One thing before I go: I have worked with MANY AMAZING youth groups around the country. Many of them have been an incredible example of discipleship and just how powerful youth ministry can be.
JonJorgenson; I do agree with your message about 'Discipleship' but I think they do well to learn that to be 'forewarned' is to be 'forearmed.' I think the whole chabang should be factored in when it comes to training in youth groups. Whether trained or untrained the wolf (whether Satan, life, or the flesh) is going to come and it's going to come in all sorts of ways, tricks, and schemes and its going to come at you hard. Best to not only be trained but 'forwarned.' Anyway, thanks for a wonderful vid, very rewarding. God bless.😍
As a Youth Pastor I agree. Discipleship in Youth Ministry is the hardest element for me because I struggle to create ownership in my students. Evangelism is easy, Discipleship is hard.
Jay Hollenbeck HEY jay, I’m actually kind of opposite. Investing in the students that I have comes easy for me while reaching new students is more of a challenge.
I completely agree. My church had no youth program until they found out that an 8 year old can't be in an adult class or preschool (I was the 8 year old). Since there was no place for me, I stopped going all together. At 14, one of the church elders come to my house to invite me to the new youth program. They got a new pastor and they wanted me to meet him. There were 2 other students in the class but I got along with them great. Fast forward to a year and we have 30+ students. The youth pastor made sure we had a lot of fun on our outings at camps, concerts, and even each others houses, but I always felt like something was "off". He would do normal Bible lessons and stories, but once someone wanted to become a Christian, they were saved immediately and told to go into the community to spread the gospel. Students barely knew what Jesus's mission was, yet they handed out flyers and tracts to the community. When youre 12+, its so confusing figuring out who you are and what you're meant to me as it is. TL;DR- a seed can't do a tree's job, it has to grow and develop through hardship first.
Thanks so much for sharing your experience. This is so valuable. You are right, a seed can’t do a tree’s job. Praying that all of us would continue to grow even after we start reaching out to others.
I had a really similar experience with youth ministry and especially when you’re first coming in the cliques can be really intimidating. It was because of this that I chose to go the service with my parents and I felt like those those sermons really helped grow my discipleship but I also felt like I lost that sense of community that could’ve been found if I had felt more welcome in the youth group.
I so get this! I went to a leadership conference you were at and it seemed all they spoke of was evangelism. I honestly think its weird to go up to random strangers and talk about Jesus. I always found more value in starting a relationship with someone and leading them to Christ through loving that person. I liked that your messages did not focus on evangelism but growing in your own faith.
I TOTALLY GET THIS! In youth group, I never really got a lot out of youth group. I had to really make my faith my own by doing sort of what you did. Anyone else feel this way?
Great thoughts man. As a youth pastor I totally hear what you’re saying. I tend to focus on discipleship and I love walking through the Word with the students that we have. It takes extra effort on my part to do more evangelistic events. Thanks for your heart and your ministry man.
Brandon Buitron True that this is a problem that goes beyond youth ministry. Many pastors will favor evangelism or discipleship at the expense of the other.
Hey Jon, I go to a small youth group in PA and we love your videos! Thanks for all you do and for how relatable you are for teens and younger adults! Even my parents love your videos!
I agree completely!! As someone who’s in youth group currently, you hit it right on the head. Our youth group is a little different in structure because our church building actually used to be a school, and it’s placed in the middle of a neighborhood. One of the things we do is invite the neighbor kids (no matter the age) to join us every week. Sure we’re evangelizing and discipling them, but it’s also set to disciple us. The first have of youth group we spend playing games and eating dinner with the neighbor kids and the second have we break into small groups without the neighbor kids (most of them are elementary aged, but older kids could join us during that time, but often chose not to) which is more on dicipling us and helping us nurture our faith. It’s a really good balance for us and we love it. I wish more youth groups spent time doing both because I often find it’s one or the other. Our youth group isn’t super cliquey, as there usually aren’t that many kids that come, and with the neighbors we have new kids all the time, which I think makes it easier for new youth group kids. Sorry for the super long rambling comment. Lol. Great video as always!
