Missions is Here and Now

I guess I can understand how we ended up in a place where missions is understood as something you do when you go to another country. Missions is perhaps the most important thing a church participates in, but it is too often misunderstood. Fortunately things are changing.

Now we talk about being missional. Of course being missional is simply being a missionary wherever you are. It is about time we begin to change how we talk about the mission of the church. It is unfortunate there has ever been a time when missions was considered something you do in other countries.

We must continue to work on changing not only the perception of missions, the language we use to talk about mission, but most importantly the attitude people have about missions. Being missional has a prerequisite of understanding that the mission is every one's mission! It is the responsibility of the church to do missions every day wherever they are. This attitude change must start with two and three year olds and it must be hammered home in the teenage years. God's mission is every Christ follower's mission.

I wonder what kind of perception we create about the mission of the church? What do the words we use communicate? What to our ministry events communicate about missions and being missional?

Marketing Jesus?

It just sounds wrong doesn't it? Marketing Jesus seems almost sacrilegious. I must admit this is contrary to my nature. Jesus doesn't really need me or any one else to market him, to "sell" him. There is a real sense in which we do need to market Jesus.

When Jesus is mentioned people begin to have a certain perceptions about who he is and what he stands for. Mention the word church and people may have a whole new set of perceptions. Let's be clear, we need to market the Bible, the church, and even Jesus because we need to change peoples perceptions.

Marketing isn't just brochures, TV commercials, and print ads. It is everything from the logo we use to how we preach the word of God. It is how we worship, how we speak, and even how we dress.

In reality every ministry must market Jesus because we need to help people understand what is true and remove false perceptions. It isn't necessarily about crowds or numbers as much as it is about truth.

Helping Students Think Well

Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'N Roll seem to be the things a lot of youth ministries spend their time on. Certainly there is good reason to be concerned about the kind of decisions students will make regarding these real life issues. The question is not whether we talk about these issues, but in what context.

Too much of the time ministries focus on telling students what the right decisions are. We use verses and passages to back up our points about why sex outside of marriage is wrong and we speak of God's intentions in creating sex. All of those things are fine, but there is something more we must consider. What will these students do when they no longer have their youth group or their parents to help them make decisions?

We must help students think well about life and about scripture. The way we do this is not by telling them what to do, but helping them understand how and why these are the best conclusions based on both God's word and general reason and logic.

I might suggest that teaching through books of the Bible will help them do this very thing. If they can understand God's word and how to think clearly then they will be able to make good decisions long after you are out of the picture.

Helping Parents Communicate

As the parent of an 8 & 1 year old I have already begun to see many shortcomings in my parenting ability. Perhaps one of the most difficult ones to overcome is my own arrogance. Certainly my life experiences along with my years of working with youth have given me significant insight and wisdom ( I say that only somewhat fasitiously). I have 33 years of experience on this planet, some good and some bad, but all have influenced who I am and I have learned valuable lessons from many of them (probably not as many as those who are less stubborn). Certainly my daughter and my son know this!!

It is that last sentence that shows my arrogance! The truth is they don't know this. They don't know my life experiences (thankfully), they don't know the pains and the disappointments, and they don't know the joys. Part of my job as a parent is to communicate the lessons I have learned!! The problem is I sometimes forget and even when I remember I don't know how to communicat these things. Most of the time I simply expect my kids to know how much I know and trust me.

So what does this have to do with youth ministry? Youth pastors and workers must work with parents and help them as much as possible. I don't know that you have to have the answer to this quandry (remember parents have a lot of life experience and probably some problem solving skills). I would suggest you remind them (the parents) that their students think the world they live in is so different from the world their parents lived in, that they often don't know how much their parents know. In some ways they are correct. Technology and media has certainly changed. That said, the human condition hasn't changed. Parents have valuable insight, but they need to figure out how to communicate with their students.

The struggle of communication between parents and students is difficult. I would suggest a book by Kent Julian How to Get Your Teen To Talk To You.

How To Be A Man

The title of this post is also the title of a book I am currently reading. As the father of a 19 month old boy I recognize the importance of teaching my son how to be a man. As a result I am working on some book ideas. The above book is part of my research. Although it is dated, the ideas and thoughts in it are very helpful. This would be a great book to share with parents.

The book is by Harvey Newcomb. The language is dated as well as the cover, but the info is at the very least challenging.