If we want to truly reach today’s teenagers, we must get beyond programs and activities. More than ever, today’s young people need real connections — community. With that in mind, let’s keep the focus of youth ministry on relationships that build into their lives.
Reach Teens by Keeping the Focus of Youth Ministry on These Relationships
- Relationship with God: Make youth ministry about knowing God personally and intimately, not just learning about Him. Get beyond religion or a bunch of rules to presenting a God who cares about them and has their best interests at heart. — to grow to love the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength (Matt. 22:37)
- Relationship with One Another: Face it. Most teens initially attend youth group because of their peer, unless a parent forces them to go. Purposely incorporate activities to build them into a community of believers, not just friends. Give them a taste of Body Life, what God intends the Church to be. — to be able to “encourage one another and build each other up” (1 Thess. 5:11)
- Relationship with the Youth Leader(s): Trust and respect grow out of relationship, not control or superiority. Be affirming and encouraging. Truly listen to them, actively, with your heart, to their feelings and body language, not just their words. Be available. Be a friend … an adult friend, not an overgrown teenager. Be real. Be genuine. — to care for them so much that we delight in sharing our very lives with them, not just the message(1 Thess. 2:8)
- Relationship with the Total Church Body: This is often overlooked in youth ministry. Students need to realize that they are part of something bigger than themselves. If you don’t incorporate them into the total church body while they are still teens, why should they stay in the church when they can no longer attend youth group? Treat them like they are the church of today, not just the church of tomorrow. — to sense they belong as members of the whole Body (Rom. 12:4-5)
Everything we do in youth ministry should be seen as a tool to building these kinds of relationships.
For More: Youth Ministry Resources