Rabbit + Foxes = A Need For Balance

DeVries in chapter 12 of Family-Based Youth Ministry talk about the relationship between rabbits, foxes and their populations. When rabbits have a large population, the fox population begins to rise. When the fox population is big, rabbit population declines. It is a perpetual cycle. He uses this story as a metaphor for how youth ministry has dealt with problems. Youth ministry has been focused on students for a long time. now, youth ministry is shifting its focus toward families. However, if youth ministries just shifts from one extreme to the next, what good is that? A good example of this is the family-integrated model. If youth ministry shifts to this extreme, it is probable that in another decade, we would realize the importance of focusing on the student and shift away from the family to the other extreme. The perpetual cycle with continue.

It is important to be aware that both focus on youth and focus on family is important to the successful training of youth. DeVries agrees with this statement (p. 175). We, as youth ministers, must work hard not only to properly train youth, but to make sure that the focus of youth ministry stays balanced between students and family.

Discipling–A New Concept

     While reading chapter 11 of DeVries book, I realized something that has not been on my radar as far as youth ministry goes: discipling. The point of Christianity is not to just create converts; it is to help them develop and grow in their faith. It seems to obvious, especially since one of my professors preaches it in most of his classes, but it is very easy to overlook. When creating programs, focusing on getting kids to Christ is always a main goal. It is the first and foremost goal of ministry. However, that is not where it ends. If we ended ministry there, we would be dropping newborn Christians on their heads and walking away, leaving them for the wolves to devour or raise. I am writing this as a reminding to myself and all those who read this. Do not forget about disipling your students. If you do, all the hard work you have done to that point will be in vain.

We Can Do Nothing

In chapter 11 of Family-Based Youth Ministry, Mark DeVries reminds us of something really important for youth ministry: by ourselves, we can do nothing. It is very humbling and hard to hear, but it is the truth. We are not the ones who make youth turn to God, we just give them the opportunity and let God work in them. We do not make them learn, we give them the opportunity to learn. This is something that I have going to have to remind myself of everyday. I love to fix things. I love to troubleshoot. Being able to make something work better or predict how something will act is fun and relaxing to me. But I cannot use this attitude toward youth ministry, for it is not me who is working in them. It is God who works in them and we are just along for the ride. We must remember that we can do nothing on our own.

Family Equipping Model - What I Liked

I like this model as a great mid-way point between family integrated ministry and family based ministry. This model recognizes the importance of parents in training their children int he Lord, but also recognizes the importance of age specific teaching for all generation. It actually uses an idea that I had for implementing family ministry: training and teaching the parents about the importance of training their children in Christ. I think a huge reason that parents do not train their kids in Christ is that they do not feel qualified. Thus why they naturally default to a minister who is trained in teaching their children about the Lord. If youth ministers can give these parents the tools they need, parents will gain confidence in training their children.

I also like that this model recognizes that an important part of successfully training children is a collaboration between the parents and the church. It is not to be a competition for the time of a child. It should be a partnership that is working towards the training of the child to help them toward a lasting relationship with Jesus Christ.

Family-Integrated Model-What I Don’t Like

One of the main issues that I have with this model is that it is completely eliminating any age-oriented activities and teaching. The though behind this is that age-segregation is causing a rift between children and families. However, this approach ignores all of the research that shows that age-oriented teaching and training are beneficial for learning and retention.

Along those same lines, this model claims that adolescence does not exist. This thought  completely ignores the fact that humans go through developmental stages, with each stage having a completely different brain chemistry and structure to work with. Adolescence is not just a cultural phenomena that encourages teens to explore different clothing and spend lots of money; it is a time when the brain of a teenager is unbalanced, causing them to be hyper aware of the emotions of others while lacking the logistical power to rationally deal with that information. This causes them to be unstable. This is brain science, not a recent cultural happening.

I also do not like that this model seems to ignore singles. Though Renfro claims this is not the case, all activities and structures of the church are designed to minister to families. Not anyone else.