What I Learned in Youth Ministry

God is Faithful:

Youth ministry will always be near and dear to my heart as I think back about how God has used it to shape and mold me into the person that I am today.  I graduated out of college with little experience and far less understanding of what vocational ministry would entail.  This journey has taught me to trust in God and to put my hope in His Gospel.  Through it all I established, by His grace, a great deal of lasting friendships that has filled my life with laughter, tears, and joy.  No longer do I call these students "members," but rather "family."  Even as I write I am reminded of all the faces I have had the privilege of encountering.  God has definitely been faithful to draw hearts to Himself and to make the Gospel beautiful in eyes that were once dead.

As the Hmong people begin to make the transition in ministry, it will become more evident that youth ministry will play a significant role in the life and future of the church.  Our ability to grasp God's mandate in making disciples (Matt. 28:18 - 20; Acts 1:8) and equipping the next generation in Gospel ministry (1 Tim. 4:11-13) will place the church on a trajectory of world-wide endeavors.  Youth ministry has traditionally been linked to moralistic therapeutic deism, but a growing generation, by God's grace, has embraced a new found love for Gospel commitment in Gospel growth.  No longer can we be complacent with program oriented churches, but must move toward an authentic Christian life that breaths power into the organic interactions of daily living.

4 Major Takeaways:

During my time in youth ministry I came across these principles that were extremely helpful and fruitful as I began to apply them.  I wished that I would have understood these concepts prior to entering into vocational ministry, but much is learned through my own failures and weaknesses.  These four (4) principles, though not exhaustive in terms of what has been established at the local level, have served as the key components to formulating an effective ministry.

Preach the Word:

The Word saves (John 1:12), and the Word transforms (John 17:17; Romans 12:2; Ephes. 4:23; 2 Tim. 3:16-17)).  In a day and age where youth ministry is focused upon entertainment and empty excitement, what will run contrary to the cultural norm is a deep and robust biblical worldview (Gospel Lens) that magnifies the work and person of Jesus Christ in bringing forth spiritual transformation.  Swallowing goldfish and drinking soda through a sock will not suffice to defend against deceptive and erroneous claims of our cultural times.  Bringing biblical truth into the life and perspective of young people is one of the top, if not the top, priority of student ministry (Col. 3:16; 1 Tim. 4:11-13).  Empty games will not assist students to think critically through their faith.

I have been asked why I choose to teach deep theological doctrines to teenagers, and my answer is simple: basic doctrines will be beneficial as teenagers enter into young adulthood and begin to interpret the world around them (1 Tim. 4:11-12).  It is scary to think that young churched people enter into college without a biblical worldview to safeguard their infant faith.  Student ministers are one of the agents within the community of saints that are responsible to disciple and educate the next generation to think biblically in light of the current trends (Eph. 4:13; Col. 3:16; 1 Tim. 4:11-13).

Much of the fear for youth ministers is the fight to stay relevant yet if probed further our fear is not merely based upon relevancy, but in trusting in the sufficiency of the Word.  Is Scripture sufficient to speak to our time (Titus 3:8)? Remember that God's revelation is established in a particular time in a particular setting to a particular people group, yet the truth that is conveyed is timeless and effective for human prospering. To this end, expository preaching is essential for the growth and maturation of our students.

Church Leadership is Essential:

Being a second generation pastor and working in a first generation context we must be sensitive to the development of the church as a whole.  It would be foolish for us to be insensitive about the maturity of the church.  Church leadership may not be moving as progressively as we would like, but it is our duty to function within the tension.  What tension?  First, to trust God's sovereignty while being assured that He is ultimately responsible for building His church (Matthew 16:18), and, secondly, we are agents of change to bring forth growth.  Through it all we are still called to honor our leaders (1 Tim. 5:1-3; Heb. 13:17; Prvbs 13:1; 19:20).  As pastors we are not exempt from this biblical call and as youth pastors we are to model to the next generation what humble servanthood looks like.  Exemplifying biblical virtue will be extremely vital.

I understand that certain circumstances may call for us to stand in opposition to the leaders for Gospel truth.  In those instances, I recommend that we pray for guidance and seek Godly counsel on how to approach those difficult situations.  My encouragement would be not to react according to our emotions, but to move in light of our biblical conviction while filtering it through godly counsel.

