Here is an article I came across and through that it articulated the evangelism and discipleship tension very well. It is something that is on my mind a lot. enjoy the read and comment here if you would like or at the youth specialties blog (link at the end)
The Evangelism-Discipleship Teeter Totter
I attend a church plant in the Mid-City area of San Diego. It’s a neighborhood filled with hard-working immigrants from all over the world. That part probably isn’t surprising. But this is: My family joined a church without a youth ministry! Up until this point, the priorities of the church haven’t focused on youth ministry. Some mentorship sprang up organically and some short-term stuff was done which were both primarily organic and the result of pursuing other priorities. But there really wasn’t anything you could point to and say, “This is how Harbor reaches adolescents.”
Yesterday, I sat down with a couple pastors from the church to talk about launching a youth ministry this Fall. As much as I’m a youth ministry nut, I agreed with them that up until this point– youth ministry didn’t need to be a priority. There are plenty of other excellent ministries doing a good job in our area among adolescents. This allowed them to focus on reaching other people who weren’t being reached. But now, for a lot of obvious reasons, this is the right time.
As we talked, we talked about designing something that complimented their vision for the church. Creating a ministry leadership that is sustainable, a ministry that meets practical needs, a ministry that complimented the parachurch ministries instead of competed with them, and a few other things you’d expect from 3 guys dreaming about youth ministry over tacos, rice, beans.
For me, a key part of this conversation was understanding what the church wanted to get out of having a youth group. Having done youth ministry for all of my adult life I know that every church leadership team has both stated expectations and unstated expectations. The stated ones are always big and obvious. But the unstated ones take some digging.
The Teeter Totter
Here’s how I understand youth ministry in the church. Maybe this is jaded, but it’s been my experience. As much as we’d like to be an equal, complimentary balance between evangelism and discipleship, it always plays out that one wins. Either evangelism or discipleship becomes the default home. Typically, people of the church desire a ministry heavy on discipleship. Typically, the vision of the church calls for an evangelism focused ministry. And typically the youth worker lives in that tension of seeking a little bit of both.
Dave Rahn and Terry Linhart capture this well in the opening of their new book, Evangelism Remixed:
Our goal is to champion leadership-as-influence for young people. Students who are effective in this largely informal kind of leadership will be marked by courageous and contagious faith, attributed that ensure a timeless connection to the mission of God in the world.
While I understand that the teeter totter eventually favors one side, it’s my hope in walking with Harbor that we can create a balance.
What are your thoughts? Ideas? How do you create balance between evangelism and discipleship?
Youth Specialties » The Evangelism-Discipleship Teeter Totter
One Response
My friend, I have enjoyed this post. I also live in San Diego, although I have never been to this church plant. I’m glad to hear that there is a group trying to reach people in San Diego. Y’all keep up the good work!
As to your question on evangelism and discipleship, I think a church should go all out for evangelism, and mentor for discipleship. It would take some work and some willingness on the part of the old and young to make it work, but it’s the only bona fide youth ministry in the Bible (although I don’t know how old Timothy, Titus, Mark, et al were when they started).