Two Kinds of Ministry

April, 2002

by: Jeff Jones

When it comes to junior high ministry in America, there are two main methods which are typically used. The most popular technique is to have tons of hype, fill the youth room with a bunch of fun things, and pretty much entertain them like crazy so they want to come back again and again. The Bible is used in this kind of ministry, but it is not hyped like all the other stuff. The main idea behind this method is that to get students to love church (or love Jesus or love the Word), you have to draw them to church with a bunch of entertaining things. Last weekend I was able to witness the fruit of that kind of ministry at a church in another state. The leaders told the students about all the entertaining things they had in store for them if they would just show up; things like sports, video games, board games, music videos, a cafe, promises of fun, fun, and more fun. But, when it came time for this youth group to sing to God and listen to teaching, do you think they wanted it? No. What I saw was dozens of disrespectful students, either not caring about what was going on or blatantly talking out loud while the singing and teaching was happening. The guy who was teaching only taught for 15 minutes and spent much of that time trying to get the students to be quiet. Why were the students this way? Answer: That kind of ministry appeals to worldly things to get the students to come and gain their affection, but when it came time for the Word (i.e., something spiritual), they had no affection for it at all. Why? Because it is impossible to use worldly things to get someone to love spiritual things.

The other way to do ministry is the way we do it at Calvary. Instead of using entertainment to get students to come, we use the Word. The difference is, when we use the Word to draw students to our youth ministry, what happens when it comes time for teaching the Word? Answer: Those who come have a desire to hear the Word, and they actually pay attention.

I can honestly say that the difference in the fruit of these two kinds of ministry is like night and day. Our youth group at Calvary is far from perfect, but there are definitely students who have affection for the Word of God.