Youth Ministry Philosophy | 1 Cor. 2:1-5

Introduction: (News story from 2023)

Four Nigerian stowaways. Snuck onto a ship’s rudder to escape the instability of Nigeria. Thought they were going to Europe. Ended up on a 14 day journey to Brazil. Clung to the rudder of a ship. Had to drink ocean water. Can’t believe they survived. But then I thought, “If they can survive something that crazy, they might survive working with teens.” Youth work can feel like that sometimes. Hanging on to a rudder. No sleep. Just praying for the end. Sounds like Youth Conference. I thought it was ironic that one of the men’s first names is “Thankgod.”

But the most ironic part of the story is that they ended up in the wrong place. After all that, they ended up in Brazil. If you’re going to go through that kind of ordeal, you at least hope you’ll end up in the right place.

I was thinking about youth work. Sometimes it feels like you’re stuck on the rudder of a ship, barely hanging on for dear life. And if you’re going to go through all of that suffering, you at least hope you’ll end up in the right place. If we’re going to do this, we at least want to produce the right kind of teenagers, right? No one wants to waste their time. It’s hard enough. The last thing I want is to get down to the end and realize I’d been headed to the wrong destination. I believe Paul has some help for us here:

I. What he didn’t want to do – vs. 1

A. He didn’t compel them with excellent speech

1. Paul refused to establish the faith of the Corinthians with his words.

2. He didn’t want their trust in God to be dependent on his speaking ability or authority.

B. He didn’t impress them with his wisdom – vs. 4

1. Paul was a gifted thinker. As a Pharisee he likely had a good part of the OT memorized.

2. If you read what he wrote in the NT you realize he quoted the OT constantly. Hundreds of times.

3. His ability to think was up there with the greatest Greek thinkers of the day. He proved that during his sermon in Acts 17 on Mars Hill.

4. But Paul tells the Corinthians he didn’t come to Corinth trusting in his ability to preach.

C. He didn’t want to convince them with his own impressive speech or wisdom.

II. Paul’s ministry philosophy

A. Vs. 1b – “…declaring unto you the testimony of God”

1. Not his testimony. God’s testimony.

2. Paul had an amazing testimony. But he came to Corinth using God’s words.

B. He pointed them to Jesus Christ above all else.

1. Vs. 2 “For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”

2. Paul could have come saying, “Listen to how wise I am.”

3. Ancient Greece put a lot of stock in the intellect. But Paul said, “Who you know matters more than what you know.”

C. Paul could have chosen to walk into Corinth with bold confidence, but he instead came with a spirit of humility.

1. Vs. 3 – “And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.”

2. That’s the opposite of today’s leadership mindsets.

3. If anyone had reason to have confidence, it was Paul. (Phil. 3) But he came with a spirit of humility. Coming that way allowed him to do something important.

4. Vs. 4 – “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power”

D. Demonstration of the Spirit and of power

1. In verse 3 Paul is talking about his weakness, and now in verse 4 he’s talking about demonstrating God’s power.

2. The only power to change lives comes from the Holy Spirit.

3. So Paul made the deliberate choice to set aside anything that reflects Paul – words, wisdom, preaching, credentials, whatever – because he knew that unless he got out of the way he would hinder the Holy Spirit.

III. What was Paul’s goal in this?

A. The answer is found in verse 5 – “That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”

B. Paul understood something about faith. He knew that faith could only be as strong as the object in which it trusted.

1. If the faith of the Corinthians was in Paul, their faith would only be as strong as Paul was.

2. But Paul was human. He was a sinner. He was physically weak. He couldn’t always be there for them. He would eventually pass off the scene.

