Reaching Youth
When it comes to parenting, I've mastered the art of keeping little fingers out of electric outlets as well as getting a two-year old to say "pardon" when needed.
I can't sale myself as a parent genius. I have two years experience and am not yet sure that I've done anything correctly. We struggle with the potty training thing and the hateful "NO."
However, I love young people. Teens are great and I love ministering to them. Though I'm learning to parent youth, I feel fairly confident in my ability to minister to youth. Here are a few principles that I believe can make an adult an excellent mentor, or minister, to young people.
- Earn the right to be heard. Just as the "Generation Gap" of the 60s, today's youth experience what we call "alienation." They've seen community coaches violate young people, pastors prove to be faithless, and parents fail their obligations. Trust acts as the foundation to every relationship. If we want relationships, we must first build trust.
- Maintain unconditional friendship. Teens, though no longer children, haven't quite reached adulthood. In other words, they still learn responsibility and make mistakes. If you want to reach youth, you must be loyal. Master the art of friendship through failures.
- Relationships evolve. Consider Christ's relationship with Peter (I may do an entry just on this next). It was certainly one in which Peter was out of control and often brain dead. In the end, Peter said, "Be sober, be vigilant." It took time for Peter to reach such a mature stage.
- Success is not always measurable. A professor from Clemson once laughed at me when I told her about the concept of spiritual mentors. Her criticism was almost right, "You wont ever know whether you've really been successful or not." Don't be discouraged. Though the success may not be seen, we know that our labor for Christ is never in vain, which pretty much guarantees success.
- It's a sin to bore a kid. Jim Rayburn, founder of Young Life, drilled this into his volunteers' heads. Teens love excitement and adventure. The great thing, we have a God that provides just the things He created us to desire. However, if you can't get excited and won’t embrace the adventure, you let kids down.
