Raising Up Leaders
Young adults. We can all agree they are highly valued as they carry the future of the church on their tech-savvy shoulders, but how to reach them can also create confusion and frustration with many in the church. How do we reach, train, and mobilize students who can still sleep in past 9am several days a week, are still figuring out who they are, and are admittedly self-focused.
The answer is we must.
When my wife Erin and I first set foot at Grace Church of Simi Valley, the challenge we were given was to “reach the next generation in the church”. That was a simple idea with vast implications. Like many churches, Grace Simi had seen a generation of young families raise their kids, saw them leave for college, and now faced the uncomfortable reality of an aging church. Training the “younger” people in the church was a matter of not only health, but viability since this group would be the next generation of young families, leaders, pastors, and missionaries.
There were a few guiding principles that drove the ministry to college students:
1) Share the gospel...and your very life – A driving principle for all of life but especially work among college students is found in 1 Thessalonians 2:7-8 which states, “But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.”
Amazingly, young people are just like everyone else: they crave genuine relationship, and they can see through those who pretend they care. Paul’s ministry to the church at Thessalonica was remarkable in its brevity, only serving physically there for weeks, and at the most a few months (Acts 17:1-9). In that short amount of time, a mutual affection had grown between Paul and the people. So much so that Paul described himself as a nursing mother, the epitome of selfless love. Sharing one’s life includes sharing one’s time, probing questions, listening intently, and a willingness to show weakness. Every person longs for someone to take a real interest in them, and when that happens, true relationship follows, which creates fertile ground for the gospel. You do not have to be flashy, wealthy, own a big house or be up to date on the recent cultural trends. You simply need to be willing to share your life as a true friend, which far too many people neglect.
2) Teach and Show a robust ecclesiology – Two areas that we taught over and over: the nature of Biblical relationships (since many at this age are looking for a spouse, or at least they think they are), and a practical ecclesiology. Most students have some experience in the church, but many have not actually connected the Biblical dots as to why the church exists, how it is supposed to operate, and what role they have in it. Some came from youth ministries that were all about them. Some have been segmented off from the other generations in the church. Others have never tasted the goodness of inter-generational relationships (see Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:11).
One of the joys of having young Eric Durso as our intern was having time and space to have “lightbulb” conversations, where he could process the Bible in a way he never did growing up in the church. He grew up in the church but did not have conviction about the church. As he involved himself in the inner workings of planning and teaching, we would talk about the theology behind what we were doing - the why questions that drove everything. When college age students grasp a biblical picture of the church, the future possibilities become inevitable.
3) Invest, invest, and then invest some more – The commitment to reach and train college students needs to be holistic, which requires the human resources of some directly involved (which may require financial sacrifice) and a commitment from the whole. One of the ways to see students learn and grow is to walk with them in serving in children’s ministry, building relationships with the older generation, or doing the physical work no one likes to do.
Each generation has something to offer students. When some of our students began attending Boyce College a couple of months ago, one of the first reports we heard was from a church that offered to take them out to lunch and a place to do their laundry. That was a church that understood how to invest in college students!
4) Give real leadership opportunities – Do not segment college students to college ministry and below, but allow them to use their gifts and abilities in the greater church, even risking them failing at times. College students will rise to the occasion when challenged, and they need room, like Paul gave Timothy, to try and even fail.
The church is always one generation away from losing what it has. One generation away from diminishing its view of the centrality of Scripture, from the systematic preaching of God’s Word, from holding to a gospel message that includes belief and repentance, and from equipping the saints for the work of ministry. Investing in college students who hold convictionally to these truths and are willing to live and die for them is vital. May we see and be a part of the training up and sending out the next generation of workers for the harvest!