C. If the Corinthians latched on to Paul, their faith would only be as strong as Paul.

1. So Paul came with the desire to attach the Corinthians to God, not himself.

2. He wanted their faith to stand in something permanent and lasting. Human Paul has limits. But Jesus Christ doesn’t.

D. So Paul had to deliberately choose to attach them to the Lord, not himself.

1. A youth group built on the personality of its youth workers won’t last because we’re human.

2. But young people built on God’s Word with demonstration of the Spirit and His power – that will stand.

3. Wise man built his house upon a rock…

IV. Illustration

A. Carrying a baby – It can be tough, but it’s doable

B. Carrying a toddler – It’s possible, but much harder

C. Carrying a 17 year old teen guy? – Impossible

D. As a parent, if I raise my children to be so dependent on me that I have to hold their hand their whole life, I will both limit their growth and my own effectiveness because I have to help them do things they should be able to do for themselves.

1. Both parties are limited. I’m placing limitations on them and myself.

2. If I want to give a child the chance to become all he’s supposed to be I will teach him to do things for himself.

3. Otherwise he’ll always need me to be present and I’ll always have to be around.

E. I think this illustration is a picture of what Paul is trying to give the Corinthians.

1. To establish their faith on his resources would have limited both the church and Paul.

2. “Give a man a fish vs. teach a man to fish”

V. We must remember this in Youth Work

A. Our goal with teens is to produce disciples that are mature in Christ whether or not we’re present.

1. If we attach them to ourselves, what happens when we’re off the scene?

2. But if we attach them to the Lord, they have a relationship that isn’t dependent on us.

B. The best ministry philosophy is that which is built on God’s Word and God’s power.

1. Anything less will produce young people that are never able to grow into mature believers.

2. It seems as if this generation is resistant to adulting. But sometimes we contribute to that.

3. If we are attempting to attract and keep them with fun and games without including God’s Word, we are building on a shaky foundation.

4. It can be fun, but if it’s also not meaty, then we’ve lost sight of what will last.

5. If you want to build a youth group, prioritize fun. If you want to build disciples, prioritize the preaching and teaching of God’s Word.

C. Dad Youth Pastor vs. Uncle Youth Pastor

1. What we need in youth work is a dad mentality instead of the Cool Uncle philosophy.

2. Dads are concerned with preparing kids for life. Uncles are concerned with being liked.

3. We have too many in youth work that are more concerned with being liked instead of preparing them to be mature disciples.

4. Dad youth pastors find themselves taking stands because their goal is to make disciples. Uncle YP’s make concessions because their goal is to be friends.

5. There’s no telling what you’ll compromise if your goal is to have teens that like you.

6. Dad Youth Workers won’t settle for anything less than godly kids. Uncle YW’s find themselves content with good kids.

7. Dads know that not teaching life lessons to your kids means they’ll be in your basement the rest of their lives. Uncles have fun for a short time and then get to leave.

8. Don’t settle to raise a shallow crowd by being an uncle. Strive to raise disciples with depth by being a dad.

9. Okay, but how?

VI. Here Are Some Principles To Help Young People Adult

A. Emphasize Christ First – Matthew 6:33

1. Our youth group name in Stillwater was “FirstClaim.” Meaning, we emphasized that God gets the first claim on every young life that came through our youth department.

2. If He is first, then everything else will fall into place. That one decision makes countless decisions for you.

3. Baseball or God? Well, God first. My plans for my future or God’s? God first. My desire on how to spend my Saturday morning or God’s? God first.

4. If we teach young people that God gets first claim, then they will be more open to His plan for everything, big or small, because they’ve given Him first choice.

5. It also prevents them from giving all their best to the world and coming to God with the leftovers.

6. Big Rocks Illustration – Christ first, then everything fills in around it.

7. I’d encourage every young person to give God first claim on their lives in terms of ministry as well. The thing I emphasized was to look for a NO instead of a YES.

8. Does God want every one of them in ministry? No. But they all ought to be willing if He’ll let them.

9. We want every teen to give the Lord FIRST CLAIM.

B. Don’t Be Afraid of High Expectations – I Timothy 4:12

1. “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”

2. Timothy was a young pastor, so Paul told him that he would make a difference, if, as a young pastor, he would be an example of the believer rather than act like people think a young pastor would act.

