Bieber Fever

I was talking with a student (6th grade girl) who wanted to get baptized. I wanted to get a better grasp of her faith and her story since I work with high school students and didn't know this girl very well (I do know her older brother). When it was her turn to share about her relationship with God she stumbled a bit to articulate exactly how she felt the Lord. She threw out some key descriptors like "love," "grace," "awesome," with some straining, but then a relaxed almost relieved look washed over her. She had found it, the perfect way to describe God and how she felt about him: "He's like Justin Bieber, but better." ... I kid you not. (at least she didn't react like this)

This was a reminder of a few things:

1) Our students need a better grasp on how to biblically express their views on God and we need to do a better job of helping them get there (in partnership with the family).

2) As youth workers or even just pastors in general we have to remember where our people are. When they don't know how to articulate something they'll try their best to compare/contrast it to something they do understand. We must be sensitive and aware of the world they're living in so we can be prepared to give better illustrations and enjoy quicker understanding.

3) 6th grade girls are 6th grade girls and Justin Bieber is Justin Bieber. For better or worse.

Implement point 1, embrace point 2, cope with even celebrate point 3?

Hurt

The weird thing about hurt is that it can show up anywhere, in any form, at anytime. The image below (click for larger version) shows a person's hurt showing up on the 405 freeway. This isn't a stock photo from Google Images. I took this picture yesterday. This is someone's real hurt coming out in a real, yet, seemingly odd way. But doesn't hurt always come out in odd ways?



It can be a random outburst. A passive agressive note. Evidently, even as street art. Or a million other ways. The point is that it will come out.
A few questions: Whether you're the hurter or the hurtee, how will you respond to it? As the hurtee will you let it fester and have it turn into a deep wound or will you ultimately release your hurt, fear, anger, frustration over to God? Or as the hurter will you internalize the blame, retaliate yourself, or cast your confusion, discouragement and pain to Him when confronted?

Doug Fields commonly says, "hurt people hurt people." (still not sure how to punctuate that). A good reminder that there may be more hurt people out there than we realize and that we should be prepared to handle hurt. Its inevitable and so is it coming out.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7

The Adolescent Journey

I didn’t really know what to expect when this book showed up in the mail. I truly enjoy staying up to date with youth ministry training resources and I’ve even got a few shelves in my bookcase dedicated to passing on resources to our adult volunteers. So I should have been tipped off when my wife (who is no slouch in the youth ministry or brain power departments by the way and also a small group leader) who knew I was reading and reviewing this book asked me what the title was and her response to my answer was, “Huh?” Trust me, I am all for raising the intellectual bar for youth ministry and it’s practitioners. I have heard too many times youth workers get bashed for not being “real pastors” or not being fully equipped to do real ministry. Youth ministry and its ministers need books that push comfort zone limits and extract from us our best thinking. However, this work put forth from Amy E. Jacober does walk a fine line between academic thesis and practitioner’s user manual.

Jacober starts off strong by quoting Kenda Dean’s strong work in Almost Christian by saying teens subscribe to and practice Moral Therapeutic Deism “not because they have misunderstood what we have taught them in church. They practice this because this is what we have taught them in church.” Jacober indicates that the source of this problem is that youth ministers have been looking for shortcuts and time-savers in their teaching preparation or ministry planning all too frequently, resulting in teens receiving insufficient theological training and a poorer understanding of themselves in the process. Jacober then concludes the solution is youth ministers should become (better) practical theologians in order to “help students navigate the difficult passage from childhood to adulthood.” This can be achieved by adopting, implementing and embracing three not-so-clear-cut practices.

Primarily, Jacober says, youth ministers must be bilingual. This meaning in the sense of being fluent in the languages and practices of social psychology and theology. That being the understanding of adolescent development, behavior and culture. Working from that base youth workers then must understand and teach practical theology.

Second, practical theology unites three strands of existence: the individual, the communal and the eternal. Recognition and synthesis of these three are crucial in the major life task of adolescence.

Lastly, an adolescent in the midst of maturation and spiritual development is “nurtured through the transformative power of Christ and the comingling virtues of love, justice and mercy.” The book’s goal is to breakdown the details of these three insights into practical youth ministry points and to discover how they work together to better nurture an adolescent’s transformation in Christ.

If this sounds a bit more academic than a typical youth ministry resource, it’s because it is. I believe this book is intended to be a beginners’ manual on adolescent development and practical youth ministry. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite read like one. A solid grasp of adolescent development and history of Christian education would benefit the reader greatly before starting this book.

