Gospelize Your Youth Ministry
Copyright © 2015 by Dare 2 Share Ministries, Inc.
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A D2S Publishing book
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Editor: Jane Dratz
Stier, Greg.
Gospelize Your Youth Ministry: A Spicy “New” Philosophy of Youth Ministry (That’s 2000 Years Old)
ISBN: 9781483559322
What people are saying about…
Gospelize Your Youth Ministry
“Greg Stier takes his infectious heart and razor-sharp mind and pours it into Gospelize Your Youth Ministry in a way that is both inspiring and practical. Greg’s commitment to an evangelism that invites ‘transformation from the inside out,’ especially as lived in and through teenagers, is what drives his ministry and grounds this helpful and detailed resource. What he makes clear from the first pages is that evangelism is not simply a programmatic option among many for youth ministry, but is rather the core reason and outcome of a healthy ministry. In Gospelize Your Youth Ministry, Greg Stier provides the foundation, the plan, and the structure to ensure that the book of Acts lives on in and through your ministry.”
Chap Clark, PhD
Editor and contributor, Youth Ministry in the 21st Century: 5 Views
Professor of Youth, Family, and Culture, Fuller Theological Seminary
“With Gospelize Your Youth Ministry Greg Stier has written a power house book that, I’m convinced, can transform the way youth ministry is done in America (and maybe even across the world)! Based on timeless truths in the book of Acts and the latest evangelism research, this dynamic book unpacks principles that can transform any youth ministry from typical to transformational, from meeting driven to mission driven, from entertainment based to Gospel Advancing. I pray that you and your youth ministry team take the time to read this book slowly, unpack these principles thoughtfully and apply these truths passionately. If you do, both you and your youth ministry will forever be changed.”
Josh McDowell
Author, Speaker, Founder of Josh McDowell Ministry, a division of Cru
“I’ve given my life and ministry to the study of movements, in particular gospel movements. My friend, Greg Stier, gets movements better than most. Born in a movement, catalyst in others, and a student of gospel advancement, reading Greg’s book, Gospelize, is like drinking from a cool mountain stream after climbing a ‘14’er’ like he talks about in the book. This book inspires, and we could use some gospel vision in the church today. But it does more: it equips, and it gives scores of examples of gospelicious movements in our time. Your student ministry needs this book. No, your whole church needs it. Actually, we all do. Read it and be changed. And, advance the gospel!”
Alvin L. Reid, PhD
Professor of Evangelism and Student Ministry/Bailey Smith Chair of Evangelism
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
“Here’s the thing. Too many youth ministry practices function comfortably without Jesus’ interference. A ‘gospelized’ youth ministry risks everything on the premise that Jesus still shows up with love, truth and power when we’re faithful. If you’re called by Jesus to work with kids, this book will urge you to get reacquainted with Jesus’ values for ministry, fix some broken patterns, quit messing around and join the Greatest Multiplication Strategy the world has ever seen. All for Jesus’ glory!!”
Dave Rahn
Senior Vice-President, Youth for Christ/USA
“If we don’t make disciples, we’ve MISSED the assignment! Greg’s new resource, Gospelize Your Youth Ministry, will inspire you to follow your good intentions and to LIVE OUT a deep commitment to making the Gospel core to who you are and how you lead your youth ministry. Thank you, Greg, for sharing these practical ‘how to’s’ and especially for being the most Gospelized Kingdom dude I know!”
Dr. Larry Acosta
Founder and CEO, Urban Youth Workers Institute
“Gospelize Your Youth Ministry comes from a heart, mind and life that understands the impact of evangelism on students like no one else. It is an indispensable read for anyone who aspires to have an impact in their youth ministry context. This book is rooted in the Scripture, practical in its application and balanced between the call for students to both ‘BE’ and ‘DO’ in their Christian life. Applying the principles of this book will revolutionize your youth ministry and could, in fact, focus the direction of student ministry for years to come.”
Kevin Turner, PhD
Professor of Youth Ministry and Theology, Colorado Christian University
“Stier’s Gospelize Your Youth Ministry not only equips me, but inspires me to share my faith and live out the gospel message like the early believers did in the book of Acts.”
