I’ve been spending time lately meeting with a youth pastor that works not to far from where I live. We’ve been talking about purpose and aligning all the “stuff” of youth ministry around a guiding purpose.

She’s still trying to figure out what the “big purpose” is that her group is called to run after. But she has been a lot more purposeful in planning each of their youth meetings, setting a goal for each night instead of just doing “what we always do.”

Last week she told me about a youth group activity she came up with to help reinforce the lesson from their Bible study. It was a simple idea, but I thought it was the best activity ever!

She was teaching on John 13:34, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

Why did Jesus say it like that? Why did He call it a “new command”? Is it maybe because the disciples were bickering and fighting with each other, not making the sacrifices for each other that they should as disciples of Christ?

My youth pastor friend wanted to give her students some practical experience showing “love [for] one another,” so she took them outside. Then she gave them a tarp, told them to keep each other dry, and went wild spraying them with a hose!

Of course the students scrambled at first trying to get away from the water. Anyone that tried to run for it got soaked, so they were forced to band together, holding the tarp together and moving around as a team to protect themselves. It was absolutely crazy for a while!

But they figured it out and in the end managed to keep fairly dry, considering they had been relentlessly attacked with a hose. And they learned a little bit about teamwork along the way, too.

What I love about this activity was that it had purpose and it made a point. The youth pastor wanted to teach her students about love, so she came up with a simple way for them to experience it and put it to practice.

That youth group meeting wan’t about “what we always do.” It was focused and purposeful.

In the rush of life and ministry, it’s easy to get caught up in the routine and the mundane. Let this simple youth group idea not just be one more activity to try, but a reminder to keep our youth ministry programs focused and purposeful. We only have a little bit of time in this world, so let’s make the most of it!

You can find more youth group activities and ideas here.

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