I’m in the “back in my day” chapter of life (soon to be followed, I understand, by the “get off my lawn” phase), and I think it’s funny how trends that I recognize are coming back around. Cargo pants, midriffs, frosted tips, and punk rock. Oh yeah. It’s my time to shine again.
As Solomon put it, there’s nothing new under the sun, and this is true especially concerning the deeper, enduring, and persistent needs of teens.
Recent research by Springtide and Youth For Christ USA highlights how meaningful connections with adults are still critical for a young person’s sense of belonging. In fact, Springtide summarized that these relationships “are the means by which the sacred makes itself seen, felt, and known.”
Kids still need caring adults in their lives! This is why Jailyn, a high schooler in Campus Life, would walk up to her leader after club and share, “I feel like an imposter because I’m not a Christian. But I want this because it’s good for me.” Jailyn is experiencing something real and tangible in the community of Campus Life at her school, and it is drawing her to Jesus – toward the relationship she was made for.
And yet, in youth ministry, each new cohort of kids also brings a twist on the perennial need to belong. Teens these days are still reeling from macro-trends of poor mental health, isolation, a lack of connection to Jesus, and broken families.
Just today I heard from a staff member about a 7th grade boy who came up to him and wanted to talk about a post he had seen online from a kid threatening to shoot up a nearby school. The 7th grader wanted prayer, understandably. They kept talking, and then when the leader asked how he was feeling he started sharing through tears in his eyes how he himself had wanted to commit suicide the previous year but had failed at the attempt. When nearly 2/10 teens have engaged in self-harm in the last 12 months, conversations like these become more normative. It’s a sad reality for teens in this particular day and time.
On the positive side, kids right now are the most interested in Christianity and Jesus that they’ve been in some time. Jacob, the new City Life staff at the Downtown Teen Center, met a group of neighborhood teens at a gas station after they got off the bus. He introduced himself, bought them snacks, and spent a few minutes getting to know them. Later, they recognized him at their school during Club Rush and joined our Campus Life club. They are now part of the club during lunch, allowing Jacob to continue building relationships with them and share Christ.
God is moving amidst the needs of teens right now, drawing them into spaces and relationships that share hope and life.
Christian kids, also, are leaning in in exciting new ways. Youth For Christ facilitates the Central Valley Youth Network, and together we just gathered 30 churches and over 500 students for worship and prayer. Kids were united arm in arm, praying for their schools, their city, each other, and their leaders. Not every student was a believer in the room, so some students made first-time decisions to follow Christ, others expressed a desire to learn more about baptism through their local church, and still others made connections with on-campus ministries such as FCA, YoungLife, and YFC.
Kids are hungry for transformation, and Christian kids especially want to go deeper. A recent survey of Youth For Christ USA found that teens “want trusted adults who will help them understand
God’s Word, ask meaningful questions, and challenge them to grow.” While relationships remain incredibly important, the content of these relationships is moving “beyond creating spiritually safe environments towards creating spiritually formative ones.” Christian kids want the real thing, and are asking for discipleship to get it.
You never quite know the unique story of a kid until you ask. The trends are all there with their outward appearance, the statistics, the macrotrends. But God is also doing something new in their midst. God is using us to engage teens at critical moments so that they would discover hope, life, and purpose found only in Jesus Christ. In the end, it really is a lot like “back in my day,” and it’s still very punk rock in a kingdom-kinda-way.
Geared to the times, anchored to The Rock,
Jameson