This is soooo true! So many churches only focus on 'saving' people, but don't do a lot disciple and train the next generation up. I personally see Discipleship as a HUGE part of faith as we need to train up the next generation of leaders. The youth group at our new church however are really amazing - our youth leader sees the same importance of evangelising and seeing young people saved, but at the same time the importance of discipling Christian teens and teaching them the really important stuff and how to defend their faith which I think is awesome! Such a great video I needed to hear as I feel God is calling me to youth ministry. Thanks Jon :)
In this age of information and the internet Christianity has competition like never before. On the playing field of ideas in multicultural societies many youth embrace ideas at odds with Christian teachings including other religions and even atheism. This plays a huge role in the path many youth follow and cannot be ignored. It's not all about discipleship.
Youth pastor here. And yesss! Jesus told His disciples to go and make disciples. The only way you can "teach them to obey the things I've commanded you" (Matthew 28:20) is to have a relationship. The goal of our youth group is disciples making disciples. I must teach them Jesus' commands and show them what discipleship is so that they can then go and make disciples on their own. Great video Jon
This is so important. I am grateful that I met Jesus when I was a sophomore, but I got off to a real rocky start in my walk with Him in part because of these issues in the youth group scene (cliques and evangelism pressure) that distract from really getting to know Him. I wish some mature adults would have walked alongside me and discipled me. It makes me so sad to think about young people all around who need and want Jesus but get lost because nobody in their life is willing to step in. Jon, thank you for your work in both speaking and TH-cam! Keep being awesome! ✋ P.S. That DEH reference...soo accurate 😅👌
This was so good, and so helpful. I definitely see a lot of those tendencies in youth ministry. Right now as a volunteer, I’m so grateful to be a part of a ministry that actually does focus on loving students and building relationships first, more than anything else. But I definitely haven’t seen that universally. Anyway, thanks for expressing these concerns in a constructive way.
Yes Jon, I could not agree more on that. Jay Hollenbeck - really good comment as well! I really love the part that we first need to have a "faith" before we can invite people thereto. We do marketing when the product is rubbish. First work on the product. The marketing will not be necessary anymore. "Come and see" will be an easy one. Great job!
Thanks for this video, I really appreciate videos like this one, as we are about to step into a youth ministry position (God willing), this is great guidance for the directions of focus. Keep up the good work!
I also had that problem with youth group growing up. People were only there to see their friends, not for God. If you’re actually there for God, then you’re an outcast. It’s the worst feeling and something that really needs to end
Oh my gosh! I agree with this so much. Especially the part about being taught how to defend your faith, but yet not being taught how to read your Bible or do daily devotions.
Love your messages! This discussion is one that I agree with strongly. We all need to spend time in our Christian walk putting in the hours towards descipleship. Being enthusiastic about evangelism is fine, but we need to know what we are talking about before we set out to convert or bring to faith new Christians. Thank you for tackling this topic. God bless you and the ministry work you do. I realize I'm probably outside your normal demographic 49, raised in a traditional Presbyterian home, and finally getting down to the nuts and bolts of my walk after some length away from the church. But I wanted to say thank you for your beautiful heart. You have me agreeing with you on your theology 99.9% of the time ☺
I love this. I go to a pretty huge High School service every Sunday night at my church and a lot of my closest friends are in my group with me. I'd say we do a pretty good job at discipleship and evangelism, there are some pretty powerful things that happen there. Thanks for your thoughts on this Jon. It really made me think and pray on this.
Thank you man. Christ's Church of the Valley (CCV) really focuses on the next generation as well as the adults. Our mission there is, "WIN, TRAIN, SEND". We WIN people to Christ, we TRAIN believers to become Disciples, and we SEND them out into the world to bring people to Jesus. We're in a teaching series in adult service right now with our Senior Pastor talking about the core values of our church and how we are able to live them out every week when a new person comes to church. We have 9 campuses. If you're ever in the Phoenix Valley area, you should check out CCV Peoria (that's where I go) or any other CCV campus we have. God bless you, Jon!!
