I want to share these few verses from Jeremiah 1:4-8. These verses are close to my heart, when I first stumbled across them three or four years ago, they really grabbed me. I’m sure you are all familiar with them: “The word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” “Ah, Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.” But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD.” This about sums it up my message of encouragement to you as church leaders.

I recently moved here to Edmonton with my family from Texas. When we lived in Texas, I was part of a youth group of about fifteen or twenty kids. Our youth group was small but I loved them each dearly. We had a youth band that played at local schools for different occasions. Every year at least five of us went on summer missions trips. Young adults, former members of our youth group, were just down the road at Honor Academy, a Christian College, and they would come teach us from time to time. Each summer, when the heat came in full force, we attended two camps, Extreme Camp and Mission Jerusalem. Extreme Camp is… Well, extreme, but my main focus is Mission Jerusalem. It’s just a week spent serving our community, in a ministry/missions minded sort of way. In the morning we did various activities. A few examples would be to go play cards with people in the nursing homes, repair houses, teach inner city kids how to play baseball, or walk miles in the severe summer heat to tell all the neighbors within walking distance about the block parties we would be throwing that evening.

Now, the block parties are where it’s at. Completely youth run, we served food, had water slides, music, dramas, a teen would share their testimony, and then a pastor from one of the churches would speak, and give the gospel. Faithfully, each evening, God showed His power as people finally heard His voice, and came to know Him. My youth group, of twenty kids at its most, would join with nearly ten other churches to unify almost a hundred kids. So that gives you about one hundred plus teens. Our pastors didn’t think small, because we were a small group. Instead, they used us in every way possible, and as a result a ton of our neighbors and friends came to know the Lord! It was an incredible thing to be a part of.

I moved here, to Ellerslie Road Baptist Church and I was simply overwhelmed by the youth group alone, not to mention the whole church. Almost two hundred students attend ERBC’s youth group-that’s way more than our Mission Jerusalem crew. Do you see it? Each of us has our own little army and when we all join together, our army is not so small.

The youth that participate in today’s church are a powerful people. In our young age we see past the different obstacles that may block our dreams, rather we have many visions of things to come. From visions come ideas, and from ideas come actions. And since we don’t see all those obstacles, we are willing to take more risks. If you say risks are irresponsible, I must say that I disagree with you. In the ministry, risks are all you can take, but by then, I don’t call them risks, I call them “God’s impulse.” Simply because any “risk” that you take which brings even just one person one step closer to the Lord is an act of God, and is well worth your while.

Behind our actions there is drive and passion, and with our passion you find a seemingly endless source of energy. So now, you have a small army; one fueled with ideas, with passion and energy, and with Jesus standing within, alongside, and in front of your troops. My challenge to you is: are you letting us fight? Are you letting us lead?

In a recent study I read about, there are statistics that tell us: eighty percent of teens that graduate from high school stop attending church after graduation. Studies also show that by the time I’m an adult only five percent of my generation will remain Bible believing Christians. When this particular study went public, people scoffed at the possibility, so the professor tested it again and proved it (the study) wrong, as our society had predicted. Only he didn’t prove himself wrong in a positive way; instead, he proved that only four percent – not five – of my generation would remain in the church. Something is wrong with this picture. Four percent!? What can we say for ourselves? What efforts are we making towards my generation, to the generations before and after mine, especially after?

Can you look me in the eye and tell me that you pray daily for your own youth group? Do you concern yourselves with their activities and/or spiritual health? I’m saying this as a simple fourteen year old begging you to understand that we are more than just the rowdy kids down the hall who play their music too loud. We aren’t just the teens who will someday grow up, and perhaps be called into ministry to work together with you. We are not the church of tomorrow; we are the church of today. We are a church full of possibilities; we are awaiting your command.

God has gifted teens with gifts I’m sure you’re all familiar with. The gift of leadership, the ability to inspire others with words, the gift of servant hood, of song and of music, of dance and drama, the gift of laughter, the ability to make others laugh, the gift of creativity, the gift to sit and listen… All of this in addition to the spiritual gifts that are given to every believer. I happen to believe that God has equipped your youth group with the perfect combination of all these gifts and many others; there is not a single teen in your youth group who is there by chance. Just because we are youth, does not mean Romans 12 does not apply… specifically vss. 5- 8: “We are many, but we form one body, and we belong to each other… and verse 11 charges us: “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor serving the Lord.”

So you have your numbers, your small army. There is a need, and your army is perfectly fit to fill it. My generation needs God, and you and I both know it. The church is not doing anything wrong, I simply wonder if we’re doing enough. Now, if the goal of your church is to entertain your youth, than you’re probably accomplishing your goal. But secular teenagers don’t need to find ways to be entertained better. Oh believe me; they can handle that by themselves. However, your youth know best how to reach their friends. They understand technology, they know what’s “in,” what’s “cool.” They are best equipped to help you reach out to a generation that needs our help, not our entertainment.
The thing is, your teens supply you with a bottomless well of talent, but those gifts that God has given them need to mature. So, as I challenge you to let your teens lead, the obvious hindrance is that we don’t know how. Maybe we’ve never been taught, in fact, most of us haven’t even identified our own spiritual gifts. We’re not mature enough to take on that responsibility. We’re not mature because we haven’t been discipled in that area of our faith. So before we can lead among our peers, you will have to sign on to a major contract of patience, time, planning, and commitment. If you’re willing to let us lead, you will have to help us. 1 Peter 2:2 tells us to “crave spiritual milk so we can grow up in our faith,” some of us may have received our “spiritual milk” but most of us can’t eat solid food in big bites. We’re still just nibbling.

I’m not sure I am doing an adequate job of communicating my thoughts to you… I certainly don’t profess to be able to lay out a plan for the perfect solution. I simply came here to remind you that while you were asking, “What’s Next?” you need to remember, “Who Next?” as well. I became so convicted this fall, about many things, and one of them was that maybe today’s teen is misunderstood… and therefore under- challenged… and under-used. Several things at the ERBC Harvest Banquet motivated me to come forward and speak up, nothing bad, just the things I’ve presented to you today. I want you to realize that for every youth that might be lamely attending your program because their parents force them, or they have nothing better to do, there is another that is dying to do more, learn more, be challenged, and be taught the Bible in applicable ways that will inspire us to step up and serve our generation, to make a difference, to lead, and change the looming statistics that predict our spiritual future. You have an army… and even if it is small… God is big

Yours truly, Maggie Green
(Used by permission, January 2010)

A good resource for keeping abreast of youth and culture, regularly consult: “Center for Parent\Youth Understanding: Understanding Culture to Impact Culture” Available at: http://www.cpyu.org/Default.aspx
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Tags: leadership, youth