rvaYM

Breaking the fast for one post before the New Year:

Primal, Mark Batterson

I wanted to hate it. I really did. Just a page or two into the introduction, and I was convinced Primal wouldn’t be any different than any other book criticizing modern Christians for being “lukewarm.” I knew it was going to rant and rave through 192 pages. I was convinced that I would drag myself through and write the obligatory blog post.*

But when I hit the first chapter, my perspective changed. Batterson walked me through a reinvigoration of loving God with all (more) of my heart, soul and mind. His early admission of his personal fascination with science uncovers itself in nearly every chapter. While at times it appears that illustrations are injected for the sake of an illustration, the stories each add a layer to Batterson’s point and provide credence to his writing style. He’s well-read and well-thought, and writes out the intersection of faith in God and the intricacy of creation and science.

Primal is exciting. It’s inspirational and encouraging. It makes me eager to seek out God more clearly in my life. The early fear of an angry author attempting to change “the next generation” was thrown out the window along the way. Batterson’s personal creativity, both in his own life and in ministry, speak to me.

I didn’t hate it. In fact, far from it.

*my copy of Primal was provided by Multnomah Books, the publisher of the book. No other compensation was provided.

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JM already posted about our time with Doug Murren last week. Another point he made stuck out to me — especially after hearing it twice [I also spent Tuesday with Doug at Fairview at River Club in Fredericksburg, and he told the story in both contexts].

Doug said that a few years back, they studied assimilation/visitor follow-up in two different style churches. One church had a 12-step follow-up process, and the other church did nothing. Doug found that both churches assimilated the same number of visitors. Why? Because 85% of people who visit a church already have a relationship with somebody in that church. When they visit, the assimilation is dependent upon the pre-existing connection. Some stay, others do not.

Last Monday, Kara Powell at Fuller Youth Institute also posted about 85%. She writes that Dr. Christian Smith at the National Study of Youth and Religion recently published a book where he says “that 85% of those 18-23 who have ever made a commitment to God did so before age 14.” That makes me even more excited about LSM at Gayton!

Also last Monday, I stopped in at Ukrop’s for a quick grocery shopping trip. Their Monday sale item was 85% beef. [this really has nothing to do with the other two points, aside from referencing 85%].

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Bible. Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2009.”]

The [Expanded

Really, you can’t review the text itself. You can review how it was written and the style, but not the content.

Thomas Nelson released The [Expanded] Bible this summer with praise from John Ortberg. Based off the New Century Version [NCV], The [Expanded] Bible takes the original text of Scripture and fleshes out English words with multiple meanings and expanded descriptions in order to more fully understand the movement of the text. For instance, John 3:16 reads this way:

[For] God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only [only; unique; only begotten; 1:14, 18] Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost [perish], but have eternal life.

Would I use this Bible on a regular basis? Really, I probably should. As I read through a passage, it would help me re-tell the story by knowing more of the true essence of the original text. I don’t use the NCV on a regular basis, though, so that makes it slightly more difficult. It does give a good glimpse into another way of reading Scripture, but I think I’ll wait until the full Bible is released in this style.

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Doesn’t every church have a vision?

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Tim Schmoyer posted  “Why I’d rather combine Jr. And Sr. High at Youth Group,” and outlined his reasoning. I want to respond with the opposite position.

1.) High school kids can leave a huge impact on jr. highers.
I don’t discount the fact that high schoolers can have a great influence on middle schoolers. Over the Christmas break, a 7th grader walked up to a college freshman who had just returned and said, “Hey Patrick!” They had a brief conversation, and then Brian said, “Well, I just wanted to come say hi,” and walked away. It was obvious that there existed a deep connection of respect between the two of them.
But in the weekly ministries with youth, I would rather separate these two groups.

There is a time and a place for mentoring to take place — but there is also a need for both of these age groups to act their age. They need teaching that is focused to their place in life. They need an environment that will allow them to worship God as kids, which is really what they are — without the burden of always being looked up to. While the rest of the world is speeding up their socialization to adulthood, our youth ministries should be places where they can experience childlike faith, a refuge from the storm of life.

I see every week the middle schoolers acting like they have seen the high schoolers act. We don’t have a bad group of high schoolers — but if they are always “on” as mentors, then they won’t be as effective as leaders.

There are times (certain retreats, certain fellowship “events,” certain mission opportunities) that should be made available for these types of mentoring relationships to occur. But in the week-to-week ministry of the church, I believe that when you can, Jr. and Sr. High should be separated.

Tim invited responses, but asked to “get past all the general reasons like, ‘They’re at different places in life.’” I don’t think you can get past that. The developmental psychology indicates differently. For the sake of the argument, since all of the adults in the church can have such a big impact on our youth, should our Bible studies be combined? This is the Inclusive Congregational approach in Four Views of Youth Ministry.

2.) It models what the body of Christ is all about
3.) It shapes a healthier view of church for their adult years
Jesus’ disciples were not in an open group for all people. Sure, Jesus wanted the Church to be open to all. And in the weekly worship of the church (all ages — toddler to senior adults), this happens. In the weekly fellowship of the church this happens. It doesn’t have to happen all the time: there are times for large groups and there are times for small groups. We need times and places where groups are broken off for small group dynamics, deeper questions and quality conversations.
I think it is the responsibility of the church as a whole to help form our youths’ views of the church for their adult years. This is part of the conversation and debate in Four Views of Youth Ministry. Youth ministry is but one part of the church, and the church should honor and respect that as they include the youth in other aspects of ministry across generational gaps.

Digging deeper
Let’s go back to the “five purposes of youth ministry” that Doug Fields outlined in Purpose-Driven Youth Ministry: worship, fellowship, discipleship, outreach and mission/justice. In worship and mission/justice, I don’t think boundaries should/need to exist about what is “together” and what is “separate.” If the scheduling of your youth ministry necessitates youth worship opportunities being separate, so be it. I talked to a youth pastor who combines Jr/Sr High for worship, separates for discussion and reconvenes for the message. But my preference is that for the vast majority of youth ministry events and opportunities, middle school and high school are separate.

What this really boils down to is that there is a time, a place and a season for both “sides” of this argument. It’s both/and, and we cannot simply place our ministry into a box. When we start thinking inside a box, we lose sight of the greatness of our God.

And countering Tim, just for the record, my youth ministry is combined into Jr. and Sr. High — but that may change soon as the church moves through this transition.

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