Letting the Bible talk
CMS Co-Mission Partner Jotham Booker works with the Christlige Gemeinde Karlsfeld church in Munich. Among other ministries, Jotham leads a small youth group of Year 6 and 7 boys. Here, he explains why he made a deliberate decision to emphasise Bible reading over entertainment.
Our goal, simply put, was to let the Bible talk to us about Jesus. Our reasoning was that “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” (Romans 10:17)
When I took on a role as a pastoral worker in a church of roughly 100 people, one of the first tasks I was given was to raise up a youth group and train youth leaders. I started with the question: ‘What kind of youth (and youth leaders) does God want to raise?’
The answer to that question is as obvious as it is profound: God wants committed followers of Christ. Jesus himself said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Mark 8:34)
God wants disciples who “take up their cross and follow”. Youth leaders should seek to ‘lead’ youth towards that path, by word and by example.
Entertainingly ordinary ministry
This conviction made me start a very ordinary youth ministry. We play games, we read the Bible, we pray, we have supper. That’s pretty much it.
I was upfront with the youth that we were not going to try to offer them amazing entertainment on Friday nights. Yes, we were going to have plenty of fun, and we’d try to make our time as engaging as possible. But entertainment was not the main goal (after all, the ‘world’ is much better at entertainment, and would win such a competition).
Our goal, simply put, was to let the Bible talk to us about Jesus. Our reasoning was that “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” (Romans 10:17).
Small but committed
I wish I could tell you that all the youth who started coming to our little group of twelve (we only had those from years 6 and 7) were on board with our vision for the group. But that’s not true. After three or four months, roughly half of them had left for various reasons—though I think some were definitely looking for more entertainment. Of course, I have questioned our approach because of that.
But while we’ve made mistakes, our basic approach wasn’t one of them.
True, it did cause some of the youth to find Friday nights not exciting enough. But, by God’s grace, it has also led others to grow in their faith considerably over the past 12 months. It has caused the group to be clear on the gospel and Jesus’ call on our lives. Yes, my heart breaks when I think about the youth who have left. But at the same time, I rejoice in the prospect that—God willing—all who have stayed and those who are yet to (re-)join might grow to be joyful, uncompromising, committed followers and lovers of Jesus.
What will happen next?
We are yet to see what fruits will eventually come from our approach of trying to attract youth with gospel clarity, rather than entertainment. It is one way we seek to live by faith in God’s Word. Will you pray for us to keep thinking deeply about this issue, keep making hard decisions, and believe boldly that God will deliver on his promises?
PRAY
Pray with Jotham and the youth that the church in Munich will see great fruit from their desire to learn from the Bible about how to be followers of Jesus.
