The Deep and Wide Leader

by Phil Bell of Life Church in Canton, MI.

It stands to reason that it’s not a good idea to buy hair products from someone with no hair. It stands to reason that you should not go to a dentist who has teeth like Austin Powers. It should stand to reason that our students will not likely pursue God passionately if it is not modeled for them. It should also stand to reason that students will not intensely pursue their friends for Jesus if they do not see key people in their lives doing the same. Therefore, If you and I want to see students become passionate about God (Deep) and passionate about reaching their friends for Him (Wide), we need to ask some honest questions of ourselves:

• How are we modelling this for them?
• What passion for Jesus do the students see in us?
• What do our lives display to make the gospel worth intensely following? 

Before I go further, let’s pause for a minute… I want to be clear that you and I ultimately are not the answer to what students need. Jesus is! But we are certainly a guide and shepherd to help them discover and embrace Him.  Therefore, do students see someone before them who can be trusted to lead the way? They need someone who will navigate an exciting path with and for them. Do they see passion and authenticity evident in our lives and will they follow us as we follow Jesus? 

I believe that when we read 1 Thessalonians Chapter 1, we are given a great picture of the power of example to the students around us:

You know how we lived among you for your sake. ⁶You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. ⁷And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. ⁸The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere.     – 1 Thessalonians 1:5b-8

In this chapter I am challenged by the idea that faith is caught more than it is taught as students become imitators of us and of the Lord. And the key is not to be their hero or best friend. The key is to be an authentic Christ follower who students want to become like. As you and I imitate Him, our lives become magnetic to them and they begin to discover and embrace Jesus. What’s more important is this: When these students themselves are living out the deep and wide principles, they too begin to impact their friends, families and communities in ways we would never had imagined. Their faith in God will be known everywhere… Can you begin to dream of what that could look like in some of your students lives in the next few years? 

So, what kind of imitators are your students becoming? Today, take a look at some areas of your leadership and consider what small and important things you can do to model authentic faith to your students. But most of all, take some time today to allow God to fill you up with His presence. What is God saying to you today about who He wants you to become? How will that impact your students? How will impact God’s Kingdom?

Phil Bell
Pastor of Student Ministries
Life Church
www.youthworktalk.com

D&W: pursue

Last week we touched on prayer, which as many of the responses indicated is a vital step in any aspect of ministry.  It plays a critical role in one’s worship of God, relationship with God, and should be the foundation of any evangelistic effort.  If you haven’t read the post on prayer, CLICK HERE and read it before going on.

As we challenge our teens to pray for their lost friends, we need to equip them to pursue those friends on a spiritual level.  Simply, bring God up in conversation.  It doesn’t sound that difficult, but we don’t do it near enough.

Think about it…when people meet me for the first time they are going to learn a few basics: I love my wife and sons, I love Starbucks, while I like the Denver Nuggets I am a hometown fan of the Redskins, Wizards, and Orioles (sorry Nationals – I was raised on Cal Ripken Jr baseball).  Let’s not forgot the critical college sports: Nebraska football and North Carolina basketball.  Even more than all of these things, I love God.  Why in the world wouldn’t I bring that up in causual conversation? 

Hear me on this.  I am not implying that our teens need to present the Gospel in every conversation (but certainly don’t pass up the opportunity if it’s given).  But as a believer in Jesus Christ, why wouldn’t we constantly be relationally and relentlessly seeking out our friends beliefs, sharing our beliefs, and having conversations about those things?

If we are going to talk to God about our lost friends, let’s talk to our lost friends about God.  No pressure, just talk.

D&W: pray

So prayer may sound like something that is more focused on worship vs. discipleship or evangelism.  And I really wouldn’t argue that point.  It does make sense and prayer is definitely a way that we worship God assuming our prayers are interactive (2-way communication) instead of me posting my concerns to God and saying Amen.  Prayer is vital to my worship of God.

Prayer is also a powerful tool when it comes to evangelism.  I would go so far as to say that evangelism that is not fueled by prayer probably sets the stage for the most ineffective evangelism effort one could pursue.  Essentially, you have stacked the cards against yourself.  As you continue to push your teens to share their faith and reach their lost friends for Christ, be sure that their efforts are rooted in prayer. 

Idea – have your teens start praying for a list of their friends who don’t know Christ.  It may just be 1 friend, it could be many more than that.  Simply have them start praying for those friends now.

• Pray for their salvation. 
• Pray for insights into how they can relationally & relentlessly reach them with the Gospel. 
• Pray for their campus and the school year (you don’t have to wait until See You at the Pole). 
• Pray for their Youth Ministry. 

Could you imagine how amazing our Youth Ministries would be and how effective our teens could be if they bathed this next school year, the Dare 2 Share Blaze conference tour, and their friends in prayer starting now? 

Pray!

Follow-up Post to a verse a month…

So every since I posted the D&W Idea of the week about memorizing a verse a month I have been convicted to memorized God’s Word myself.  I still advocate that our teens need to memorize scripture as it is my perception that this is a fading discipline in the church.  That being said, I need to memorize scripture as well for my personal spiritual benefit as well as owning my responsibility and setting the pace for teens that I influence in my small group and the Youth Ministry at Northern Hills.

All of that to say, you should notice a new feature in the upper right hand corner of the Deep & Wide blog page entitled, “MEMORY VERSE FOR JUNE.”  Each month I will provide a new memory verse and invite you to join me in memorizing that verse.

This month’s verse is Ezekiel 33:7, “Now, son of man, I am making you a watchman for the people of Israel. Therefore, listen to what I say and warn them for me.”  It was inspired by today’s Dare 2 Share chapel that Greg share with our staff. 

Beyond memorizing this scripture, my prayer is that I will heed the words of James and apply this to my life as well (James 1:22).

D&W: a verse a month

This week’s idea to help you go “Deep” in your Youth Ministry.

I know, this idea seems so basic and elementary, and it totally is.  Scripture memorization is so simple, yet it seems like it is a fleeting discipline in most Christian circles, let alone Youth Ministries.  Imagine what it would be like if you challenged your teens to memorize one verse a month. 

• In a school year, your teens would be challenged to memorize 8-9 verses.
• In a calendar year, your teens would be challenged to memorize 12 verses.
• By the time your junior high teens passed into high school they could have 36 verses memorized (6th-8th grade).
• By the time a teenager completed 4 years of high school in your ministry they would have memorized 48 verses.
• Think of the teens that just graduated that have been in your group since 6th grade.  They would have memorized 84 verses.

Will all of them memorize every verse?  Maybe not.  But if a few of them memorized all those verses or even if most of them memorized a several of them, you would have an army of teenagers that could recite one verse out of every book of the Bible.  Depending on where you pulled your verses, you could have teens that could recite entire chapters, even books of the Bible!  Think about it.  How cool would it be if we restored the discipline of scripture memorization back into American Youth Minstries.  It could be one step of a journey on the road to changing a generation.

How many verses of the Bible have you memorized?  What’s the first one that comes to mind when asked to recite a verse you have memorized?  I dare ya’ to share it!