Love the shirt, great video too! Find your clique or create your own wherever you are. Don't give up on any groups just because one doesn't fit in right away. Most cliques are formed from a strong bond of fellowship. Some people get intimidated by that but if you really want to be a part of a group don't let that stop you. Some people just bond easier and quicker. We all need to be more welcoming in church, though.
100% agree. This is why I stopped attending youth groups when I was younger. I hate the cliques - I just never fitted into them. Though, to be fair, I was better off not trying to get into the cliques and found that they were the most ungodly.
I am looking at a job at a local church where I would be creating worship services and guide kids into a relationship with Jesus. Thank you for the insights so I can get off on the right foot.
I agree with you. I have never seen any Christian church be so hard on teenagers until I was 14 when I went to another church. The youth teacher, (not youth pastor) helped or lead them to Christ first and never pressured them to save other people before they knew what they were doing. It was always about helping them know about His love, and developing yourself in a godly way. And the teens themselves would always help each other out to continue in His way and stand confident in the Lord as we were going through the regular teen struggles including being bullied or picked on for being a child of God. The teen makes the choice him or herself to reach other people to God as they get ready. The church that I go to since I was 14 kind of discourages me to continue going to church. I never felt so isolated or unfed spiritually by them. I just feel judged by them. And like you said about telling them that they are going to be persecuted or just telling them to go out there and just try to get people to come to church. I think that is just wrong. They probably don't know or understand the simplest parts of having a relationship with God.
I actually agree with you for the Youth Group. I rarely go to church because my work rarely allows me to and because of that when I do go I feel like I am outside the group and I feel that there are politics even within the group. I hate it when power comes into play. Instead of just doing what you want to do as long as it doesn't hurt anyone and also which is right in the eyes of God people just try to gain the power to influence people into the so called "dark side" I don't know if it makes sense. That is the main reason why don't don't go to church.
I agree with you. It happens even in Australia. Get bums on seats is what alot of churches seem to care about and then move on and get them to bring more in and no discliping to help them grow in their faith. We need to change this world wide.
YEARS ago I had a couple of big prophetic words over me about "Youth Ministry" but nothing has really come about and I'm not if I should keep pushing doors or just lay low for a bit...
I agree with this cause at my church the youth group is up to age 20 and then u can’t join no more and most of the youth kids have family in the church and I feel alone because I’m not like them and they don’t hang with me they just say hi to me every time I come to the church and most of the youth kids or teens don’t even. Say hi to me I wasn’t born in the church so I can’t join the youth group and because they do signing songs and stuff like that
As a teenage girl in a smallish youth group, I would say you are very accurate. In my youth group, there are friend groups that stick together and kind of shut others out. I would also say that there is a deficiency of female adults at least helping out (I’m not going to get into female leadership, that’s a whole other sack of potatoes), and as a result, many of the girls feel like youth group is geared towards the boys. My youth minister is a great guy, I don’t want to attack him, but I do feel like he is reluctant to turn the direction of the lessons away from the boys because he is afraid the boys will lose interest. I’m definitely not saying there’s only stuff for boys, because there’s a separate girls bible study group and boys bible study group, but many girls do feel a little bored with such little relatable content. My church is pretty good about letting people in and allowing them to figure out their faith before forcing them to go out and witness to others, which tbh I don’t think teenagers do much. At least in public school, I have never seen nor met any other teens share their faith with others. I think that is because we are afraid of the reactions of our peers, and the fact that we’re pretty confused ourselves and many youth leaders don’t realize that we aren’t little kids who are learning the basics or adults who have it figured out. Adolescence is the time in a persons life when we figure out who we are as people, who we want to be, and what our basic morals are. Yet in youth group, all we learn is “You should make friends who are not carbon copies of you” or “be like the praying mantis and meditate and pray” so I mean I don’t know. I think adults just need to realize that we are growing up and we need lessons that challenge us to think about our beliefs and decide what those are.
