth into a call in which they do not, or many don't, want to be found. Actually the youth of the '80s is the one who finds him/herself in a youth culture that is destructive, based on "everybody else is doing it". Their culture is experience-oriented, summed up with -the classical words, "If it feels good, do it". Ever wonder where they got that from? It is a culture full of irreverence for authority, including home, government, church and GOD. It is a culture full of humanism, where everything is measured from man's point of view, or by the standards of one's own life. It is a spontaneous life, of impulsive decisions, without consideration of consequences.

Some say that youth have made this society out of dislike for the society that their parents have left them. Others say it was given to them on life's platter, not made of silver, but of anger, revenge and hatred. They did not have good examples, and just look at the world we have given them to live in.

Whether we like it or not, that is the world they are living in. They are caught in the gray area, between being a child and an adult, and their big question is, "Who am I?" It is our task to help them answer that question. For the youth, it is their task to make sure the adults in their lives help them with that question. If we don't, they will be a menace, a menace of which the world should be afraid.

For me personally, Christian Education is for people of all ages. Too often, Sunday School stops at a certain age, and we give the kids a kind of feeling that they have "graduated", that they have arrived. We keep our eyes on them in a "youth program". What is taught during these years is of the utmost importance, and we must begin to think of C.E. as the teaching, and learning, of Christian faith as a culture - not merely the communication of true information about life and the Bible. Deut. 6:5 - 7 speaks about this kind of communication very clearly. This passage declares that the communication of faith is marked by several utterly basic characteristics. First is that life must be experienced as a life of commitment by adult models. Second, is the expression of that faith-life at work. Third, is communication of that faith-life in both concrete and abstract ways, modelled and spoken of in the context of snared experiences. Finally, it is to be expressed as a culture in which we can live and work, in proper relationships with man and GOD.

This is youth ministry! To take the needs of youth and help them fulfill them through a shared faith-life. That goes beyond the task of the pastor, to the parents, and all the members of the church. It is worth it, for it will help the youth to find an answer to their question, "Who am I?" It will build up their faith and it will bring unity to the church and home. It means, of course, that we, as, adults, will have to get rid of the negatives in our lives, such as gossiping, getting even, holding grudges and the like. It will mean that the youth will have to overlook our negative side, however hard that is to do. It is a road to be travelled together.

And towards what goal? until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the fulness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles" (Eph. 3:1 3, 14). That is the goal I urge us all to strive for. Therefore, I hastily add, that I cannot agree with those who refuse the youths of 13 to 15 years of age involvement in a group. Hoping to catch them when they are in High School is too late!

Teens: a menace or ministry? The answer lies within your grasp. God Almighty helps us as we bring our children out of a world of darkness into a kingdom of light.

Please click the "Back" button of your browser to return to previous page.