Alvin Reid who serves as Professor of Evangelism and
Student Ministry at the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary had a
few tips to share on how to reach out to young adults.
He had this to say:
“When it comes to the next generation, I’m sure of two things:
1) We aren’t too effective today at reaching (or keeping) the next generation.
2) The Gospel still works powerfully in any generation.
How do we share Christ effectively to a generation not impressed by the Church today? Here are five ideas.”
1. Give them unchanging truth, differently.
The Gospel doesn’t change, but how we apply the Gospel
to our changing culture is vital. In Acts 2, Peter proclaimed the
Gospel, quoting the Old Testament as he proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah.
But in Acts 17, Paul stood before pagan philosophers,
citing a hymn to Zeus and starting with creation. Why the difference?
Peter spoke to devout Jews, while Paul preached to Gentiles.
The next generation we seek to reach lives in a world
like Athens, not Jerusalem. The grand narrative of Creation, Fall,
Rescue, and Restoration offers the epic story of how Jesus’ work on the
cross does more than get us out of hell; the biblical story centered in
Christ affects every aspect of life.
In my own witness I’ve seen more unchurched young adults
come to faith through sharing the great Gospel story than I’ve ever
seen using a scaled-down, propositional outline.
2. Focus less on behavior and more on wonder
I met a young lady in her 20s who represents many in her
generation. She grew up attending church. In college, she reflected on
her years in youth group. “I remember two things,” she told me. “Don’t
have sex, and invite a friend.” Behavior modification has marked much of
the focus of ministry to the next generation.
Let me remind you that the Bible is not mainly a book of
morality but of reality: it reveals to us who God is and what He is
doing in the world. Morality matters, but that’s an effect of the
gospel, not its essence.
In Acts, we see a new generation reached for Christ.
Terms like astonished, awe, marveled, wondered, great fear, and others
abound. Today, the next generation experiences these more in movie
theaters than in Christianity.
Paul David Tripp in Awe argues: “God intends
every moment of ministry to inspire awe of himself in his people.” We
must help the next generation see the reality of a supernatural God at
work in our world.
3. Call them to surrender, not survival.
Kenda Creasy Dean observes:
The problem does not seem to be that churches are
teaching young people badly, but that we are doing an exceedingly good
job of teaching youth what we really believe:
Namely, that Christianity is not a big deal, that God
required little, and the church is a helpful social institution filled
with nice people focused primarily on ‘folks like us’- which of course
begs the question of weather we are really the church at all. (Almost
Christian)
When I speak to the next generation, I like to remind
them how following Jesus doesn’t simply mean you have Christ in your
life; it means He is your life.
Young people at 15 sacrifice everything to win gold
medals in the Olympics. Teens learn trigonometry in high school; they
can learn theology in church.
We need to stop giving bare-bones Christianity aimed at
children and dish out a robust, life-altering message to young adults
instead.
Jonathan Edwards observed the Great Awakening was propelled by and influenced mostly young people.
Too many young adults see the Church as an agent aimed
at behavior modification and conformity to a set tradition rather than
as a living encounter with a resurrected King.
4. Teach them about vocation as well as devotion.
We have to rescue the coming generation from the problem
of compartmentalizing our faith. Studies show that Millennials who have
remained active beyond their youth are three times more likely than
dropouts to say they learned to view their gifts and passions as part of
God’s calling.
They are four times more likely to have learned at
church “how the Bible applies to my field or career interests.” Showing
how the Gospel impacts all of life and not only our spiritual lives is
vital to this generation.
5. Emphasize community over the institutional church.
This is a generation starving for community. It’s a
fatherless generation, one often connected more on the internet with
virtual community than enjoying real community.
One of the primary reasons those in the next generation
stay in church after their teens is because they develop meaningful
relationships and develop a sense of community. T
hey are twice as likely to be engaged in church if they
have a close friendship with an adult in the church. And they are two
and a half times as likely to be engaged if they have a mentor.
I’m blessed to serve as a bivocational pastor of a young
professionals ministry that has exploded with growth over the past
several years.
The above principles have been critical in that growth. I
hope these will encourage you as you seek to reach the next generation.
ABOUT ALVIN REID
Alvin Reid is also the Pastor to Young Professionals at
Richland Creek Community Church, a Southern Baptist congregation on the
north side of Raleigh. A prolific author and speaker.
Reid’s books include As You Go: Creating a Missional Culture of Gospel-Centered
Students, The Book of Matches (with Ashley M. Gorman), With: A
Practical Guide to Informal Mentoring, and Evangelism Handbook:
Biblical, Spiritual, Intentional, Missional, as well as others.
A husband to Michelle, a father, author, teacher, minister, missionary and friend.
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