3. Two Choices: Example or Expectation

4. Our expectation of young people sometimes is “Well, they’re doing better than 95% of the kids their age.” But is that a good standard? It’s like a teen taking a test:

a. They come home and dad asks how they did.

b. They say, “I got a 90%.”

c. If dad’s expectation is a 90%, then he’s going to say good job. But if mom’s expectation is a 98%, there’s going to be a problem.

5. Don’t be satisfied with low expectations.

a. As long as they’re good kids, that’s all I want.

b. As long as they’re happy, then I’m good with that.

c. As long as they stay in church, then I’m satisfied.

d. Instead of those, say, “I’m here to make disciples.”

e. If that’s your standard, you find yourself settling less.

6. Too many youth groups do the same thing.

a. As long as they don’t give me problems, I’m happy.

b. As long as she follows the dress code, I don’t care about her attitude.

c. If we lower our expectations of young people, we create a generation satisfied with settling.

7. Paul said to Timothy to be an example in things like word, conversation, charity, spirit, faith and purity.

a. People don’t expect that from young people, but why can’t we raise the bar?

b. That’s what Paul suggests to Timothy. In my experience, people rise or fall to the level of expectations.

C. Engage Their Parents – Ephesians 6:4

1. “Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”

2. God gave children to parents. The Bible’s command to raise children is to parents, not youth workers.

3. The Youth Group isn’t your kingdom. Danger of being separate. You are here to support parents.

4. Youth Workers are “support staff”, not “administration.”

5. I understand there will be exceptions. But we need to remember that God gave children to parents. It is our job to help them, not hurt that relationship.

6. How to help parents with their young people:

a. Communicate with them about their children

*Do it in a loving and humble way.

*Parents can be very defensive of their precious…

b. Don’t undermine parental authority

*Your goal is not to get the teens to like you more than their parents.

*Make sure you support the parents in front of the kids, even if you don’t agree with a decision.

*They’ll always be their parents. You may not always be their YP.

c. Attach the hearts of the young people to their parents, not yourself

*Because a parent will answer for the raising of their child, it is much more important that teens have a right relationship with their parents than even yourself.

D. Focus On The Core – Matthew 17:1

1. “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,”

2. Jesus Christ spent the most time with the core.

3. It’s important that we learn to properly balance the time we have between the core teenagers and those on the fringe.

a. It’s easy to spend so much time and energy focused on a few bad apples that the majority of the group who have good attitudes and always obey don’t get any attention.

b. The kids with soft hearts end up with the best return on investment.

c. Illustration: Kid arrested at Thunder game. I thought “We have 40 kids up there being robbed by this one”

d. Do the fringe need attention? Oh yes! And they are worth every bit we give them. But many youth workers focus on the fringe at the expense of the core.

e. The solid kids need investment, training, and love too.

4. Here are some ways to accomplish it:

a. Door-knocking partners (not just bus drivers)

b. Running Errands

c. Lunch

d. Rewards trips

E. Exercise Love Not Tolerance – John 3:16

1. Many youth philosophies tend to be a “love them where they’re at kind of” mindset.

2. But think about John 3:16. God loved us where we were but wasn’t willing to let us stay there.

3. Illustration: Kid playing in street and a car comes along

4. Tolerance says, “I love you where you are!” Love says, “Get out of the road!”

5. We have a responsibility to leave everyone we come across better than when we found them.

6. That means we view every conversation and interaction as significant.

7. If something needs to be dealt with, God has put you in their lives to help them.

8. An uncle will tolerate where they’re at. But parents love them too much to let them stay there.

Conclusion:

Youth Work is like hanging on to a ship’s rudder for 14 days. No food. No water. No sleep. Just survival.

If you’re going to put yourself through that, at least end up in the right place. Mature disciples attached to Christ, not you.

And then maybe you, like our Nigerian friend, will find yourself saying “Thank God” we’re alive and they’re attached to something bigger than me.