These things definitely don’t just apply to youth groups.... I came to Christ as an adult and I have had all these same experiences within the adult church
The Great Commission actually says, "Therefore go and make DISCIPLES (emphasis mine) of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,..." (Matthew 28:19) Jon, the same thing causing you frustration now is what caused me much confusion and doubt as a young Christian over 25 years ago. How can we expect our youth to make disciples of others without first being made disciples themselves? Evangelizing someone and convincing them to agree and pray with you isn't the same as discipleship. It takes time, love, and a committed relationship; the techniques I was taught and what they continue to teach is more like being a spiritual pick-up artist.
I've been real close to Evangelical Union - a student's ministry for almost 4 years now and I've always felt and thought discipleship training camps were more rewarding and fruitful not mention impacting.
I hated youth group too because of these issues. Now that I'm in my 20s, I still struggle going to church because of bad experiences, but I'm trying to get more involved and work past it to bond with other believers. :)
I had a very similar experience and it really wasn’t until the last year that I really feel like I belong to a church for the first time in a long time. Praying for you.
God bless whoever is reading this and i pray that you turn to the Lord before his return and please seek the Lord so you can be in forever be in happiness you dont have to suffer because the Lord already did so for you as long as you follow him, God bless you and Jesus has a plan for you keep your head up 😃❤🙏
OMG I have been thinking exactly about the same problem for the last 6 months! People are sent to preach before they even get to know Jesus! That gives a super bad image of Jesus :( People grow to think they need to achieve and achieve...
In my experience, at my church at least, those things are combined. Small Groups are a part of youth group , both in my church as well as others I have visited in my area. I think that both evangelism and discipleship are important, and they should both co exist in the same space. That’s how I look at it at least.
All youth groups do things differently. Speaking specifically about the sermon portion of a service, I believe that there are many different kinds of sermons, and evangelistic is an important one, but not the only one.
JonJorgenson And I totally agree with that. Evangelism is important but obviously it’s not the only thing to talk about. God can speak through people in all aspects of life. Thanks for the feedback! Also(thanks for recording a video with my friend Sam when you were recently here in Tempe, AZ) It rocked my world!
I do agree I have a kind of youth group but it was not religous it was more just friendly and I only Found friends in faith through the internet I still loved the youth group but yeah I just wanted more
I find that to be the case as well that and at least in my church the youth's style tends to be locked up in just one part of the church, the way they dress is jeans and a t shirt and many people want them to come in to the sanctuary dressed all prim and proper, and the elder people bad moth the newer Christian music and say we should stick to the old hymns
JonJorgenson Thanks Jon. ❤ The biggest thing that helped me through my youth group was my youth leader who was awesome at discipling to us. He really helped me to learn what it REALLY means to be a Christian and how I should live my life for God. Discipling is SO IMPORTANT for young people's growth as a Christians.
Youth leaving the church is for all kinds of reasons most of which have little to do with how they were "discipled". Rather it has more to do with exposure to a broad spectrum of philosophical ideas in an age of information and the internet that don't comport with Christianity. On the playing field of ideas there is much to consider and reflect upon.
Hey Jon, I was just wondering: did you watch the recent video of Unlearn the lies? He covered the same topic and came to a conclusion that - from my point of view - points in the same direction as yours.
I have issues with Jon's ministry. And perhaps it also relates as to why Millennials are turned off to Christianity. The Word of God is potent like wine. And instead of keeping it so, people like Jon make the error in watering it down. The Church as a whole has been following that path. And that is not a good thing.
