The Next Generation

Last night at our church's Men's Ministry's monthly meeting (wow that's a lot of m's) my friend Jeff spoke on the topic of why the men of our church need to be involved in the lives of our youth. Not just our own children, but other people's children. Other teens. Jeff spoke a lot about the formal youth group in our church and the need for leaders in it, but there is also the informal ministry to the youth by just acknowledging them, talking with them, praying with them, going to their baseball game...setting the context for the gospel, so that they might approach us when they need advice. Jeff rightly pointed out that some parents don't do a good job discipling their kids, and sometimes they just want to talk to someone who has demonstrated that they care about them and isn't a blood relative.

He did a great job and pointed to the sufficiency of Jesus Christ in how we might minister to these young people. This is just one example of the type of a ministry where men don't think they can be useful. I can hear them (and me) saying: "I can't do that. That ministry is for someone with more training than me...for someone with more energy than me...for someone that can relate to the youth better than me...maybe a younger guy."

I'm not saying that training, study, and spiritual disciplines aren't essential for effective ministry in any area. But in praying with Jeff, before the meeting began, the Lord reminded me of a passage I hadn't looked at in quite a while. In thinking about different ministries that men might feel ill-equipped for, especially reaching out to younger people who don't think they're cool any more, consider 2 Corinthians 4:5,

For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.

These kids need Jesus, believing kids and unbelieving kids alike. The unbelieving kids need to hear and see the gospel in the lives of older men. The believing kids need the same thing. For the sake of Jesus, we are to proclaim Jesus to them. That's something the men of our church (including myself) are able to do, and we know from past experience that when we do point people to Jesus, it's the thing we enjoy the most doing and is the only thing of value we have to offer to them...and it isn't dependent on how "hip" we are or how good of a teacher we are.

The next generation needs to hear us tell them about the gospel of Jesus Christ and what it means to us. They need to see us live in the light of it. That's the "with ourselves as your servants" part of the verse above. They won't learn biblical masculinity any where else. I pray God will move in our hearts to be obedient to the opportunity before us.