Each month we compile a Top Ten list for youth workers. This list represents ten articles from various sources that we believe will encourage you in your ministry to students and their families. Some give explicit instruction on gospel-centered ministry, while others are included because there is a message of common grace that is helpful to youth workers. (The opinions presented in these articles do not necessarily reflect the position of Rooted.) If you find an article that could speak to the Rooted community, please share it in the comment section below.
Gospel-Centered Ministry
How to Create a Teaching Plan for Youth Ministry by Will Standridge (TGC)
How can we recover stronger teaching in student ministry? We can begin by thinking through a plan. While a one-off lesson may be appropriate occasionally, it won’t help your students grow their knowledge of Scripture as a targeted, well-thought-out teaching schedule will. Here are five tips for planning your teaching.
Where Did Youth Ministry Go Wrong? Identifying a Way Forward by Jared Kennedy (Crossway)
The church’s goal in discipling the next generation is not to train kids so they can sit quietly through church services. Our goal is for them to hear about the Savior and, by God’s grace, be changed by him.
Theology Without Love is Dead by Mike McGarry (Youth Pastor Theologian)
Fellow youth pastor theologians – teach theology to your students. But make sure it’s living theology. Ensure that it’s something that’s breathing and alive with the heartbeat of God, rather than mere information about his incommunicable attributes and ineffable majesty. In our desire to practice theology in youth ministry, let’s beware of the temptation to act like seminary professors in the youth room (no disrespect to seminary professors intended).
Partnering with Parents
How Jesus Shapes Our Advocacy for Children with Disabilities by Stephanie Hubach (ERLC)
Perhaps the most amazing gift that God gives to Christians is Jesus Christ’s role as our Advocate. By living a perfect life, dying a sacrificial death, rising in victorious power, and standing before the Father’s throne on our behalf (Heb. 9:24), Jesus is truly the Advocate above all advocates.
The State Finally Letting Teens Sleep In by Lisa L. Lewis (The Atlantic)
The circadian-rhythm shifts that happen in puberty are an important consideration. But societal factors also contribute to teens’ chronic sleep deprivation. Teenagers are frequently overloaded, strapped for time, and asked to wake far too early for school. Most teens should still be sleeping well past when their alarm clocks ring in the morning in order to attain the recommended amount of sleep: A teen who must wake at 6 a.m. would need to fall asleep each night between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m., which runs counter to reality because of teen body clocks and the demands of homework, among other factors.
Youth Culture
Puberty Positivity by Andrew Bunt (thinktheology)
And yet the reality is, puberty is often good news for young people who struggle with their gender. We know that around 80% of children who experience gender-related distress will find that naturally goes away as they enter adolescence. Puberty seems to help resolve distress and avoid progress towards potentially life-altering medical interventions.
Anthropological Fallacies by Ryan T. Anderson (Public Discourse)
Rather than seeing ourselves as what Gilbert Ryle referred to as ghosts in machines, where the real self is the mind, or the will, or the consciousness, that somehow inhabits a body and makes use of the body as a mere instrument, we should see ourselves as incarnate, bodily beings
Ministry Skills
Is Discipleship More Challenging Today? Five Modern Hurdles to Ministry by Matt Reagan (Desiring God)
In other words, is it possible that hitting the panic button during any given cultural moment is a bit reactionary? Our commitment to biblical Christianity requires us to believe that the Scriptures are sufficient to equip us to address the challenges of modern life and ministry (2 Timothy 3:16–17). It can only follow that they are timeless, implying that both the human condition in the twenty-first century and the cultural challenges of our day have not strayed too far from those in biblical times. I find it incredibly helpful to recall timeless spiritual realities when ministry moments seem bleak.
When Being Helped Hurts by Jennifer Holmes Curran (Christianity Today)
In the Gospels it is often the rich, powerful, and educated who missed what Jesus had to say, and those people on the margins are the ones who received it. Those of us who are affluent have things to learn about life, about God, about the good news of the gospel from those who worship from a less privileged space. I would love to see groups entering service projects with this kind of humble spirit knowing that what they receive will always be more than they give.
Do Unto Authors: Four Principles for Reading Well by Joe Rigney (Desiring God)
When it comes to reading, we ought to practice Golden Rule Interpretation. That is, we ought to treat authors the way we want to be treated. No one wants his own words treated like a wax nose that a reader can bend according to his will. No one likes to have his words twisted into something he didn’t intend. When we speak or write, we mean something, and we want that meaning to stand — to be understood and respected as ours (even if others disagree with us). And so, given that’s how we want to be treated, we ought to treat authors the same.
Rooted’s Two Most-Read of June
Entertained but Not Discipled: Why Students Leave the Church by Jon Gers
Unfortunately, the problem with the environment for youth ministry goes much deeper than just a lack of biblical preaching and teaching, however. It seems that often, the environment is more for entertainment, similar to a camp experience. When we make youth group all about fun and games, we promote the idea that the church and discipleship are about our likes and dislikes, not about God’s glory and how he has taught us to worship him.
Theological Depth as a Remedy to Our Students’ Anxious Hearts by Parker Hudson
The gospel offers a better narrative than the steady stream of white noise and defines a place for our students in it. Instead of standing as one option among many viable paths to purpose, the cross serves as the axis around which the entire cosmos revolves. In our teaching, we must show our students how this center relates to all things and how they fit in its orbit.
In Case You Missed It (Rooted’s June Honorable Mention)
The Importance of Theology in Youth Ministry by Steve Eatmon
In Philippians 1:9-10, the apostle Paul prays for the Philippian church, “that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.” Love is often equated with feelings in our culture, but our goal as youth pastors is to help students ground that love in knowledge, which will ultimately help them grow in their faith. That knowledge includes theology—so for students to become mature Christians, they must have a strong theological foundation to their faith.
