Crowd Discipleship
“What are you doing to disciple your students?”
“We have a youth group meeting every week as well as a Bible study on Sundays.”
I’m going to state an opinion of mine here. You are more than welcome to disagree with me, but I wanted to warn you first that I’m going to be brutally honest.
Discipleship does not equal a meeting. Discipleship was not intended to happen “one crowd at a time.”
I’ve asked youth pastors all over the country about what they do to disciple teenagers. Few mention efforts to get to know students personally, to build strong relationships with them and even with their parents. That’s usually an afterthought. Most youth pastors list off their weekly meeting schedule.
What if we went back to the basics, set aside all our perceptions, and looked at the model of discipleship we see in the New Testament? The model of discipleship I have gleaned from scripture includes a few things, like living life together, growing strong, intimate friendships, and in reality, only discipling a few people at a time.
Examples of Discipleship
Jesus spoke many sermons and did many miracles, but when it comes down to it, the people He touched the most were His 12 disciples. He didn’t create a program, schedule weekly meetings or even write a curriculum (all good things, mind you). He lived His life with His disciples, and they gave the rest of their lives for Him.
I am refreshed every time I read one of Paul’s letters to his friends because it hints of the deep, intimate relationships he had built with those he writes to. He writes to Timothy as an older brother, and he writes to the churches with sincerity and deep longing to be with them again.
The discipleship model I see in scripture is one of strong personal relationships. It’s slower, dirtier, and takes a bit more effort than just planning another meeting. And you might spend a lot of time investing in a student that later turns their back on you. That hurts.
Intentional Ministry
What sealed the deal for me was realizing the impact of the sermons I preached at youth group. 90% of my students couldn’t remember the topic of the sermon even a week later. Yet a huge majority of the time I spent on “youth ministry” was to prepare that sermon.
Meetings are important and we can’t stop teaching truth to our youth groups. Let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water. But let’s also be honest about what really makes a difference in the lives of our students.
I love anybody that is willing to take the plunge and wear that name badge that says “youth pastor.” I just hope that some of these thoughts about discipleship might help you focus your limited time and energy on what will have the greatest impact on your students.
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Here’s a question: Is it our job to disciple them?
‘Cause I’m thinking about this and thinking that we need to balance (1) reminding people that the youth pastor is not the parent, and (2) taking them away from their parents to disciple them ourselves.
So if they’re still high school students living at home is it primarily the youth pastor’s job to disciple them, or the parents’ job?
If it’s the parents’ job then we should facilitate that. And if it’s the parents’ job … what IS our job?
If it’s the youth pastor’s job, how do we balance that?
I’m thinking with my fingers, here. Am I making sense?
Our job is definitely to disciple them!
Scripture gives that role first and foremost to parents, but also to the church at large.
I look at it like this: We, as youth pastors, have walked into the world of students and noticed a huge need for discipleship. That’s primarily the parents’ role. However, as youth pastor and leader of students, we now have a huge opportunity to disciple said students. When it comes to influencing parents, we may have an opportunity to inspire and spur them on, but that’s a little more challenging and not quite in our job description.
Discipling students is our primary role!! That probably ain’t gonna change. But let’s also look for chances to inspire and spur on parents. I think there might be some untapped potential there for youth pastors, just not sure yet.
I don’t want to get so caught up in whose who and crazy ideals that we forget about good old fashioned ministering to students ;).
This post, on the other hand, was about the “how” of discipling students. I think we would all agree that intentional relational ministry makes a huge impact. My challenge to you is to make sure you’re spending your time where you know it will have an impact.
That’s my 2 cents…
“I don’t want to get so caught up in whose who and crazy ideals that we forget about good old fashioned ministering to students ;).”
I totally agree. I just wish it were as easily done as said. :)
Lex, honestly, I think you’re doing an incredible job discipling your students. It seems like every free minute you or Tim have, you’re hanging out with your students. Seriously, hats off to you guys. Maybe you can do a guest post and share what you’re doing. That would be real cool actually.