Jon, you do know that "better help" is porly made and it has UNPROFESSIONAL councillors that actually make peaple more deprest, I saw reviews on it... And ... Most of it was pretty bad, so... Please don't sponcer it again, if your wandering how bad it is then check out pewdiepies review on it. You would make a good councillor tho!🙌
Thanks for watching! Please consider supporting this ministry on Patreon: www.patreon.com/jonjorgenson
One thing before I go: I have worked with MANY AMAZING youth groups around the country. Many of them have been an incredible example of discipleship and just how powerful youth ministry can be.
Hey JON! GOD BLESS YOU :)
JonJorgenson; I do agree with your message about 'Discipleship' but I think they do well to learn that to be 'forewarned' is to be 'forearmed.' I think the whole chabang should be factored in when it comes to training in youth groups. Whether trained or untrained the wolf (whether Satan, life, or the flesh) is going to come and it's going to come in all sorts of ways, tricks, and schemes and its going to come at you hard. Best to not only be trained but 'forwarned.' Anyway, thanks for a wonderful vid, very rewarding. God bless.😍
JonJorgenson ....I love you so very moch ...l wish from the Lord your care...from Iraq
As a Youth Pastor I agree. Discipleship in Youth Ministry is the hardest element for me because I struggle to create ownership in my students.
Evangelism is easy, Discipleship is hard.
Jay Hollenbeck HEY jay, I’m actually kind of opposite. Investing in the students that I have comes easy for me while reaching new students is more of a challenge.
We should form a Voltron style super Youth Pastor and take over the world!!!! Muhahaha!
Or maybe just reach people for Jesus.
Great comment Jay, answered you in a comment above.
You have a legit concern and are taking action. I love it
I completely agree. My church had no youth program until they found out that an 8 year old can't be in an adult class or preschool (I was the 8 year old). Since there was no place for me, I stopped going all together. At 14, one of the church elders come to my house to invite me to the new youth program. They got a new pastor and they wanted me to meet him. There were 2 other students in the class but I got along with them great. Fast forward to a year and we have 30+ students. The youth pastor made sure we had a lot of fun on our outings at camps, concerts, and even each others houses, but I always felt like something was "off". He would do normal Bible lessons and stories, but once someone wanted to become a Christian, they were saved immediately and told to go into the community to spread the gospel. Students barely knew what Jesus's mission was, yet they handed out flyers and tracts to the community. When youre 12+, its so confusing figuring out who you are and what you're meant to me as it is.
TL;DR- a seed can't do a tree's job, it has to grow and develop through hardship first.
Thanks so much for sharing your experience. This is so valuable. You are right, a seed can’t do a tree’s job. Praying that all of us would continue to grow even after we start reaching out to others.
I had a really similar experience with youth ministry and especially when you’re first coming in the cliques can be really intimidating. It was because of this that I chose to go the service with my parents and I felt like those those sermons really helped grow my discipleship but I also felt like I lost that sense of community that could’ve been found if I had felt more welcome in the youth group.
I so get this! I went to a leadership conference you were at and it seemed all they spoke of was evangelism. I honestly think its weird to go up to random strangers and talk about Jesus. I always found more value in starting a relationship with someone and leading them to Christ through loving that person. I liked that your messages did not focus on evangelism but growing in your own faith.
I TOTALLY GET THIS! In youth group, I never really got a lot out of youth group. I had to really make my faith my own by doing sort of what you did. Anyone else feel this way?
Great thoughts man. As a youth pastor I totally hear what you’re saying. I tend to focus on discipleship and I love walking through the Word with the students that we have. It takes extra effort on my part to do more evangelistic events.
Thanks for your heart and your ministry man.
I agree most churches don't have discipleship for any age group let alone youth.
Brandon Buitron hey Brandon funny finding you here. 😂😂
Hey Jay! Funny finding you here too! :)
Brandon Buitron True that this is a problem that goes beyond youth ministry. Many pastors will favor evangelism or discipleship at the expense of the other.
Hey Jon, I go to a small youth group in PA and we love your videos! Thanks for all you do and for how relatable you are for teens and younger adults! Even my parents love your videos!
This is awesome to hear. This is a HUGE reason that I make these videos. So great. Thank you.
