Mike King begins his book by addressing the problem that many youth and young adults are leaving the church and never coming back. He visits his own past in the evangelical church as he experience the selling of the gospel of just another commodity to the consumeristic, individualistic culture, which sought to, “get people to heaven”. Mike says, “more than 80% of people who grow up in the church leave it when they hit their 20’s! As a person who is wanting to minister to the age group of young adults this is a tragic thing to think about. Unfortunately, this is something that I have experienced first hand. Some of the problems that he labels in youth ministry in the modern era include the lack of succession, the lack of tradition, the segregation by age, the decisionism in evangelism. One of the major problem of youth ministry is that it has been involved in the “beavior modification” techniques that have led to shallow decisions and in some cases what has been called the emotional rape of youth. Mike quotes a college student Justin as saying, “So many Christians have created a faith that fits into the American dream, a faith that is rarely challenged. I think many believe in Jesus because we the church, portray Christianity as easy. Postmodern youth don’t want a explanation of mystery and they realize and embrace the many paradoxes of our Christian faith. Mike says that the beginning and main goal of the youth pastor is to practice the presence of Christ, which first requires a intimate relationship with God. In fact “the primary goal of all Christians young and old is to commune with God, to place themselves in the presence of God.”(Brother Lawrence) Mike brings up the topic of being able to measure the love of ones neighbor by our love for God, which got me to thinking about how we can also tell ones love for God by their love for their neighbors. “The truest test of discipleship is the way we live with each other in the community of faith.”
Faith, which does not doubt is dead faith (Miguel de Unamuno, Philosopher and novelist)
Mike calls us to a ministry and personal walk with Christ that is holistic and embraces the body, mind, and soul. Mike addresses on of the problems we Protestants have had to deal with as a result of the Protestant Reformation, the problem of tradition. Pelikan says, “Tradition is the living faith of the dead, whereas traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.” Mike calls us to the tradition of our Christian brothers and sisters, reaching back to the early church and restoring the symbolism, metaphors, creeds, liturgy, sacraments and other aspects of our Christian heritage. He says we should be “moving from a life with a few sacraments to a life that is sacramental.” Youth ministry is a communal attempt to live life together with Christ as the center of our life guiding and shaping our rituals and practices a we allow God to restore the Imagio Dei within us. One of the ways we can do this is practice prayer with youth. Mike reminds us that if our relationship with God finds its communication in prayer we must allow for time of listening because any dialogue provides for a time for talking and listening. Mike introduces the practices of Imaginative Prayer, Examining ones Conscious, Respiratory Prayer, Prayer Rope, Prayer Postures, The Sign of the Cross, Praying with Icons, and Keeping the Hours. (www.sacredgateway.org) Mike then asks how we might us scripture in youth ministry, reading in a qualitative way embracing the sacredness of the text rather than just digesting it quantitatively in the speed reader fashion we approach most of the information that we encounter within our culture. We embrace the Bible by telling its story through sacred reading. Mike offers up the practice of Lectio Divina, as a great example of learning to read scripture in a slow contemplative and meditative fashion. I have personally found this practice very fulfilling myself both in personal use and communal use. It is amazing how individuals filled with the Holy Spirit can energize and encourage one another with their different perspectives and understandings on the same text. Mike introduces the practice of developing a Rule of Life, which orders ones life around daily, weekly, monthly and annual practices of life. It is a covenant with God to order ones life with Christ at the center of all that we do. Mike offers values that are useful in writing one Rule of Life, they are; stability, fidelity, community, proximity, and learning. The practices which shape our Rule of Life include but are not limited to; prayer, scripture, fasting, study, journaling, Sabbath Rest, Retreat, Pilgrimage, Body Care, Hospitality, examination of Conscious, Focal Points, Confession and Networking.
The key to much of this is found in the balance of both Orthodoxy, right thinking and Orthodoxy, right action. I think Mike hits it on the head when he quotes the Bible.
“Lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing one another love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and one Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” Ephesians 4:1-6
Mike says, “a rule of life celebrates our joyful commitment to Jesus Christ and our desire to be habituated in the way of Jesus. A rule of life helps us become full participants in God’s inbreaking kingdom.” Last but definitely not least, we are reminded of “the art of the long view”, the practicing of ministry, which I invested in the long hall. It has been said that the average stay of any given youth minister at a church is an average of 18 months. If youth ministry is going to be taken seriously and practiced by presence-centered ministry, there must be a communal attempt to break this tragic statistic. In the end, “we must sit at the feet of the master and learn the way of Jesus.”
Mike King, does an excellent job at portraying youth ministry as it has developed in the modern evangelical setting and how it is evolving and changing in the postmodern culture. He offers valid and Christ centered Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy for youth ministers that has been long awaited and much needed for the youth of our generation. As a seminarian, follower of Christ and someone who is preparing to enter into ministry with the postmodern generation I found this book compelling, encouraging, challenging, vision casting and just plain old hard to put down. I recommend this book as a must read for the shepards and ministers of youth. Thanks Mike.
Other recomendations:
The Rule of Saint Benedict
The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius
Postmodern Youth Ministry
The Sacred Way: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Life
Emerging Church, The
No comments:
Post a Comment