Jonathan McKee
Author of Ministry by Teenagers and Real Conversations
“Practical…biblical…inspirational…and very challenging! I’d highly encourage any leader to interact with Gospelize Your Youth Ministry. You will gain new insight into biblical texts and practical strategies to move your ministry forward exponentially.
Dann Spader
Founder, Sonlife and Global Youth Initiative
Dedication
To Jonathan Smith,
who went to be with the Lord
on July 12, 2015.
His passion for God,
love of His Word,
and example of humility
made a life-changing impact on me
and countless others.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Introduction
1. Don’t Just Stand There…Gospelize!
2. The Last Lost Chapter of Acts
3. Mexican Food and Youth Ministry
4. Pray First
5. Start in Your Circle
6. Follow the Leader
7. Go Exponential
8. Conquering Your “14er”
9. Counting What Really Counts
10. Program Your Priorities
11. Beware the Party Poopers!
12. Apostolic Resolve
End Notes
About the Author
Foreword
“Believe it or not evangelism is the one biblical purpose that, for the most part, we suck at. Most of us want to believe we’re passionate about evangelism, but if we are being honest we’d admit we’re unsure how to do it in a way that’s natural and effective…and because of that, we remain frustrated. I’ve invited Greg to help us not suck at evangelism.”
That’s how I first introduced Greg Stier to a room filled with hundreds of youth pastors.
A few of those pastors were more concerned over my choice of word (“suck”) than the fact that they were developing a bunch of teenagers who had no clue or passion for evangelism. Unfortunately, a similar mindset exists amongst youth leaders today—we’re often concerning ourselves over the wrong issues.
A decade ago, I wrote the book Purpose Driven Youth Ministry in an attempt to help leaders figure out how to balance the biblical purposes of (1) evangelism, (2) fellowship, (3) discipleship, (4) ministry and (5) worship. It was my life’s work—my magnum opus if you will. I’ve taught this material all over the world as the book has been translated into dozens of languages. Here’s what’s interesting to me, everywhere I speak about God’s purposes, regardless of the language and culture, the statement and questions are always the same.
Statement: “We do pretty good at four of the five biblical purposes, but we’re terrible at evangelism.”
Question: “How do we empower teenagers to care enough about their relationship with Jesus to share Him with others?”
Now, as a result of this book you’re holding, there is a thoughtful, biblical, practical, empowering and hopeful answer. It’s right here! My prayer is that it will send shockwaves throughout the youth ministry world and change the landscape of evangelism in youth ministry.
Let me be forthright and admit that I’m a big Greg Stier fan. Honestly, if he would have written an “average” book I would still tell people to read his stuff because he’s just a good dude. He’s an amazing communicator, he’s super smart, he’s really, really funny, he’s one of the most passionate people I know, and he’s just a great hang. But, this isn’t just an average book…it’s an excellent book! It’s the clearest articulation I’ve ever read of how evangelism meets youth ministry. Which means I’ll promote it everywhere I go.
Gospelize is Greg’s magnum opus.
This book is the culmination of a life lived in pursuit of helping youth leaders mobilize teenagers to care for those who don’t know Jesus. If you study it, think deeply about, translate it with your current church culture in mind, it has the potential to change you and your youth ministry.
Greg’s ideas don’t come from random stories of exceptionally evangelistic youth leaders, instead he frames everything on the timeless values discovered in the Book of Acts. On every page you can feel Greg’s heart beating to live out these truths personally and help youth leaders embody them practically.
As I read the pages of this book I was reminded of why I felt God’s call into youth ministry so many years ago…because down deep inside, I truly believe that the Good News of Jesus can genuinely heal a broken generation with lasting hope. I’ve seen it play too many times in different youth ministry situations not to believe that a teenager’s life can be totally redirected as a result of Jesus. I’m guessing you believe the same to be true and that’s why you’re even [at least] slightly interested to better understand youth ministry and evangelism.
