What do Young Adults need from the Church?
Isn't this the question of all questions in today's culture!
I had the joy of being a panelist for a discussion on young adult ministry and different approaches to ministering to them. One of the questions posed was, “what do you see as the top challenge in the lives of young adults today.”
In praying with this question, my mind went to 1 Timothy 4:12, one of my favorite Scripture passages (I say that about a lot of passages…). It says, “Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity… Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you.”1
In this passage, Paul is giving his friend Timothy encouragement in his youth, even if met with obstacles or difficult people. He is encouraging Timothy in who he is and in his example for believers. He is encouraging Timothy of the gift God has given to him to do this work! Why would Paul need to write encouragement to Timothy? Because he was discouraged.
We all fall into moments of discouragement, but I think this is one of the greatest challenges facing young people today. They have such a desire to change the world; to do something great; to accomplish goals. However, if that desire for greatness is not rooted in God’s greatness within them, then one can easily become discouraged. One can easily see what he or she lacks as opposed to what God has given.
In our ministry with young adults, I have often encountered college students who have a deep love for God and want to serve, but they feel inadequate. Many grow discouraged when they see how much others know, how holy others are, or the gifts that others have that they may not. When mentoring young adults, it is vital to help root them in their unique purpose given by God. You were made for “such a time as this.”2 Each person, while uniquely gifted, is very different from one’s neighbor. In that, God needs everything you are and everything you have to give.
There are a number of challenges, both external and internal, that young adults face in today’s culture which I could name, but when ministering to young people, what I see as most needed is authentic relationships. This generation of young adults smells disingenuous intentions from a mile away; however, they desire genuine friendships. Growing up online, they have access to friends with a “follow” or a “like,” but those friends do not know the heart behind the screen.
So often, as leaders strive to minister to this audience, we want a quick fix program or solution that will grow young adult efforts overnight, but getting to know another’s heart will never happen overnight. In order to reach today’s young adults, we need to have the heart of Jesus; a heart that takes (minimum) three years to walk with others and invite them into one’s life. A heart that gets to know someone and loves them even through mistakes or misunderstandings. One of the challenges of today’s culture is that it resembles the culture the apostles had to minister in… a culture where many do not know who Jesus is or are outwardly hostile towards Jesus and his followers. So, if people do not know Jesus, we need to be Jesus to them!
This takes time! It takes authenticity. It takes relationships and friendship. It takes love.
After the panel on young adult ministry ended, I had the thought “none of this is truly new, because it’s what Jesus did.” It appears new and innovative in the apostolates each of us spoke of simply because the Church, for so long, has relied on program-to-person ministry instead of person-to-person ministry. What each of us shared we were doing, in unique ways, was simply walking one-on-one with people in friendship. This new/old way of ministering in this apostolic time, is simply helping others to grow closer to God and to one another in community. It is enlivening a desire to serve God with one’s heart, mind, and soul. That is what Jesus did through his loving relationships. It may appear new or difficult, but we must simply look to Christ for the answers.
He has a plan. He is doing something! There is a movement.
Comment answers below:
In your experience, what are challenges when it comes to ministering to young adults?
How can you overcome these challenges in your efforts in order to reach them and love them well?
We can’t give what we don’t have, and sometimes what we don’t have is time… What current efforts take up a great deal of your time without accomplishing the desired goal? How could you change your approach/effort to have time for relational ministry?
1 Tim 4:12, 14
Esther 4:14