Luke 13:8 “And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:”
The common question throughout America seems to be one variation or another of the title: Where are all the teenagers? It can be difficult for ministries to capture their attention. Many ministries have a lot of children, a lot of adults, but when you examine the youth group is it alive? This couple with the paradox that having teens in the pew does not mean teens are in your pews. Attendance does not signify attention. Christians know this and have done everything under the sun to gather young people.
I heard a preacher once say that the teenagers are the excitement and energy in a church. They bring youthful beams of joy to services and programs. The world knows this too. That makes teenagers the most sought-after people in the United States.
Colleges and sports teams are recruiting them, the military branches are drafting them, clubs and hobby groups incentivize them to come. The church is one voice out of many trying to catch the attention of these young people.
What should a church do? Follow the liberal stupor of entertainment? Jam sessions with Jesus and watered down devotionals do not build and keep young people. Follow the carnal draw of fleshly delights? Feeding their flesh with food outings and small league sports with no devotionals in sight is only a stepping stone out of church. Despite how important music is or relatable activities can be for the church, the answer to the missing teens in our churches is growth. Jesus isn’t a club to join or a two day a week commitment that’s signed up for. Jesus is a relationship. A way of life. A supernatural change. Having teenagers means growing teenagers.
The parable of the sower and several other verses of the Bible showcase how the Christian life is a growing life. The answer to “where are the teens?” is “you reap what you sow.” The master came to the fig tree and had not seen fruit for three years. The problem the master had with the fig tree was a production problem. There was no product of plant growth.
1. Grow up.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a pastor, youth pastor, or teen teacher. The fact of life is that your teenagers come from the nursery. The youth group grows from your junior high classes. Those junior classes grow from your primary and junior church ministries.
Those ministries are fed by the nursery with new young people. This means practically speaking you should pray and focus your digging on bringing young couple into your church, and training young people from the bottom up in your ministries. Get them
saved, teach them obedience to the Lord, and develop their relationship with Christ.
This grows teens who aren’t practicing bored repetition in their attendance, but instead have a reason to be at your church.
2. Grow out.
Teenagers reach teenagers. Part of the great commission is teaching our teenagers to obey all things Jesus commanded us – including the great commission itself! If we aren’t training our teenagers to go soul winning or encouraging them to share their faith with others, then you won’t be able to reach teenagers who weren’t grown in your church. A teenagers Christ relationship needs to have the strength and energy to grow outward to produce fruit. Every story is different, but by and large young people are kept through the bus ministry by the friends they connect with in your youth ministry.
Who are your 5th and 6th graders? You should know their names and who they are. Do you have a program for growth? The schools have a program for basketball. They train them up in the way they want them to go. What are we doing to cultivate a
relationship with Jesus in the lives of our young people? Plan your work, work your plan, and reap the benefits.
Jesse Mccammon | Pastor
Flora Calvary Baptist Church | Flora, IL
