What Green Day taught me about youth ministry

This weekend, I was inspired by Green Day. Now, that’s not the typical source people may claim for inspiration, especially seminarians, but alas, it happened.
Green Day is a band that I remember from my high school days of so long ago (my 10 years goes too fast!) and I have been surprised to see them gain popularity again, and this time it seems they are more popular than ever. I think the reason they resurfaced are because of their new found politically charged lyrics, and the fact that they returned to the sound and style which made them popular back when I was a lanky little 16 year old.

Now, how did they inspire me?

Well, we were in Kansas City this weekend and while we were driving through the downtown area seeing the sites, I, being the no-attention span man that I am, was flipping through the radio channels and the same Green Day song was on 3 times in the span of 10 minutes or so as we were driving. Granted, I did not make it in time to listen to the entire song, but we paused for a minute to listen to the chorus because I enjoy the vocals on the chorus (it’s their newest single, I cannot recall the name), so we listened to it.

Somehow I began thinking about youth ministry, which is something that I do not believe I am called to do in life, and I thought about how so many teens receive worldview messages from songs, whether it be by listening or watching. Then, I started thinking, “how would one combat specifics?” when it comes to the impressions and influences on today’s teens and not be shallow or hokey.

I really think that one of the opportunities and challenges of youth ministry is the battle for worldviews. Even if a youth group is made up of kids that are not educated at public schools, the battle is still there because the culture is media driven and no matter how much kids are protected/sheltered, it is inevitable that a teen will be somehow influenced by the current culture.

While mulling all of this over, I thought of several different types of youth ministries that I have seen. On one hand you have the youth ministry that ignores what is going on in the culture and is basically irrelevant to what the teens in the group are facing on a daily basis. There may be good doctrinal teaching, but the practical instruction isn’t there. Sex is a topic that’s rarely (if ever) covered. Things like music, drugs, certain types of movies, and alcohol are dealt with in a “hands off” manner so that they are either condemned or warned about in blanket statements, and not specifics.

Then on the other hand you have the “cool” youth group where the youth pastor plays the guitar, has bleached tips on his hair, and maybe an earring or two. This is where you “get Xtreme for Christ, man” and whatnot. There’s a more contemporary format of music, but it’s still shallow and not very good quality. The content is geared toward practical application, but there is no real clash of worldviews, only alternatives offered, like say, “you don’t need to listen to that, listen to Christian band X as an alternative”. There may be teaching on purity, alcohol, etc, but still no real meat for the kids to grow as they make the transition from high school to college to post-college. The kids are just left immature spiritually, and filled with cotton candy theology.
Now, I realize that I made some blanket generalizations of the two groups, but I really think that I’m not too far off. Many youth group kids are ill-equipped to handle the worldviews they are fed at school on TV and in music.

How can we fix it? (not an exhaustive list)

1. Good theology with real application. Instead of being “X-treme for Christ” or any other hokey gimmick, keep it Biblical and take the time to understand what teens are really going through. Don’t be general in application, get specific and relevant.

2. Watch, listen and learn. Watch some MTV or VH1, listen to current music, go to a “teen targeted” movie, and read a popular magazine or two. This isn’t for entertainment, it is for understanding. How much better would be it for a youth group if that youth pastor gave his talk for the week and contrasted, say, the specific message of a Green Day song with Biblical truth? What about that? Taking pieces of the entertainment driven culture and actually dealing with them head on with Truth. This also allows you to learn the language of teen culture and learn to communicate more effectively.

3. Build real community and accountability. Community is more than Christian Day at the local theme park, or the yearly youth camp. Have group outings that involve service activities, or discussion times. Create events and outings that have meaning and do more than just create something for the photoblog or scrapbook. By accountability, I don’t mean having the kids wear a purity ring, I mean discipleship where kids learn how to pray together, how to study the Bible together, how to grow together. They need more than just a Bible lesson once a week.

4. Eliminate isolation. Youth groups are part of the church, they are not separate from the church. Because of this, do not segregate them from other age groups in the church. I believe that teens should be worshipping with the congregation as a whole during the worship time because they are just as much the church, as the members who have been there for decades. If there is a separate time for youth activities, great, but make sure the teens are connected to the church and are involved in more than just the youth. Invite parents and older people in at times so they are involved. Keep them connected.

Those are my thoughts on this……and I suspect they are not complete, nor are they overarching, but I think they are things that I would want if my kids were teenagers.