It’s hard sometimes to know when you’re winning in youth ministry, you know? Like, is anything we’re teaching actually sinking in? Are teenagers really growing in their faith? That’s why we decided to go ahead and define our big win for our ministry. It’s the one thing that we, as a ministry team, want to achieve. It’s the goal we want to keep in mind at all times. And it’s what motivates and guides everything we do. It goes like this…
WE WIN WHEN A TEENAGER TAKES A STEP TOWARD OWNING THEIR FAITH
TAKING A STEP
Now, we say “takes a step” for a reason. It’s because there’s no finish line or certificate of completion when it comes to spiritual growth. Instead, spiritual growth is a journey (a life-long journey) and no two journeys are identical. That’s why our big win doesn’t have anything to do with a specific skill or achievement. Instead, we win anytime we see a teenager take a single step closer to owning their faith.
OWNING THEIR FAITH
What, exactly, does it look like for a teenager to own their faith? Well, we believe there are four things that both lead to, and are a result of, spiritual growth. We call these four things our four spiritual habits…
1. Spend time with God.
2. Spend time with others.
3. Use their gifts.
4. Share their story.
We count it as a win whenever a student takes a step toward owning their faith by practicing one, or maybe even all four, of these spiritual habits.
Do you know the last thing that Jesus said to His followers while He was on earth? Some people call it The Great Commission: “Go and make disciples.” Duplicate yourselves. Go and make more of you. Take your faith and pass it on to someone else. When we talk about helping teenagers begin to own their faith, we’re really just talking about discipleship. So what is discipleship? Here are three thoughts…
DISCIPLESHIP IS ABOUT LIVING, NOT LEARNING
Rather than asking “What can we teach a teenager about God” we ask, “How can we help a teenager live out their faith?” It’s not just about teaching them about Jesus - it’s about modeling what faith in Jesus looks like. That’s why our small groups spend time together outside of church. Because discipleship isn’t taught in a classroom - it’s modeled in everyday life.
DISCIPLESHIP HAPPENS IN COMMUNITY
In the Gospels, you don’t really see Jesus doing one-on-one discipleship. That’s because discipleship happens best in a community of people. That’s why we focus so much energy on getting teenagers plugged into consistent small groups, why we emphasize the role of parents and families, and why we surround teenagers with tons of Jesus followers. Because discipleship takes all of us!
DISCIPLESHIP IS A PROCESS
Discipleship is never really complete because learning to live out our faith is a life-long process. And because we know discipleship takes time, we want to put people in the lives of teenagers who are in it for the long-haul. That’s why our small group leaders don’t bail on their teenagers after a few months, but make a commitment for an entire school year - because it’s a process.