Entertained to Death: The Case Against Entertainment in Youth Ministry
I was chatting with a new friend about my post on the slippery slope of entertainment, and he mentioned a similair article from a few years ago that asks some very similair questions:
Entertained to Death: The Case Against Entertainment in Youth Ministry by Ken Moser
Ken makes a strong case and points out 7 reasons we shouldn’t use entertainment to reach non-Christians:
- It’s Deceptive.
- It Hides the Real Source.
- It Hides Christian Community.
- It Distorts the Call.
- It’s Hard to Keep Up.
- It Takes Resources.
- It Produces a False Dichotomy.
These can be some very hard ideas to take in. Does he go too far or is he right on? How do we really apply this? Take a look at the article and come back here to post your thoughts.
Read original post: Entertainment at our youth group meetings
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I think he’s right on, and I think we need more people to echo and model these ideas.
Student ministry leaders are so constantly bombarded with the entertainment-based images and stories that even though we may KNOW it’s not the best way to go, it’s hard to maintain that conviction. I’ve been noticing - especially lately - that I have to constantly remind myself that I’m not running a Chuck E Cheese … I’m not running a Chuck E Cheese … I’m not running a Chuck E Cheese.
I like that. “I’m not running a Chuck E Cheese.” Great reminder. That needs to be on a t-shirt or something!
Someone just Twittered this article:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1552027-1,00.html
From TIME Magazine -three years ago- about this same thing.
Jesus related to those in his culture with things they were familiar with. You have to stay focused on the gospel and not get caught up in just entertaining, but if it will bring out a spiritual truth, it may be the thing that reaches a teen.
Nathan: True. But what happens when we get so caught up in the culture that the Gospel takes a 2nd row seat? Obviously none of us would want that to happen, but I’ve seen leaders lose their focus and let it happen, even myself.
We must be vigilant to keep our #1 our #1–namely, that Christ be glorified and students discipled in Him. It’s tough work and a hard line to walk, but Jesus did call us to walk the “narrow path.”
Thanks for sharing!!