Trust me, this book will refresh you, encourage you, and re-focus you on the original Jesus mission that got you into ministry. In addition, it will help you develop a plan of action that will transform the way you view and do youth ministry for the rest of your life. As you learn more about evangelism, I encourage you to think deeply about how evangelism connects with the other biblical purposes—it can deepen your discipleship efforts, ignite your ministry opportunities and enhance your fellowship. Apply these ideas with love, humility and consistency and you’ll find yourself and your teenagers engaging more fully in worship. God’s purposes are waiting to be lived-out in you and the youth ministry He has entrusted to you.
Let’s stop sucking at evangelism.
Thanks, Greg, for helping us do just that!
Doug Fields
Youth Pastor of 30+ years
Author of 50+ books
Co-founder of Downloadyouthministry.com
Introduction
I am the result of a Gospel Advancing Ministry.
The church that reached me and my entire family for Christ was a rare breed, indeed. It had a passionate, purposeful focus on reaching teenagers with the gospel. As a result, thousands—that’s right, thousands—of teenagers across the Denver metropolitan area were transformed by the good news of Jesus.
Although Colorado Bible Church typically only had a few hundred adults attending on the average Sunday morning, at one point, it had over 800 teenagers in the youth group! Our group was called “Christian Youth Ranch.” While this strange moniker might sound more like a home for troubled teenagers, it was instead a vibrant, focused, massive sea of newly believing teenagers who had been radically transformed by the power of the gospel.
Ralph “Yankee” Arnold was the ring leader of this exciting gospel advancing circus. Technically, he was a church planter and a pastor, but down deep inside, he was just a youth leader in Senior Pastor clothing.
He’d initially come to Denver to reach teenagers for Jesus, and found that he had to start a church in order to fund his endeavor. So that’s exactly what he did.
Yankee’s daddy was a counterfeiter from the backwoods of Georgia who’d headed to the North when he was on the run from the law. When his baby boy was born in a Northern state, the father nicknamed the boy D*@# Yankee.
We just called him Yankee.
When he planted this church and started this youth ministry, it felt like an anomaly. Here was this Southern-twanged preacher nicknamed “Yankee” with the swagger of an Elvis and the charisma of a Clooney, who planted his flag in the Denver suburb of Arvada. With his King James Version of the old Scofield Reference Bible and his passion for teenagers, he was ready to reach the city for Jesus—or die trying.
And he certainly could have.
Yankee would do anything to reach teenagers—and I mean anything. I remember once he challenged the teenagers to bring their friends out to youth group, and if they did, he would run “The Egg Gamut.” Yankee bought hundreds and hundreds of eggs, dressed himself up in thick clothing and armed a 100-yard long line of teenagers with all the eggs they could throw. When the whistle blew, Yankee ran the gamut from one end of the line to the other as teenagers threw the painful projectiles right at him. He looked like a smashed and mashed omelet mix, complete with egg shells stirred in, by the time he reached the end of the line.
But he didn’t care. Teenagers were there. They’d all go into the church auditorium and sing for a bit while he cleaned up. Then Yankee would come out and share the good news of Jesus with the crowd and give them an opportunity to say “yes” to Jesus.
Sometimes it was 100-foot banana split night. Other times, it was a movie night. That’s where I first saw A Thief in the Night—for those of you old enough to remember this so-bad-it’s-good rapture movie. It was fun. And it was focused on one thing…gospel advancement.
And Yankee took the gospel beyond Arvada. He reached into North Denver, where my rough-and-tumble family members ruled the streets. You see, I don’t come from a typical, pasty-white, church-going, hymn-singing, Bible-reading family. I come from a family full of body-building, tobacco-chewing, beer-drinking thugs (and that’s just the women)!
Seriously, three of my five uncles were bodybuilders, the fourth one was a power lifter who could bench press 500 pounds and the fifth one was a Golden Gloves boxer. All of them could fight. And most of them enjoyed it.
The Denver version of the mafia knew my uncles as “The Crazy Brothers.” So when the mafia thinks your family is dysfunctional, that’s bad news. And the baddest of the bad was my Uncle Jack.
Jack was ripped. His large biceps were covered in tattoos, like his cheeks were covered by his lamb chop sideburns. Jack had been in and out of jail for all sorts of violent acts, once for choking two cops.
Jack resisted arrest.
Jack resisted everything.
