I love the youth group I work with! I know that may be something that you might think I am forced to say as the youth minister, but I mean every word. The young people I get to spend time with are such a blessing in my life and in the lives of so many others. They continually show me they have a desire to learn and to grow in their relationships with God and love His word deeply. They encourage and strengthen one another and hold to one another in their times of need. Speaking for myself and my wife, we are so thankful to work with such wonderful teens.
All of this being said, we have a problem. Hear me out—this isn’t a problem that we have here at my congregation directly, but it is a problem that churches everywhere have to deal with. So often, the church views the teens and young adults in the youth group as “the church of the future.” While there is nothing inherently wrong with the statement, it often places an unspoken limit on these youth as to what they think they can do NOW. We easily fail to recognize our youth’s value on the church today, even if we don’t mean to do it!
Youth can have a tremendous impact on who we are as a congregation and on the Kingdom. When we look within Scripture, it is clear that the youth have an incredible value in the eyes of the Father that we need to recognize too. Let’s consider some examples:
- Youth serve as an example of submission. Jesus has children and youth come to Him several times in His ministry. Mark 10:13-15 gives an account of the occasion where the disciples were trying to keep the youth from Jesus. Jesus’ response should be something we pay close attention to. He tells his disciples, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” First, Jesus wanted the children to come to Him—He saw a value in them that the disciples did not. Second, Jesus showed these youth as an example to all. To truly be a part of the Kingdom, we must submit willingly to the Lord. Children are a prime example of what this type of submission looks like, and we should work to imitate their submissiveness.
- Youth serve as an example of faithfulness. In Matthew 21, we read of Jesus’ triumphant procession into Jerusalem and His cleansing of the temple. After everything happened, the priests heard children shouting out and praising Him, saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David” (21:15). The priests immediately are upset by these children’s remarks and quickly confront Jesus on the matter. Once again, pay attention to Jesus’ response: “have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself’?” (21:16). Using a quotation from Psalm 8, Jesus uses the children to show true faithfulness. These young people were able to see in Jesus what the adults could not. Their words of praise to Him are a sign of true belief and faithfulness that we should strive to live out ourselves.
- Youth serve as an example of Christian living. As Paul writes his first letter to Timothy, he takes a moment to note the value of this young preacher’s age. He writes, “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe” (1 Timothy 4:12). While some in the congregation are condescending toward Timothy, Paul highlights how Timothy can shine as an example to all of how a Christian should act and live.
Discussing the value of our youth, a good friend of mine put it this way: “There is a battle between the church and the world for our youth… If our youth don’t find people who care about them in the church, they will find people who care in the world.”* Church, the youth we have are so incredibly special! It would do us a lot of good to look to them as examples, to lift them up and encourage them to use their talents and abilities to serve the Lord and His kingdom. Let’s all work to show the value of our youth!
*https://youtu.be/7hNeNjM-VN8 (this is a great video on this same topic!)
Spiritual Hites 