I’ve run across a great example of thinking theologically in youth ministry on a blog post written by a guy who grew up in one of the youth groups in our diocese. He is now serving as a youth minister in another part of our state. Not only does he engage theology, but he looks at literature and music through the lens of understanding theology and applying it to life. Here are two snippets of his writing…
As young people grow older, they are awakened to their nature, what Calvin describes as being “overwhelmed by an unavoidable calamity from which only God’s mercy can deliver them.”[2] Therefore, as youth workers, we have the twofold task of tenderly shepherding them through this tumultuous time and giving them the theological and Biblical framework to understand their own sin and the consequences of sin in the world.
and later…
The truth of our utter enslavement to sin (Jn 8:34, Gal 4:8-9, Rm 6) flies in the face of our culture’s insistence upon individual autonomy and the indefatigable freedom of the will. My experience of teaching this crucial doctrine to youth has been that it takes tender convincing and continual exposure to help them understand the grave extent of the fall. Additionally, I believe that our under-emphasis of the depravity of man is one of the primary reasons that 1 in 4 American evangelical youth believe that all people will be saved, 26% believe it doesn’t matter what religion you believe because they all teach the same lesson, and 2 in 5 believe that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.[6] In short, if we don’t know the extent of the fall, we won’t comprehend the absolute necessity of Christ. As youth workers, we often stress the saving love of Christ without explaining the depth of what we are actually being saved from.
I highly commend the entire post to you found on The Rooted Blog
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