Until one day Yankee came into the picture and dared to reach into a rough, tough part of the city in order to engage in a gospel conversation with Jack. One of Jack’s friends, Bob Daly, had been going to Colorado Bible Church. Bob wanted Jack and his family to hear about Jesus, but he was too afraid to share the gospel with such a scary character. So he dared Yankee to do it.
Jack was scary tough, but Yankee was scary bold.
Yankee took the dare and won. After clearly presenting the gospel to Jack in a way that was understandable to him for the first time in his life, Yankee asked Jack if that made sense and if he wanted to trust in Jesus. All Jack could say was, “Hell, yeah!”
Now that’s a sinner’s prayer!
It didn’t take long for Jack to start spreading the news. The next day he shared the good news with “Thumper,” an Italian bodybuilder he worked with and worked out with. Thumper brought Jack to his house and made him tell his entire family about the message of grace—brothers, sisters, mother, dad—and all of them embraced Jesus’ free gift of grace.
I watched in awe as this message transformed Uncle Jack, Uncle Bob, Uncle Tommy, Uncle Dave and eventually, my own mother—the only sister in the group! And finally, after years of praying and pleading, even my ultra-resistant Uncle Richard said, “Hell, yeah!” to Jesus too.
As each one of my family members put their faith in Jesus, Yankee would bring them into the church, train them to share their faith and teach them to grow in Christ. Making disciples who made disciples was as natural to him as breathing. He lived it. He preached it. He programmed it. He chose leaders who modeled it.
Eventually, I became one of those leaders. Although I was only a teenager, I was put in charge of taking other teenagers out on Friday nights to share their faith. I was also given responsibility for my own bus route, which involved going door-to-door on Saturdays, encouraging parents to let us take their children on a bus to Sunday school the next day.
Core to Yankee’s strategy was getting as many teenagers as possible to spread the gospel to anyone and everyone.
Yankee trained us to do just that. We had to memorize seven sentences that clearly explained the good news, so that we could explain it to anyone, anywhere, anytime. We were equipped to use illustrations, opening questions and closing questions. We role-played talking to atheists, agnostics, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons and you-name-it, so that we were ready for anything and everything.
It worked. By the time I was in my early teen years, I could navigate just about any gospel conversation with any age group.
Because I was relentlessly inspired and equipped in faith sharing essentials, I could talk about Jesus naturally with both friends and strangers. As a result, I was able to reach my next door friend, Mike, for Jesus…and his two brothers…and Benji down the street…and Carl and Renee across the street. I also had the privilege of leading Vince to Jesus, who then led Rodney to Jesus.
This all happened before I was in the 10th grade.
And I wasn’t that “one-of-a-kind” teenager, like you may be thinking. There was an entire core group of teenagers, many from the inner city just like me, who were transformed by the message and mission of Jesus. I think of Tim, who taught me to share my faith, and his brother Kenny, who taught me to preach. There were three sisters, Brenda, Cathy and Patty, all of whom shared Jesus and made disciples. I could go on and on…Rick, Scott, Art, Rich, Manual, Steve, Shelly, Teri, Kim, on and on and on and on…we were all advancing the good news effectively, long before we graduated from high school.
It was this causal—not to be confused with “casual”—form of Christianity that attracted us and kept us engaged. Yankee had given us a mission and a message. We had a camaraderie that went beyond sitting together in a youth room. We were in a foxhole together, waging war against Satan for the souls of our fellow teenagers, and it unleashed us to passionately live and give our faith long after we graduated and scattered.
And it all started with one hillbilly pastor who played the banjo, did the hambone (YouTube it) and was focused on using teenagers to reach teenagers with Jesus’ message of grace and hope.
Actually, it didn’t start there at all. It actually all started 2,000 years ago, when Jesus unleashed His disciples to “make disciples of all nations.”
Yankee just happened to be a follower of Christ who took that commission from Jesus seriously.
And he is not alone.
There are hundreds of youth leaders across North America and beyond today who are implementing these same ancient values that are embedded in the New Testament. They are experiencing explosive spiritual and numeric growth as a result.
