Thoughts from the Mob:

**Sorry if you tried to read this and it seemed a bit screwy. Something got messed up in the formatting. I think I fixed it. 12/09**


I've been trying to get my thoughts hammered out on the topic of youth ministry, not my personal youth, the practicum side of it. I certainly wouldn't say that I have it fully hammered yet, but I'm starting to shape them. I'm somewhere between "white hot blob of molten pain" and "shapeless moderately hammered metal item". So this post will clearly not be a thesis on youth ministry and it won't be a deep look at the form and function of contemporary youth ministry.

What I've got here is a look at some scripture that I've been rolling around in my head for a while. It seems to touch on the basic human issues that make modern youth ministry so difficult, even in seemingly perfect situations.



John 12: 12-18 says,

The next day, when the large crowd that had come to the festival heard that
Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they took palm branches and went
out to meet Him. They kept shouting: " Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the
name of the Lord --the King of Israel!" Jesus found a young donkey
and sat on it, just as it is written: Fear no more, daughter of
Zion; look! your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt. His
disciples did not understand these things at first. However, when Jesus was
glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about Him and
that they had done these things to Him.

Meanwhile the crowd, which had been with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to testify. This is also why the crowd met Him, because they heard He had done this sign.

Can you hear the passion in the crowds voice? This is a large crowd of people singing praises to someone that they fervently wanted to believe was the King of Israel. The last part is so telling. Maybe they wanted Jesus to be Messiah, but they wanted it because of His miracles. They had heard about a guy who raises the dead, who wouldn't want to jump on His bandwagon?

I think that this is a large part of youth ministry. Teens coming for something other than Christ. Maybe some of that early crowd did desire to know the Messiah, but odds are good the majority wanted to see the miracles and be a part of them. In the same breath, maybe some teens are coming for Christ, but I think most are there for the miracles. What's the modern equivalent? Emotional response would be my first guess.

So, what happens when the miracles stop and Christ stands there telling you He is the Messiah? What happens when you have to just trust Him?

I think that shows up in John 19.

14Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, "Behold your King!" 15They cried out, "Away with him, away with him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar." 16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.

Matthew 27 makes things crystal clear.

15 Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. 16And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. 17So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?"

20Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. 21The governor again said to them, "Which of the two do you want me to release for you?" And they said, "Barabbas." 22Pilate said to them, "Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?" They all said, "Let him be crucified!" 23And he said, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Let him be crucified!"

24So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves." 25And all the people answered, "His blood be on us and on our children!" 26Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.

If you know the story of Christ you know this is how it goes, but contrast that with the way that he entered. The people flocked to Him and sang praises while laying down palm branches to line his way. He was treated like a triumphant King returning. How in the world do things dissolve to this point? How does the joyous crowd turn into an enraged riot?

The above scripture points out the natural progression of the seeker, youth or otherwise. First people come to Christ for selfish and personal gain, i.e. Miracles. Then when they grow weary of the true Gospel, they turn. There was never salvation involved.

What's that mean in youth ministry? It means that every church will see teens come in and not be saved. They'll come in looking for something other than Christ and will stick it out until the Gospel offends them.

The real crux here is what are we doing in between receiving the "Miracle seeker" and them leaving. If it's not sharing the Gospel, if your ministry isn't focused on the Cross and Christ's atoning work on it, then they won't get offended and we'll never find out they aren't saved.

I guess I have just come to learn that smoke and mirrors/games and programs, just don't cut it. Sure they bring kids in. I want to bring kids in. But, we'll be perpetuating the problem we see in scripture. I don't know if there is a deep answer to a problem that I missed. I just don't want to feed that mob.