The Youth Ministry

We as young people should be aware of the importance of the work with the youth. So I would like to share with all of you some important details in the work with young people. If these details are taken into consideration as we work with the youth, we would have better results of winning young souls for the Lord. First of all, I would like us to read in John 17: 18 “As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. ” Here we find Jesus’ prayer, where he is stating clearly that He is going to send us as the Father had sent him. We can also read in John 20: 21 “Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.” So, we know that we have a commission to share the Gospel in all its fullness. But in order for us to do that in the way Jesus wants us to do it, we should understand Jesus Ministry. We must understand the way the Father commissioned his Son. All of the implications of the incarnation are beyond enumeration or expression. The fact that God Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, the Sustainer of all life, should reduce Himself to a baby in a virgin, peasant girl is beyond understanding. That the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob should subject Himself to human care as a helpless baby, grow up in Roman-controlled Palestine, and walk from one end of Israel to another, followed by a rag-tag team of social outcasts, eventually submitting to the cruel nails of crucifixion, simply to identify with me, is too great a thought to grasp. Yet, it is possible to glean some principles from Jesus’ earthly life that can be applied to youth ministry.

Just as Jesus took on Himself the form of a human being, so we must put ourselves in the youth’s place for a while and then try to win them. Now, we are going to look at some points on how we can bring the truth of Salvation to young People. Go to them, do not wait for them. 1 John 4: 9-10. Here we find that it was God who took the initiative to save us. It means He loved us first. He sent His son to live as we live, to understand us in our works and needs and to die to save our lives. So we should do the same in trying to reach young people, We must go to them. We should not wait for them to come to us or to the church. A Friend of sinners, that was Jesus. Luke 7: 34. We should also follow that principle, we should become their real friends. Friendship isn’t based on whether or not they respond to our gospel. Sometimes this will break our heart, as people refuse to accept our Lord as their Saviour. Jesus understands this. When the rich young ruler came to Him, Jesus “loved him”, yet let him go away (Mark 10:16-22).

Think as they do. Mark 4: 33-34. Jesus talked to the people through parables, because that way everybody could understand His message. Therefore, we have to do the same. Reach them at the same level, think as they do. Young people these days process thoughts and information in a very different way from their parents. They do not process information logically and sequentially, but rather through a complex matrix. This will influence how they grasp new ideas. In order to effectively communicate with them, we must learn to think the way they do, and to structure our message in such a way that they can actually understand it. In the world but not of the world. As we go to save them from worldly influences, we should be careful. Jesus is our example. Heb. 4:15 tells us that He was without sin. Though He came to a world full of sin, He was always pure. So should we do, as we approach the youth in the world, we should be pure. We have to penetrate other people’s worlds, as he penetrated ours – the world of their thinking (as we struggle to understand their misunderstandings of the gospel), the world of their feeling (as we try to empathize with their pain), and the world of their living (as we sense the humiliation of their social situation…) Do not push. If you are not willing to work voluntarily, reaching the people with God’s love and the guidelines of the Holy Sprit, then better stand off. Force is the system Satan works, it is not God’s system. Never push the youth to something they are not yet willing to do.l Cor. 13. Love – this word is repeated over 50 times in the New Testament. Jesus is once more our example. Dealing with the Samaritan Woman (John 4: 1-30), with Zacchaeus (Luke: 19: 1-10) and the Woman caught in adultery (John 8: 1-11) we see the vivid example of how Jesus’ love restored people from their sinful life without indulging their mistakes. Sister Ellen G. White says “To hate and reprove sin, and at the same time to show pity and tenderness for the sinner, is a difficult attainment.” Signs of the Times, Dec. 22 1881. That is why we should have God’s love deep in our hearts so that we can act right dealing with the youth and their weak points.

Care for their real needs. Mat. 20: 32 Jesus was concerned about people’s needs: emotional, physical, mental, financial, and spiritual. So it is with us. As we work with the youth, we should be aware of their real needs, and try to supply them. James 2: 16, 18 says that we cannot just say, “Be warm and well fed”, but we should “Show our faith by what we do.” A miracle is always needed. There are cases when the youth are going though hard times, they are feeling down, depressed, in despair, etc., and perhaps just a word, a smile, a look, can heal and restore. Sometimes we do not even realize that through a look, a person was helped. It is Jesus in us who can work miracles to help people. Jesus used to teach the people. We should also teach the youth the Gospel but with the power of the Holy Spirit so that we may reach their hearts. Our desire should be to be like Jesus, who “amazed” (Matt. 7:28), “astonished” (Matt. 22:33), and “delighted” (Mark 12:37) with His teaching. Jesus took advantage of every opportunity he had to meet people and share with them the saddest moments and the happiest too. We, too, must make ourselves available to people during traumatic and euphoric times of their lives, sharing in joy and sadness, establishing lasting friendships that can have a positive influence. John 10: 10. Jesus came ” that we might have life to the full”. The good news is not a message of sadness but of happiness, and joy. Sometimes by the way we present it especially to the youth, it looks like it is a sad message. We look like the “Adventist cows” (long faces). Be open-minded. There is nothing worse than a narrow-minded missionary, that closes a lot of hearts from the truth (Jesus is the truth John 14:6). We should not compromise our Biblical principles, but we must do that with an open mind and with wisdom from the Lord. Just do it. The youth must be shown that the Christian lifestyle is radical, in every sense of the word. Matthew 5-7, the sermon on the mount, and “Christian manifesto” is a radical way of life, that challenges society’s norms and goes against the grain of the modern lifestyle. It is an attractive Gospel for those who want to “Just Do It!”. As Jesus did, we must be teaching and living out this manifesto.

Martin Luther King’s dream of national racial unity is still this generation’s ideal, but the frustration of seeing the dream remaining unfulfilled has forced a pragmatic response.Jesus wants to see all the world accepting his gift of salvation, but we know it is hard because of people’s hearts. That is why he concentrated his work with the “Lost sheep from Israel”. He worked with his own people before trying to go further, but he told us to keep on the work he began in the same way (Acts. 1: 8), before trying to reach the whole world. We must start with our own house’s youth, and then with our neighborhood’s youth, then the city and country.

We’ve never done it that way before. Fulfilling God’s purpose must always take priority over preserving tradition. Scripture shows us that Jesus was the same in private and public. This goes to the heart of integrity; and integrity is the heart of our ministry with the youth. The measure of ourselves is not what we do while people are watching us, but what we do when no-one is looking. Jesus’ example is one to follow, especially in His relationship with the Father. When we make the effort to cultivate a deep and meaningful relationship with God in private, this will naturally shine out of us in all we do.

After seeing some important details as we work with people, I hope that the Lord may help us to have them in mind and to apply them in our daily life, especially when we come in contact with young people who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ.

May the Lord Give us His Holy Spirit and His power to carry out his Commission, is my wish and prayer in the Name of Jesus, Our Saviour and Lord.

In His Steps,
Oscar Oviedo, Suriname