You can join the ranks of this causal, missional, gospel advancing movement! You should join the ranks, because there is a better way to do youth ministry than what is happening in the typical youth room today. In the coming chapters, I’ll be laying out a picture of what building a Gospel Advancing Youth Ministry looks like.
Reading this book is the easy part. Implementing the biblical values in this book is the exciting and challenging part.
But if you’re willing to take this journey, you will be re-energized in your youth ministry passion. You will witness your students growing deeper in their relationship with Jesus, as they bring more teenagers into the kingdom.
A fully “gospelized” youth ministry will make every late night text from a struggling teenager, every painfully long church staff meeting and every “the pastor would like to see you now” pop-in from the church secretary because of the dodge-ball-game-gone-bad in the church auditorium well worth it.
Youth ministry is worth it, if you’re willing to do it right. And there’s no better template than how Jesus worked through the early disciples to build His church in the Gospels (Matthew 16:19) and throughout the book of Acts.
Let’s start there.
1
Don’t Just Stand There…Gospelize!
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
After he [Jesus] said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
—Acts 1:8-11
Imagine that moment when Jesus gave His disciples the final charge to go into the world and spread the good news to everyone everywhere. You had just spent the last 40 days reveling in the shocking joy of Jesus’ resurrection from a horrific death, and now His pierced, beautiful feet are leaving the ground. Jesus starts floating upward, upward, upward. He goes higher and higher, finally disappearing into the gentle clouds that waft across the deep blue Judean sky.
Then a voice beside you awakens you from what feels like a dream. You turn to see two men dressed in white who’ve appeared out of nowhere. “Why do you stand here looking into the sky?” they ask. Their pointed question reminds you that Jesus has already given you the mission, the plan and the deadline. They are telling you, in essence, “Don’t just stand there…gospelize!”
It started in Jerusalem, and then stretched across Judea. It eventually spread to Samaria and Antioch, then on to Greece and Italy. Over the centuries, Jesus’ message and mission have crisscrossed the globe as more and more Jesus followers have embraced the call to do more than just stand there.
As followers of Christ, we have inherited that two millennia old message and mission. Until our Savior returns to planet earth on a cloud, we must be busy with the quest He has called us to accomplish.
The quest to make disciples.
The quest to spread the good news.
The quest to gospelize.
Transformation from the Inside Out
I love that word “gospelize.” I first heard it while I was working out in my basement a few years ago. To be honest, I had purchased one of those infomercial workout DVD series and got tired of listening to the trainer’s corny jokes at 6:00 in the morning! So I turned down the sound on the DVD and turned up the sound on my computer. What was I listening to when I heard the word for the first time? Someone reading a 100-something-year-old Charles Spurgeon sermon online. (Yes, I’m a theology nerd!)
Here’s what Spurgeon said:
I contend for this, that to gospelize a man is the greatest miracle in the world. All the other miracles are wrapped up in this one. To gospelize a man, or, in other words, to convert him, is a greater work than to open the eyes of the blind.1
Spurgeon didn’t invent this word. It was an old English word that simply meant to “evangelize” someone.
Instantly, I was hooked. The word evangelism smacks of bullhorns and pointy fingers of judgment. But gospelize sounds like transformation from the inside out. And, as you well know, this is exactly what this culture of teenagers needs.
From self-harm, to suicide, to self-image challenges, to sexual temptation, this generation has been bombarded by the Evil One. Our young people live in the midst of a generation of walking wounded who are longing for hope and looking for answers.
And Jesus offers them both—and more!
But we are the vehicles that Jesus works through to download this good news to these teenagers. We are His hands, His feet and His mouth. So we must reach out, walk toward and speak up.
Just what does it mean to “gospelize” your youth ministry?
To gospelize your youth ministry is to build a context in which the good news of Jesus is moving both deeply into the souls of your teenagers, and outwardly through your teenagers to others. When you make the gospel central to everything you are doing, you are gospelizing your ministry.
