Youth Ministry and Consumerism

In our previous posts, we’ve discussed the failure of traditional children’s and youth programs in the church. As recent studies and our own experience has shown, perhaps programmed, Hollywood quality kids’ ministry isn’t quite the answer for our kids that we’ve hoped for, and an entirely new paradigm is needed if they are to grow up and love Jesus passionately. But what might such a new paradigm look like?

First, a new approach to kid’s ministry must first begin with the rejection of consumerism. Churches are in constant competition with the church down the street to “wow” the kids and woo suburban families who are on a mission to find a church home that’s “best for their kids.” Many youth pastors will admit that much of today’s “youth ministry” is simply elaborate attempts to keep the kids entertained, keeping them in the church, and furthering their position as consumers and “takers”. Though very well intentioned, much of the emphasis of kids’ ministry today is on “fun”: fun kid spaces, fun games, fun songs, and fun pizza parties. It’s not the church’s fault this is the case, nor is it the students’; it’s the inevitable reality produced by today’s consumer church climate. Everyone knows that if the kids don’t have fun at your church, they’ll have it at the church down the street, and you’ll lose the opportunity to minister to those kids.

I am not at all saying that kids and youth ministry can’t or shouldn’t be fun. No kid wants to go to church and be bored to tears. Bands and lock ins, social events and games have their place in youth ministry; but it’s important to recognize that their effectiveness is limited. If our only goals for our kids are to keep them off the streets, off drugs and in church on Sundays, these things are of tremendous value. If mere sin avoidance is the goal, simple entertainment might hold the answer for our youth. However, if our goal for our kids is transcendence of American consumerism, full devotion to Christ, passionate evangelism, and countercultural living in adolescence and beyond, a radically different model is needed.

Your child might enjoy going to traditional kids’ church on Sunday morning, and that’s great. The highlight of his week might be Sunday morning, and that’s a good thing. He might even learn a few Bible verses, and that’s fantastic. But on a deeper level, is that experience changing him for the better? Does that ministry help him better exhibit the fruits of the Spirit? As a result of his Sunday morning experience, does he love better? Does he have more self control? It is these outcomes that should be the benchmark for a youth ministry’s success. To quote the Barna Group’s David Kinneman: “A new standard for viable youth ministry should be- not the number of attenders, the sophistication of the events, or the ‘cool’ factor of the youth group - but whether teens have the commitment, passion and resources to pursue Christ intentionally and wholeheartedly after they leave the youth ministry nest." I wonder if we define success in youth ministry in far different terms than we should.

Perhaps our best efforts at youth ministries have failed because they don’t offer our children enough. Perhaps many of today’s youth ministries offer mere fleeting diversion to our children when they should be offering them a call to radical living instead. Shane Claiborne suggests that if our youth leave the church, it isn’t because we don’t entertain them enough, but because we don’t dare them enough. Perhaps they reject the gospel not because we make it too difficult, but because we make it too easy. As another has said, we significantly cheat our children when we imply by our actions that vital discipleship can exist without a life of evangelism and compassionate service. It is only when our children see the radical alternative Christ offers to consumer living that they will truly embrace His call to live for Him.

For this reason, a radical church should offer its youth a call to something more. Imagine a youth ministry where our kids are encouraged to not settle for mere entertainment, but seek to make a difference in the world at large. Imagine a church where our children and teenagers see their parents knee deep in the needs of a world desperate for Christ instead of mired in the quicksand of consumerism. Imagine a church where our youth witness the mighty and miraculous hand of God in their midst on a regular basis. Imagine a church that is built on the premise that true believers give rather than receive. This is the kind of church that has the potential to change the world, one generation at a time.