Something for Consideration

Truth is there really is no Scripture saying exactly how we should set up our youth programs. Yeah, there's the verse you pulled up about the older teaching the younger, but that doesn't mean that a spiritually mature man who is but ten years older than the teens cannot do the job.

And yes, parents should be discipling their kids. But that doesn't mean that they must be in classes together. Teens can be in a class of their own without it "hindering" the parent's work. I think that teens being with their age group compliments what the parents should ideally be teaching them at home.

Just because they aren't meeting in a class all together doesn't mean they are working against each other. Youth ministers should be encouraging good, strong relationships with the kids' families and obedience to their parents as instructed in the Bible.

 

I've been in several youth groups as I was growing up. The problem that I found with them is that they seem to be set up to train young people who don't study the Bible for themselves, and don't have any biblical background. I think the main point with many youth groups is to make church entertaining. The issue with many of the youth is that they don't have a real desire to study the word of God; if they did, then a simple Bible study, or a sermon would be enough to keep their interest. I think it's safe to say that there are a substantially smaller percent of young people that go to church now than there were 40 or 50 years ago; back when church wasn't "fun". The problem is with the heart of our youth. Why does church have to be entertaining to get young people to attend? Why can't the youth be hungry to learn from the word of God, and to do it the same way their parents do? I'm not saying that all youth in youth groups have no real desire to worship God, I'm saying that if they are truly a child of God, they will discover that they won't need church to resemble some kind of cool club for them to want to be in it. I believe there is a big issue in many of our churches. I'm not going to say that if I'm concerned about the spiritual health of members in our churches, that I don't believe they're saved, but I will say that if a "Christian" does not have a serious desire to study the Bible and learn more about God, then there's a problem. I know some believe that the youth need to be fed softer food. I'm not sure if that's necessarily true. I'm a fairly new Christian and I have no problem understanding what is preached from the pulpit or taught in the adult Sunday school class. Perhaps the problem with some people is that they don't have a desire to know.