by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz
What was your experience like in your high school youth group? Did you make a lot of friends? Or were you the shy type who only opened up in front of a small, select few? Did you enjoy your time with those in your youth group, or did you secretly dislike some people there? How was the teaching? Was the Bible central in what was being preached during Bible study, or did it seem more like a footnote to what your leader really wanted to talk about? What do you remember most about your youth group? How big it was? How small it was? How many friends you made?
These are some questions I never entertained during my high school years, since I never attended my church youth group. I was always put off by some of the students’ attitudes, and no one ever reached out to me. I was actually more comfortable hanging out with some of the senior citizens in my church, since they were very friendly, and they always had stories to tell about their lives. Friendships with my peers at school were what meant a lot to me, and I always knew where they stood (since I perceived Christians to be transparently hypocritical during that age, I reasoned non-Christians weren’t because of their transparent disgust for Christianity, which made me think they were more honest).
One of the regrets of my life was the fact that I had easily judged those who went to my home church and yet had no desire to serve my peers and develop an atmosphere of fellowship among them. It wasn’t until college that I realized I wasn’t a Christian that I had wasted so many opportunities to learn from those who served specifically in the youth ministry. There was a disconnect between what I was learning in school, and what I was interested in studying: apologetics. I wanted to learn how to defend the faith before I actually had faith!
Now that God has placed in my heart a desire to serve the youth, it has been a goal of mine to train our youth to be ambassadors at their respective schools. One of the ways this youth ministry has moved in that direction is to have Saturday Seminars. These times are dedicated to specific training in issues that these youth are already encountering or will encounter in the near future. If you read anything related to youth ministry, numbers are thrown out that ¾ or more of the youth who professed faith in Christ during middle and high school enter college and abandon the faith they once held. Though statistics are not our guide for determining our approach, we do see a need for those within our church to grow deeper in their knowledge of God, that it would withstand the storms that will come their way.
As an extension of fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20), we want to foster a ministry conducive to discipleship, which includes the preaching of the Word of God. What these seminars are intended to accomplish is to set forth a biblical worldview that meets daily life, and is immediately applicable to the youth. A couple years back, I had the privilege of going through evangelism training that encompassed the message, the man, and the method of Gospel witnessing.
This year, our focus has been on building a Christian worldview, and areas our youth can apply their faith towards. I had the privilege of presenting first the building blocks of a biblical worldview, followed up by Lumos leader Josh Liu on applying it in the areas of modesty and purity. Seeing the many changes in culture that are sure to drastically affect the world the youth will be living in, we spent another seminar on the issue of abortion, and plan on spending time focusing on the nature and history of Scripture, since it is constantly under attack.
Though we understand these seminars will not be comprehensive in scope, we hope and pray that they will be a guide for them to begin studying more in-depth the issues that we see are important for them to understand. We live in a day of moral compromise and lack of fidelity to the truth of God’s Word, when models of courage and character are hard to find. We must be in the business of discipling and modelling of spiritual maturity for those younger in the faith. I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to speak to our youth in areas that many involved in youth ministry have not deemed vital to address in the youth culture.
It is my conviction that the youth can understand more than the culture promotes. Our youth are living proof that they can listen to a 45-minute (many times, longer!) sermon, and can be challenged to live out their faith with prayer and encouragement. It is a joy and honor to play a small part in the work that God is doing in the hearts of our youth, and I pray you too can play a part in teaching the greatness of God to the next generation. What one pastor is known for saying is “Theology matters.” Theology matters extremely for the youth, since knowing who God is and who we are will radically affect the beliefs they will hold and color the many decisions they will make. Pray that our youth will be the next group of leaders in the church and will themselves be great models of godly living and bold witnessing!