A while back I read Rick Lawrence’s article on www.ymtoday.com in which he reveals first his view of the effectiveness of youth talks or the sermon and then shares his guidance for speakers at Simply Youth Ministry events. While the latter is beside the point and something few can take much issue with, the former is rather contrary to my reading of scripture. What do I mean? Lawrence suggests that there is “a mountain of research that discounts lecturing as an effective way to help people learn” and yet my experience is very much to the contrary. In one sense, I wanted him to proclaim the death of the youth talk because I do think it’s ineffective. I have heard (and delivered) far too many “talks” that were far from what I now see as effective. You probably have heard them too… tell a few stories, make a few points, wrap it all up with a stirring illustration and drive it home. I have gotten to the point where stereotypical youth talks turn my stomach. But is that what Rick means by lectures? If by lecture he means standing in front of a group and telling them what they should and should not do, I am all for dropping that. However, given that he interchanges his words between “talks”. “sermons” and “lectures”, I think he is merely restating a very old myth that has been taught by youth ministry gurus for far too long.
Early in my youth ministry career (spanning 25 years now), it was impressed upon me that our “talks” as youth pastors were really not the thing that changes lives. Rather, relationships are the most important part of ministry. We heard phrases like “you gotta earn the right to be heard” and “kids don’t care what you know until they know that you care”. I won’t argue against the importance of relationships but I would challenge what struck me back then as odd and still bothers me. Who has to be heard? If we are ambassadors, we are proclaiming not our message but the gospel of Jesus. I don’t need to earn the right to tell a student that Jesus loves them and wants a relationship with them. I do need some relational credibility to speak into their lives in a more personal level. That is where the second phrase lives out some degree of truth. Students need to know that we care if they are going to listen to us personally address issues in their lives. But that is one on one ministry.
Lawrence seems ready to throw away the talk/sermon/lecture on anecdotal evidence. He apparently does not know people who had an epiphany listening to a sermon. He does not think that a message will transform someone’s life. If that were true, then we ought not deliver any large group messages. Instead we should just build relationships and do small group Bible studies. However, I can name people who after hearing a sermon quit their jobs and went followed God’s call on their lives. I have heard stories of college students attending the Urbana Conference and hearing God’s call into life long missions. Is that not a message that changed someone’s life? Maybe Rick would argue that the experience of the conference led to the transformation? If that were true, then what about people who attend, have a great experience, and not enter missions? Did they not experience the same conference?
I would like to throw away the youth talk in favor of something else… the proclamation of the gospel through the opening of scripture. See, I have become convinced that it is not my ideas that I need to convey when speaking to students. I need to open up the Bible and let it speak. It’s not my message, it is God’s. I don’t need a formula of funny stories, a few points, and stirring illustrations. That is not to say I don’t use illustrations or tell funny stories. The difference is where the content is coming from. If it is from my brain, as a typical youth talk is (was in my case for many years) then I should not expect life change. If however, I am counting on God to speak to students through his word, I should expect transformation to take place. It is a biblical practice to preach the gospel, to proclaim the good news, and doing that for crowds of people has been an effective practice for thousands of years. The trouble is that so many have replaced good preaching with nice talks that tickle our itching ears and don’t have gospel substance to them.
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