For me Jesus Christ is THE thing and the center of my
faith. Youthfront's mission reflects this, to bring youth into a growing
relationship with JESUS CHRIST. Scripture, the Church, Christian
History and Thought, have been vital for my faith development.
Additionally theology has
been crucial for my faith journey. Theology
helps me make sense of the world around me, to actively engage in faith
seeking understanding, fueling my faith in the midst of challenging
realities that emerge all around me. Reading Theology is one of the
most devotional and inspiring things I do. I love theology and I love
youth ministry.
Church leaders and members are perplexed by decades of accumulating
and overwhelming data indicating that the Christian church in North
America is failing to form disciples among adolescents who stay
connected to their churches. Church leaderships first question about
youth ministry is often “How many youth came to youth group this week?”
followed by, “Did they have fun?” which is indicative of the reality
that we have gotten way off course. This is more than a youth ministry
problem – this is a broader church problem.
I’ve been a proponent along with many associates, for a theological
turn in youth ministry. Theology is the study of the nature of God and
religious belief. A more serious encounter with faith, scripture, and
truth is desperately needed. Entertaining young people is NOT enough to
build a sustainable Christian faith. We cannot expect cheesy religious
platitudes to satisfy the curiosity and intelligence of most young
people who are examining the validity of Christianity.
Some Christians have downplayed the role of theology. But the reality
is we’re all theologians, whether we know it or not. Theology has to
do with what and how we think about God and who God is. Every human
being is thinking about God and who God is. C.S. Lewis declared, “If
you do not actively engage in theology it does not mean you will have no
ideas about God, it will mean that you have a lot of wrong ideas about
God.”
Theology and theological reflection are a necessity for youth
ministry to be true to Christianity and engage in Christian Formation
that witnesses the salvation of young people and the development of
disciples of Jesus Christ. Certainly a theological turn in youth
ministry is fuel for a much-needed correction of youth ministry practice
and the progression of Christian formation. The bottom line – If you
want to do youth ministry that makes a difference you have to do
theology. What does that mean and how does it work?
I believe today’s young adults are eager to engage in deep
theological reflection that allows them to wrestle with the issues that
are really important and can ultimately bring deep meaning to their
lives. I believe that young people are at a unique place in their
social, physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual development,
which gives them amazing potential to offer significant theological
voices for the whole church. James and Evelyn Whitehead describe
theological reflection as ‘the process of bringing to bear in the
practical decisions of ministry the resources of the Christian faith’.
The role of a theologically minded youth worker is to help young
people make meaning, Christian meaning for their lives. The work of a
Theologian involves – experience, reflection, and action. Helping young
people process issues facing them and their friends are fundamental to
theological reflection. Youth ministry is a wonderful opportunity to
engage in theologically robust ministry. Christian practice and
ministry will consistently raise questions related to faith, ethics and
action. Theology is engaged in most productively as a reflection of
ministry. By asking, “What was that experience all about?” Where is
God in this situation? What is our human responsibility? Who is Jesus
for me in my everyday existence and life? This is the kind of thinking
necessary if we are going to truly build disciples of Jesus Christ that
stay actively involved in the church and serve the mission of God.
At Youthfront we strive to curate the kind of environments that allow
young people to engage in honest theological reflection and dialogue
because it fuels faith. Often churches don’t do this because they are
fearful that questioning and critical thinking leads away from faith to
unbelief. The questions our youth wrestle with are often profound and
are the same questions that have perplexed theologians over two
millenniums.
Theologian David Tracy, believes that “two primary sources of
theology are the Christian texts and common human experiences, and the
task of theology is to investigate and correlate the two, in order to
‘show the adequacy of the major Christian theological categories for all
human existence.” At Youthfront we try to employ all of the sources of
theological reflection – scripture, tradition, reason, religious
experience, personal experience, community experience, culture, and
Christian practices. In all this process we uphold the Lord Jesus
Christ as the object of our faith, because salvation is the work of
Christ alone.
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