Lastly, we must understand that we, as youth pastors, play a supporting role to the overarching vision of the church.  If we do not align to the vision, direction, and purpose of the church, we must begin to reevaluate our place in that local assembly.  If heresy is not being taught and the posture of biblical inerrancy is not being threatened, we must weigh the battle that we are potentially seeking to wage.  Remember, division is not the work of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 15:5-6; Eph. 4:3).

Creating Culture:

Culture, in the context of ministry, is the greenhouse that will allow for the seeds of your ministry to flourish and grow.  Unfortunately, the Hmong context is dominated by a program driven ministry models that equates success with busyness rather than discipleship.  Establishing healthy Gospel culture will allow you to build a system of discipleship that can carry the organic reality of the church.  Without the proper culture your intentions will be swallowed up by unwritten expectations.  Simply put, culture eats up vision for breakfast.  Our intent may be to disciple, but if the culture is intrinsically rot with program as its DNA, the ministry will end up functioning according to its disposition.

If ministers truly seek to position their congregation as partners in Gospel ministry, we must begin to equip the saints for the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:12).  In order to do that we must create a culture that will embody empowerment (Matt. 28:18), training (Titus 2:4; Prvbs 1:4; 22:6; 23:13), and a high view of Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

Ministry happens organically when Gospel-culture fuels the vision to function outside the four walls of the church.  You must provide the structure and training, but the mission field is outside the church facility.  Bible studies and Sunday service may still be a part of your structural ministry, but one-on-one mentoring and evangelism will begin to happen in the daily routines of life.  Culture carries the vision unto reality.

Generational Transference:

One thing that youth pastors must fight extremely hard against, especially in the Hmong context, is the danger of holding sole responsibility for the spiritual well being of the students.  Biblically we see that parents are the single most influential proponent of spiritual development (Deut. 6:1-3; Eph. 6:1-2; Col. 3:20).  As ministers we must not override God's intended design for family formation and fatherly discipleship.  This component must be a part of the established culture within the larger church philosophy, let alone youth ministry.

In saying that, I am also aware of the brokenness that runs across the board in local churches.  In my own personal experience over 40% of my students came from dysfunctional homes and many of those homes were fatherless.  In this respect I think the church must be the church in the sense of taking these fatherless youth and surrounding them with godly men and women who will pour themselves out for the sake of the Gospel.

Establishing a culture of discipleship that allows young people to witness older men and women exemplify Gospel living will be essential to seeing the next generation carry forth the faith.  This is extremely difficult in the Hmong context where youth ministry becomes a secondary ministry that is left for youth to lead youth.  This is quintessential of the blind leading the blind (Matt. 15:14).  What will assist in this process (and it is a process) of establishing generational transference is empowering couples in the local church to partner with you in youth ministry for the long haul (not yearly themes).  It is imperative, then, that our vision for youth ministry be long term discipleship rather than yearly operations.

Moving Forward:

I have been a proponent of limiting the age of youth ministry in the Hmong context.  There is a large epidemic in the local church of young people in their late twenties to mid-thirties that are still considered "youth."  The difficult thing that I have faced as a youth minister is a proper pass-off of youth  members into the larger community which is known as the church.  We have not done a good job in creating a culture that would see discipleship function across the board in our local assemblies.  This may be one of the many reasons why our young adult members, or the de-churched, leave the community of saints.

This continues, in my mind, to be one of the greater difficulties in youth ministry at the local Hmong church level.  There does not seem to be a big concern for this transitional phase and the trend seems to continue.  We will see how this develops with more church plants rising into play.  Either way the church will need to figure out how to establish ministries that will be inclusive toward the next generation and beyond.  Believe it or not we will be facing this dilemma head on sooner or later, and if it is later we will end up being the parents of the young adults.

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McYoung Yang is the husband to Debbie Yang and the father to McCayden (7), McCoy (6), McColsen (4), and DeYoung (6 months).  He graduated from Crown College in Saint Bonifacius, MN with a Youth Ministry degree and has served as a Youth Pastor in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota for over 8 years.  He is currently studying at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY for his Masters of Divinity.  He hopes to use his training to serve the local church in living life through the Gospel lens.