Gospelizing your youth group is much, much more than simply getting your teenager to share the gospel with their peers. When you read through the book of Acts, evangelism was front and center. But the priority of evangelism wasn’t flying solo. The gospel-sharing efforts of the early followers of Jesus sprang out of a context of believers who loved God and loved others. Prayer was a huge emphasis, and so was a commitment to His Word. Converts were not just made, disciples were multiplied. These priorities, plus a few others, became the building blocks that formed the foundation of an ongoing advancement of the good news.
This forward movement of the life-changing message of Jesus was not primarily accomplished through techniques, strategies or methodologies, but in the moving of the Spirit’s power, first of all in the early disciples, and then through them to reach others.
So how do you create a context in which this happens on a consistent basis? Ahh, that’s what this book is about!
In Acts 1:8, Jesus called His disciples to pursue His mission by being His witnesses, starting where they were at and expanding outward. But led by the Spirit, they didn’t just make disciples, they multiplied them! This means life-on-life investment in those who had put their faith in Jesus, and implies training them to reach their spheres of influence. By the time you get to Acts 28 at the end of the book, you see that the gospel had advanced all the way to Rome. The result? Radical gospel transformation both inward and outward!
If you read the book of Acts closely, you can see this was an exciting, messy and dangerous process. But you also see the disciples learning and growing in their ability to advance the gospel, not just personally, but also through other believers.
The Right Stuff
The book of Acts provides a vibrant picture of what it looks like to gospelize our ministry efforts. Acts not only describes the kind of transformational impact we should be purposefully pursuing, it also points us toward the right ingredients for building a “Gospel Advancing Ministry.” What exactly do I mean by a “Gospel Advancing Ministry”? It’s a ministry that relentlessly pursues the mission of Jesus by relationally multiplying disciples, resulting in radical gospel transformation.
Let’s break down that definition, phrase by phrase, and see if it lines up with the ministry approach God gave us in the book of Acts…
Pursuing the Mission of Jesus
There was a sense of urgency in Acts 1 when the two men dressed in white (angels?), in essence, told the disciples, “Don’t just stand there…gospelize!” They were reminding the disciples and all their spiritual descendants—which includes us!—that there is a mission to accomplish, a plan to accomplish it and a deadline to accomplish it by.
Just weeks earlier on a mountain in Galilee, the disciples heard Jesus deliver what many call “The Great Commission” today. I actually prefer to call it “THE Cause,” because “The Great Commission” sounds like something a real estate agent came up with. But no matter the label we give it, it’s a grand call to an even grander mission!
Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted!
Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:16-20).
I love this passage because it shows that, although the disciples worshipped Jesus, some still had their doubts. Why? Just days earlier they had seen Him mocked, mangled and murdered by Roman soldiers! And now He was before them, telling them He was giving them a job to do!
You may have your doubts too. It’s okay. Jesus will use us, doubts and all, if we have faith enough to obey His prime directive to make disciples.
And that’s what we’re here to do. Are you carrying out the primary mission of making and multiplying disciples through your youth ministry? Are you equipping your teenagers to do the same? Or are you defined more by meetings than by Christ’s mission?
Say I tell my son and daughter, Jeremy and Kailey, “I’m going to the store. Before I get back I want you to make your beds.” When I leave, I expect them to obey me while I’m gone. If I come back and ask, “Did you make your beds?” and they answer, “Well, no, Dad, but we talked about it with each other quite a bit,” or Jeremy says, “I wrote a song about it and taught it to Kailey…can we sing it for you, now?” or “We googled it and found some cool YouTube videos that we studied about the best ways to make a bed,” it will not be a happy day in the Stier house. Why? Because despite all the talk, creative talent expended and diligent study, they never actually got around to doing the task that I’d assigned them.
In the same way, Jesus left us with a simple mandate, not to make the bed, but to make disciples. When He returns and asks, “Did you make disciples?” and we answer, “No, but we had a killer youth program,” or “Nope, but we sang a song about it,” or “Nah, but we googled some great teaching outlines on disciple making and taught them,” then we will have failed to accomplish the primary thing that He asked of us.
We see a relentless pursuit of this mission Jesus has given us to reach the lost and make disciples in every chapter of the book of Acts. We see it in…
From the first page to the last page of Acts, this book drips with the relentless pursuit of the mission of Jesus. It’s a blueprint for what it looks like to gospelize a community, a city, a country and a world.
