David Platt's 'Radical'

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone that is currently content with where they are at in their faith journey and want to stay that way.  This book is like taking a nice and orderly deck of cards and throwing them as high into the air as you can.  As I am slowly but surely making my way through David Platt's 'Radical' and I must say that the book is quite frustrating to read, but in a good way.  Platt shares about his journey from a safe Americanized Christianity to something that is much more Christlike.  He talks about numerous trips around the globe where he met and encountered fellow believers that clung to and embraced the gospel in a manner that many of us in the West know little about.  Platt often highlights specific stories of these people and the amazing work that they are doing in their communities and countries for the sake of Christ.  It is impossible to read this book without looking at one's own life and how 'safe' many of us live.  The last thing most of us want is to have to sacrifice the comfortable and predictable way that we have become accustomed to living and give that up.  However, Platt states that an honest reading of the gospels and Christ's words show us that as believers we are called to be servants who do not find our comforts and joys in the treasures of this world.  Instead, just as Philippians 2 states, our attitude (and life) should be like that of Christ Jesus who humbled himself for the sake of others.

Again, this book frustrates me as I read it.  I sometimes dream of 'selling everything and moving to (insert 3rd world country)' in order to (insert act of service).  However, what is someone like me to do when I owe $30,000+ in school loans to the government and need to continue making money to pay off those loans?  Books like Platt's are frustrating because I don't know what radical obedience looks like in my life at this point.  Sure, I know I am called to be a faithful husband and pastor, but am I really making the most of my time and my life?

youth ministry and the family

I recently came across a documentary/book 'Already Gone'  featuring Ken Ham (answers in Genesis).  The book examined the mass exodus of many young adults from the church all across America and the reasoning behind it. Their primary conclusion is that youth ministries are failing to effectively teach and disciple students.  According to Ham and others featured in the documentary, youth ministries have become so focused on entertaining students that they have gotten away from genuine spiritual formation.

While I believe that there are points of truth to Ham's observation, I believe that the documentary is pointing the finger in the wrong direction.  As one who has been a youth pastor at the same church for 6.5 years, I have noticed a trend among the students who 'stick around' after graduating from the youth ministry and those who don't... In fact, the results are pretty much undeniable.  While there is a part of me that would love to believe that the youth ministry is the primary agent that shapes and forms the students who come through the door, it is the family that students come from that seem to have the greatest influence on whether a student 'sticks around' or leaves the church following high school.

It is extremely rare (in fact, I am struggling to think of more than one or two examples from my church) to find a student who sticks with the church following high school who has absolutely no support at home.  On the other side of the coin, as I look at all the students who continue to seek the Lord while being connected to a local church body and each one of them comes from a family with a mother and a father who I know are greatly invested in their child's life and rooted in their own local church.

Again, the ego inside of me wishes that it was my preaching, my ability to teach, the events that I plan, etc, that had more to do with the ultimate decision a student makes, but the reality is that parents and family have a far greater influence on the spiritual formation and shaping of their child than the youth ministry ever will.  This does not serve as an excuse to reduce the importance of having an effective and quality youth ministry, however, it is important to recognize that the 'end all solution' to raising a child is not simply making sure they go to the right school or that they are a part of the best youth ministry.  Instead, it begins at the home.  May we all recognize (especially those who are parents) that God has entrusted us with one of the greatest responsibilities that the world has ever known: raising a child in the faith.