Busy Youth Ministry Means No Time For God
Youth minister: create space for kids to ''be still and know'' rather than produce program after program giving more information and ''convincing'' kids to follow Jesus.
Ministers of youths have increasingly noticed that youths are kept too busy.
"As a youth pastor, I see many teens who are stressed out from being too busy," wrote
Tim Geare and Tim Sanford from Focus on the Family.
Topher Philgreen of YouthFront believes effective youth ministers must create space for kids to “be still and know" rather than produce program after program giving more information and “convincing” kids to follow Jesus.
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Philgreen asked, "When was the last time you were still? When was that last time you got so still that when the Holy Spirit whispered into your heart, it was like a roar?" in a recent article for National Network of Youth Ministries.
The topic is also much talked about in the national news and media. CNN cites evidence of a growing number of kids who burn out in sports because of doing too much, too early.
Dr. Eric Small of the Sports Medicine Center for Young Athletes in Manhattan says he sees a lot of burn-out.
"The number one reason why they're quitting is that it ceases to be fun," Small says.
"So why is it not fun? Because it becomes too competitive. They're not getting enough playing time. They're frustrated."
Instead parents need to spend slow time with their children.
CNN concluded that the "two- and three-year olds can learn skills playing catch and kicking the ball with their parents in the back yard just as well as they can signing up for formal classes."
"What we really need to do, though, is trust the Holy Spirit to do His most powerful work. And that most often happens in stillness," said Philgreen.
"When students get still enough, for long enough, God begins to address their souls. When that happens, they change in more radical ways then we could ever manufacture through a creative program or talk."