How do the pages of your youth ministry read? Is your ministry story more about what you’re doing, or more about what is getting done when it comes to the gospel changing young lives?
It all starts by choosing to relentlessly pursue the mission of Jesus, but it continues by…
Relationally Multiplying Disciples
“And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem….” (Acts 6:7a, ESV).
Making disciples who make disciples gets talked about a lot in ministry circles, but is not actually done in far too many cases. Yet when it is actually carried out it is truly exciting.
I’ll never forget going to The Gathering for the first time. This extraordinary city-wide youth group meeting happens every month in Kenosha, Wisconsin —and this particular month it was being held at Immanuel Baptist Church. This town of 100,000 people is located roughly 45 minutes north of Chicago. Humanly speaking, it might seem like an unlikely place for God to be doing something groundbreaking with His church.
But I’m convinced that He is.
While at The Gathering, I met teenagers who’d been led to Jesus by other teenagers, who’d been led to Jesus by other teenagers. I also met a group of youth leaders who hailed from a variety of churches and denominations, but were united together by their obsessive focus on Jesus and His mission to reach the lost at any cost.
This dynamic youth leader network is known as the Kenosha Allies. These youth leaders—as well as a senior pastor or two thrown in for good measure—meet every week to pray for each other, for the youth in their groups and for their community. Their insatiable thirst for the mission of Jesus will not be quenched until every teenager in their city encounters Jesus Christ personally.
By the way, their meetings are about three hours long. During that time, they eat and pray together. When I visited their network meeting, it was the closest thing I’ve experienced to a band-of-brothers-type gathering.
They hold each other accountable. They support each other’s churches. If the smaller churches have a tough time affording an event they are doing together, like a camp, conference or retreat, the bigger churches with bigger budgets will help out financially.
And this is no theologically watered-down, let’s-all-just-sing-kumbya-type group. They unite together around the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you have a different gospel than faith alone in Christ alone, they will still love you, but you won’t get a ticket to become a leader in this city-wide Gospel Advancing Movement.
But once you become a part of this tight group of multi-flavored Jesus followers, be warned. They will ask you hard questions, pray specifically for the deepest needs of your life and ministry, and then boldly challenge you to get your teenagers reaching their peers for Jesus.
While they all run their own youth ministries in their own churches, they bring all their groups together once a month on a rotating basis at different churches for The Gathering. Right before these large group rallies, they do campus missionary classes for teenagers, including evangelism training. During their main meetings, hundreds of teenagers from the different youth groups represented gather to worship God, pray collectively and be challenged by God’s Word to advance Christ’s message across Kenosha one teenager at a time.
It’s the closest thing I’ve experienced to seeing the book of Acts lived out in a Western youth ministry context.
Led by twin ring leaders, Andy and Roger, the individual youth ministries represented by the Kenosha Allies are vibrant, real life examples of what Gospel Advancing Ministries can look like. But the Kenosha Allies are also a practical demonstration of what a gospel advancing network of youth leaders can look like.
I’ll never forget meeting some of the teenagers in Andy McGowan’s youth group during my visit to The Gathering. While loud Christian music was pulsating across the room, scores of teenagers mingled about laughing and drinking Coke. I took the opportunity to informally interview a handful of teenagers about how they got plugged into the youth ministry. There I discovered that Austin heard the gospel from Alex, who’d been trained to share his faith by Andy. Okay, to be honest, I don’t remember the names. But I do remember meeting disciples, who were reached by disciples, who were trained by Andy. He and his crew of student and adult leaders were relationally multiplying disciples.
Andy’s youth group was a song-singing, pizza-eating, dodge-ball-dodging example of disciple multiplication. My mind couldn’t help but snap back to the book of Acts. It felt just like the early church, but with a better band. It brought to mind Christian rapper, Lecrae’s, After the Music Stops, where he says, “I’m out to take the Bible, create disciples, who make disciples, disciple-cycles…”2
When the Kenosha Allies bestowed on me the title of “Honorary Member,” it came as one of the greatest honors of my life, because I believe the model that God has built in Kenosha can multiply in youth groups and networks across the nation and across the world!