I go to conferences and I don’t think any youth pastor thinks this. They’re trying to juggle a lot of things without sacrificing truth. If they sacrifice truth… they’d probably get fired fast. Kids need to be kids and the Word needs to be shared unapologetically. Unless you have done youth ministry you have not experienced the difficulty and challenge of doing and balancing those two things. It’s sooooo simple to preach on Sunday to adults. It would be great to do the exact thing for a 12 year old as a 32 year old, but that’s just nit realistic. Every one is different and we should recognize that and adjust our methods to reach them. You see a youth pastor using new methods, fun games, creativity and … just judge them harshly? The Gospel is preached, repentance is presented, Jesus is glorified, but they have a nerf war (in addition) and now it’s ’silly’ and the youth pastor isn’t taking it serious ? I think this is a straw man argument. You could say the same for any pastor of any group of people. But I think youth ministry is especially not understood by anyone who has not done it themselves. it’s so easy to judge and throw stones.
What this video is communicating is that you EITHER preach the Word, OR you play silly games and try to 'be cool'. As @BoldFollower has already said, this is absolutely a straw man argument. There is, and I cannot emphasize this enough, IMMENSE value to MODEL what Godly, community-oriented FUN looks like. Fun helps break down walls so that students can become more open with one another. Fun helps create memories with one another, which deepens community. You can model that you don't have to party, or misbehave, or make crass jokes to have fun - that's one of my favorite parts about playing a game at Youth Group. They can learn from a young age that you can have fun without needing to drink, smoke, be crass, etc. Each one of these men is communicating that having fun = NOT taking the Word of God seriously because you played a game in youth group; that playing a game is worldly and catering to the students (as if the games we play at youth group are crass, or violent, or unGodly). You can preach the word of God, emphasize repentance, the importance and authority of God's Word, confession in community, taking emotions to God like David did (all of which we do in our youth group), have small groups to create a space for students to confess sin, talk about the Word of God together - ALL WHILE STILL having fun. This video is a prime example of black and white thinking in ministry, which is unhealthy and unhelpful. You can preach the Word of God AND have fun. This feels like groupthink at its finest. I'm curious how these men would define what kind of 'fun' is acceptable.
Reformed churches and public schools don't have to play games to keep the kids attention. Maybe you should rethink your strategy. Why is Math and History in a public school treated with more respect than Biblical studies? Why can't you train your youth the same way your public school teachers do? Do you not have any classroom management skills, or just a lack of teaching experience? Those are rhetorical questions to think about when it comes to ministry. The Catholic church also doesn't have any problem with teaching middle school and high schools and keeping order and discipline. What are they doing differently, that you are not incorporating? These teaching techniques may not be "fun" but they have been proven and effective for centuries.
Typical reform bro's, what an absolute misconception by Ray Comfort to assume all Next Gen Pastors think of God that way. You can have a silly game for like 5-10 mins of an hour-hour and half service time and still preach the Word, still have meaningful Bible study. Both can be done, but its typical for the reform bros who like to look down upon everyone because they're pre-destined to do so.
I go to conferences and I don’t think any youth pastor thinks this. They’re trying to juggle a lot of things without sacrificing truth. If they sacrifice truth… they’d probably get fired fast. Kids need to be kids and the Word needs to be shared unapologetically. Unless you have done youth ministry you have not experienced the difficulty and challenge of doing and balancing those two things. It’s sooooo simple to preach on Sunday to adults. It would be great to do the exact thing for a 12 year old as a 32 year old, but that’s just nit realistic. Every one is different and we should recognize that and adjust our methods to reach them. You see a youth pastor using new methods, fun games, creativity and … just judge them harshly? The Gospel is preached, repentance is presented, Jesus is glorified, but they have a nerf war (in addition) and now it’s ’silly’ and the youth pastor isn’t taking it serious ? I think this is a straw man argument. You could say the same for any pastor of any group of people. But I think youth ministry is especially not understood by anyone who has not done it themselves. it’s so easy to judge and throw stones.
Thank you!
What this video is communicating is that you EITHER preach the Word, OR you play silly games and try to 'be cool'. As @BoldFollower has already said, this is absolutely a straw man argument. There is, and I cannot emphasize this enough, IMMENSE value to MODEL what Godly, community-oriented FUN looks like. Fun helps break down walls so that students can become more open with one another. Fun helps create memories with one another, which deepens community. You can model that you don't have to party, or misbehave, or make crass jokes to have fun - that's one of my favorite parts about playing a game at Youth Group. They can learn from a young age that you can have fun without needing to drink, smoke, be crass, etc. Each one of these men is communicating that having fun = NOT taking the Word of God seriously because you played a game in youth group; that playing a game is worldly and catering to the students (as if the games we play at youth group are crass, or violent, or unGodly). You can preach the word of God, emphasize repentance, the importance and authority of God's Word, confession in community, taking emotions to God like David did (all of which we do in our youth group), have small groups to create a space for students to confess sin, talk about the Word of God together - ALL WHILE STILL having fun. This video is a prime example of black and white thinking in ministry, which is unhealthy and unhelpful. You can preach the Word of God AND have fun. This feels like groupthink at its finest. I'm curious how these men would define what kind of 'fun' is acceptable.
Reformed churches and public schools don't have to play games to keep the kids attention. Maybe you should rethink your strategy. Why is Math and History in a public school treated with more respect than Biblical studies? Why can't you train your youth the same way your public school teachers do? Do you not have any classroom management skills, or just a lack of teaching experience? Those are rhetorical questions to think about when it comes to ministry. The Catholic church also doesn't have any problem with teaching middle school and high schools and keeping order and discipline. What are they doing differently, that you are not incorporating? These teaching techniques may not be "fun" but they have been proven and effective for centuries.
Bravo! Thank you!
Typical reform bro's, what an absolute misconception by Ray Comfort to assume all Next Gen Pastors think of God that way. You can have a silly game for like 5-10 mins of an hour-hour and half service time and still preach the Word, still have meaningful Bible study. Both can be done, but its typical for the reform bros who like to look down upon everyone because they're pre-destined to do so.