At the onset of each chapter, we get glimpses into Jacober’s life and youth ministry experiences which are refreshing and give us insight into an environment for possible examples of applications of the theory she discusses in great detail. These glimpses, however, are too limited and quickly disappear into a web of jargon-laced, academic-styled writing. This is specifically an issue in the second and third chapters, Practical Theology and Overlapping Spheres in Adolescent Development, respectively. This is where the book gets bogged down in its efforts to explain the necessity of understanding and defining adolescent development (one of the ministry languages we are to be bilingual in).
Though these specific chapters and a several consequent passages can be dry and academic, one can still yield easily applicable fruit. In particular, chapter four, A Clarification of Context is practically worth the price of admission alone. In this chapter Jacober emphasizes the need for the youth minister to understand the cultural context from which their ministry constituents come; to be experts or at least aware of youth culture. This is important because in a sense the youth minister is a cross-cultural missionary, reaching out across cultural and generational lines to administer the gospel. In order to best accompany teens through the journey into adulthood the understanding of a youth minister should not end at psychological and biological developmental issues, but should extend into this critical and elusive territory of youth culture. It is this culture that is all around us and our teens and it is the atmosphere in which we live. Fortunately, Jacober explains this clearly and succinctly and the reader is left with both a better understanding of this point’s importance and her heart for ministry.

The knowledge hidden within these pages is necessary and helpful for any youth worker to have. Although the psychological and biological development passages can be tough to wade through, there is still worthy information to reward your strained efforts at the end of the journey. Its clearly intentional for Jacober to close out the book with a chapter based on a transformative ministry. Clearly, her Ph.D. work and intellect level is on display, but her heart for life transformation in ministry shines through, urging the youth minister to understand their work as preparing teens to be impacted and transformed by Christ.

Overall, Jacober excels in speaking to the professional, but perhaps not so much in speaking to the lay person or volunteer youth worker. This is an academically heavy work that has a great heart to inform, educate, and equip the reader to be a better minister of the gospel in a youth ministry context and can be very beneficial if the reader has enough knowledge going in so that they might deconstruct the oft times dense content. No doubt this text will show up in youth ministry or Christian Education classrooms across the country in the coming fall term, but it might end up staying on my resource bookshelf for quiet a while.

Tim Tam Slam

For those of you who have never heard of the Tim Tam Slam- I’m sorry. I’m sorry you haven’t experienced this cultural, communal phenomenon. I’m sorry you haven’t tasted this creamy, chocolate bonanza. I’m sorry. The reason you don’t know about it is because no one has told you- and that’s against the rules. Wait, rules? How can a no holds barred chocolate bonanza have rules!? Calm down. There are only two:

Rule 1) You must tell people about Tim Tam Slam

Rule 2) Never slam alone

It’s not an exaggeration to call the Slam a communal experience. It’s an experience that’s meant to be shared, both in participation and awareness.

By most accounts Tim Tam Slam has Australian origins, but also has a strong tradition in the UK. To begin the Slam, bite a small corner off the chocolate cream cookie (said Tim Tam), turn to the other end and bite the other corner. You now essentially have a cookie straw to drink your hot chocolate (or tea in the UK). Dunk the Tim Tam into the hot chocolate and begin to suck. When the hot chocolate gets to your tongue you pop (or slam) the entire cookie in your mouth and let it dissolve without much chewing, if any at all. What ensues is a rush of chocolate intensity you’ve yet to experience. Clearly, this degree of chocolate consumption is not an exercise for the weak of heart!

I introduced the Slam to my high school students at our winter retreat earlier this year. It was a strategic decision that went beyond just having some giggles with the students. There were 4 main reasons I wanted to do the Slam at camp:

1. Tradition- The students in my high school ministry love being a part of something bigger than themselves. Of course, this is not unique only to our group, but their level of commitment to tradition is one I haven’t seen before. I’ve commonly heard, “but we’ve always done ________” from adults, but here students love saying they’ve been a part of/dressed up for/planned/attended something for years. I knew by unveiling the Slam at camp we would be creating a new tradition for them to enjoy.

2. Buzz- Our winter camp was at a program camp that usually packs out with 400-500. Our weekend was particularly low in attendance and I worried some of the buzz or energy students get when they’re around hundreds of peers might be lost. My hope was that the mystery surrounding the Slam (“Tim Tam Slam? What is this madness? Tell me!”) could help create some anticipation that we could use as fuel for other camp activities.

3. Momentum- After what would have surely been a successful maiden of voyage of the Slam, our students would have bought into the tradition aspect and we’d have higher buy-in and more buzz for the next occurrence of the Slam (or more specifically the camp or event where it took place) therefore perpetuating reasons 1, 2, 3, and…

4. Teachable moment- Remember those rules? Well, those rules in the hands of a wily youth pastor could turn the Slam into an illustration describing following Jesus, evangelism, things we’re passionate about, etc and how we’re supposed to share those things that change our lives and make us do goofy things.

Just to clarify, I’m not claiming ownership of the Slam, nor do I think its some sort of ministry miracle. It is, however, something that when used thoughtfully, can be used for the good of ministry. And anything that reminds us to be intentional, strategic, or thoughtful in ministry is a great thing.

I haven’t cashed in on that teachable moment yet, but the Sunday morning message moment is coming. It won’t be an earth shattering illustration, but hopefully one that students can immediately relate to, personalize, laugh about, and share…. or at least give us another excuse to do the Tim Tam Slam!