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| Today’s youth long for authenticity. Youth don’t want a sugar-coated Jesus. They want the real thing—the full-blown truth. Postmodern churches must be authentic and show a God who is transcendent if they are going to connect with youth today. Tony suggests that inviting youth into the body of Christ is the postmodern way to evangelize. This invitation also needs to be authentic—you can’t invite kids to a pizza party and then start a Bible study when they get there. If you want to do a Bible study as part of the party, let youth know ahead of time. That way they know what is coming and you still have their trust. An important part of discipleship is teaching what it means to follow Jesus. Finding teaching materials and curriculum can be a big challenge. Sometimes it’s tempting to use what’s been used in the past, or whatever appears easy to do. Teachers and youth group leaders find themselves pressed for time, and may settle for lessons that take the least amount of preparation on their part. Doug Pagitt says this in Tony Jones’ book, Postmodern Youth Ministry: “We need to be careful not to simply try to revive the faith expressions of the past. Rather we must move from the past – but still fully connected to it – into the future. Youth workers should never settle for simply reliving the past expressions of faith, regardless of how old it is. We need to follow the Christian model and express the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jesus in our day. God allows us to, and the gospel compels us to. 2 Continued... |
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