In defense of cramming Jesus down their throats

Group, Nov/Dec 2002 by Lawrence, Rick

youth ministry minute

GIVE AND TAKE

The gospel phrases "narrow road," "one way," and "I am" are as scandalous today as they were when Jesus first uttered them. Prod someone to give up all the other entrees in the truth cafeteria to follow Jesus alone, and you'll get a long look at their retreating backside.

Or will you? The truth is, I think the previous two paragraphs represent a fading conventional wisdom.

Most of today's Millennial teenagers are in no danger of a Jesus-cramming. Instead, they've had option, choice, and diversity crammed down their throats since preschool. Every day they sit at a cultural table heaped with "truths" while pop stars, actors, and marketers urge them to "eat, eat" like an Italian grandmother.

Well, I think kids are literally sick of eating junk truths. They sense their own obesity. They're tired of gorging themselves on sweet beliefs. They're craving real food-an exclusive, capitalT truth.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch journalist Colleen Carroll spent a year asking more than 500 young people what was drawing them to orthodox Christianity. The result is a new book, The New Faithful: Why Young Adults Are Embracing Christian Orthodoxy (Loyola Press).

Christianity Today asked Carroll why young people are so spiritually hungry.

"The hunger comes from a lot of different places," she responded. "If you feel like you weren't fed growing up, then you're going to have intense hunger So some of it is just 'I didn't get what I need from my church.'" (For more on Carroll's observations, see the TrendWatch article "How Orthodoxy Got Hip" on page 16.)

Later in the interview, Carroll says kids are craving the "hard gospel." What might that look like in your ministry?

1. Fill their environment with "raw truth" music.

Read an interview with some Christian bands, and you'll hear the lead singer saying something like, "We don't hide our Christianity but we don't cram Jesus down their throats either." Well, that won't cut it anymore.

The hottest trend in pop music is "emo," short for "emotional." It's a strange label because it's slapped on everything from alternative to hard to electronic-you name it. The one thing that makes it emo is the artist's intense, personal lyrics and underproduced music. It's raw. The way Rich Mullins was raw on almost every album. And it's one reason why today's intensely personal worship music is so hot with kids. Look for Christian music that dares to "cram," and you'll hit a nerve with them. A good place to start is our free CCM Comparison Chart, which you can access at www.MinistryandMedia.com.

2. Invite them into "raw truth" experiences. Get your teenagers involved in anything that forces them to live the gospel, then watch the sparks fly. I'm talking about mission trips (go to www.teenmania.com for help), workcamps (find out about Group workcamps at www.group workcamps.com), street evangelism (for ideas, go to www.christianity .com/dare2share), campus Bible clubs (check out www.youthworkers.net for tips), evangelistic coffeehouses, youthled worship bands... you name it.

3. Challenge them with "raw truth" messages. The nice Jesus that we've concocted in an effort to "sell" kids Christianity is, well, boring to today's teenagers.

John E Kennedy mobilized a generation of young people who were a lot like your kids with these words: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." A loose youth ministry translation is: "Tell not what God can do for your young people, tell them what they can do for God." Jesus gathered his followers with a curt "Follow me!"

He told them most people were headed for destruction, and only a few were walking "the narrow way." He told them they'd have to eat his flesh and drink his blood to have any part of him. He told them to turn the world upside down with the gospel.

In short, he crammed himself down their throats, then said "Go and do likewise."

by rick lawrence

Rick Lawrence is executive editor of group Magazine.