Noticing young people’s discomfort with adult forms of faith and desperately seeking to keep youth engaged, some churches develop ministries of distraction. Inspired by parachurch youth ministries from the 1950s, like Youth for Christ and Young Life (whose founder, Jim Rayburn, once wrote a book entitled It’s a Sin to Bore a Kid), ministries of distraction keep youth moving from one activity to the next;: rafting trips, pizza parties, game nights, ski retreats, beach fests, music festival,, amusement parks, taco-feeds, scavenger- hunts, crowd-breakers, raves, skits, and whatever other activities attract kids. It’s a Nickelodeon approach to youth ministry that seeks to appeal to kids’ propensity for fun and recreation,. This is how churches respond to youth who cry “Church is boring!” it’s the ministry of excitement; discipleship through fun, cure-friendly, “Christian-lite” events. Like parents who pop in a video to entertain the kids when relatives arrive, the idea is to keep the youth people from running out, to keep them in the general vicinity of the church, to keep them happy until they’re mature enough to join the congregation.
While such ministries may keep youth entertained, they often keep youth distracted from the deeper rhythms and practices of the Christian faith. Programs and activities are chosen based on the level of excitement that’s generated. No one wants to act like an adult for fear of scaring the kids. Leaders become hesitant to engage youth in any activity that is in contrast to the consumer culture. Prayer, spiritual exercises, theological conversation, and spiritual disciplines that challenge the status quo are dumped out of feat that youth may cry “This is like school!” or “You’re just like our parents!” or (worst of all) “This is boring,” So the ministry never addresses the deeper needs of youth, never challenges them to explore the alternative way of Jesus. Like children’s television programming that seeks to keep kids attentive so they’ll watch the commercials our ministries of diversion respond to young people’s most carnal appetites so we can slip in a five-minute Bible study or parade them through the church building.
Ministry programs that respond to the anxieties of adults or youth are incapable of awakening kids to the freedom of God. Rather than trusting the presence of God, these reactive ministries put their faith in attendance, conversions, and confirmation class sizes. To get the necessary results an to assuage fears, they become more an more about control and manipulation. Kids know, even when they can’t articulate it, when a ministry is concerned with control and manipulation. They know when the purpose of the ministry is to alleviate fear. They know when ministries are simply about protection young people from the realities of life.
Once young people recognize that youth ministry is really about quelling anxiety one of two things can happen. If the ministry is uninteresting or provides few social opportunities, the young people will eventually leave. If the ministry provides youth with fun outings, entertainment, and occasions to socialize, kids are happy to play along and ease the fears of the congregation. They assent to being paraded in front of congregations (“Don’t worry, the church isn’t dying!”), doted on by congregational leaders (No fear! Your financial allocations are producing results!”), and photographed for the church newsletter (Have no doubts, Christianity is alive and well!”). as long as there are trips to Disneyland, church dances, and the annual summer Jamaican mission trip, they’re happy to pretend. Just don’t expect them to be around once they leave high school- or when the program budget dries up. That’s when they’ll have t o get on with the real stuff of life.
(Mark Yaconelli, Contemplative Youth Ministry, pp.44-46)
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