I agree completely!! As someone who’s in youth group currently, you hit it right on the head. Our youth group is a little different in structure because our church building actually used to be a school, and it’s placed in the middle of a neighborhood. One of the things we do is invite the neighbor kids (no matter the age) to join us every week. Sure we’re evangelizing and discipling them, but it’s also set to disciple us. The first have of youth group we spend playing games and eating dinner with the neighbor kids and the second have we break into small groups without the neighbor kids (most of them are elementary aged, but older kids could join us during that time, but often chose not to) which is more on dicipling us and helping us nurture our faith. It’s a really good balance for us and we love it. I wish more youth groups spent time doing both because I often find it’s one or the other. Our youth group isn’t super cliquey, as there usually aren’t that many kids that come, and with the neighbors we have new kids all the time, which I think makes it easier for new youth group kids. Sorry for the super long rambling comment. Lol. Great video as always!
This is soooo true! So many churches only focus on 'saving' people, but don't do a lot disciple and train the next generation up. I personally see Discipleship as a HUGE part of faith as we need to train up the next generation of leaders. The youth group at our new church however are really amazing - our youth leader sees the same importance of evangelising and seeing young people saved, but at the same time the importance of discipling Christian teens and teaching them the really important stuff and how to defend their faith which I think is awesome! Such a great video I needed to hear as I feel God is calling me to youth ministry. Thanks Jon :)
In this age of information and the internet Christianity has competition like never before. On the playing field of ideas in multicultural societies many youth embrace ideas at odds with Christian teachings including other religions and even atheism. This plays a huge role in the path many youth follow and cannot be ignored. It's not all about discipleship.
Love the emphasis on discipleship! Thanks for sharing this Jon
Youth pastor here. And yesss! Jesus told His disciples to go and make disciples. The only way you can "teach them to obey the things I've commanded you" (Matthew 28:20) is to have a relationship. The goal of our youth group is disciples making disciples. I must teach them Jesus' commands and show them what discipleship is so that they can then go and make disciples on their own.
Great video Jon
Thanks so much! And thank you for the important work you’re doing! Keep it up. We’re praying for you.
I can really relate to your experience and agree with your perspective! Thanks for sharing Jon.
you singing Waving Through a Window made my heart flutter
This is so important. I am grateful that I met Jesus when I was a sophomore, but I got off to a real rocky start in my walk with Him in part because of these issues in the youth group scene (cliques and evangelism pressure) that distract from really getting to know Him. I wish some mature adults would have walked alongside me and discipled me. It makes me so sad to think about young people all around who need and want Jesus but get lost because nobody in their life is willing to step in. Jon, thank you for your work in both speaking and TH-cam! Keep being awesome! ✋ P.S. That DEH reference...soo accurate 😅👌
Thank you John truly encouraging!!
This was so good, and so helpful. I definitely see a lot of those tendencies in youth ministry. Right now as a volunteer, I’m so grateful to be a part of a ministry that actually does focus on loving students and building relationships first, more than anything else. But I definitely haven’t seen that universally. Anyway, thanks for expressing these concerns in a constructive way.
Yes Jon, I could not agree more on that. Jay Hollenbeck - really good comment as well! I really love the part that we first need to have a "faith" before we can invite people thereto. We do marketing when the product is rubbish. First work on the product. The marketing will not be necessary anymore. "Come and see" will be an easy one. Great job!
Thanks for this video, I really appreciate videos like this one, as we are about to step into a youth ministry position (God willing), this is great guidance for the directions of focus. Keep up the good work!
Thumbs up on the shirt
And the vid haha
I also had that problem with youth group growing up. People were only there to see their friends, not for God. If you’re actually there for God, then you’re an outcast. It’s the worst feeling and something that really needs to end
Oh my gosh! I agree with this so much. Especially the part about being taught how to defend your faith, but yet not being taught how to read your Bible or do daily devotions.
Love your messages! This discussion is one that I agree with strongly. We all need to spend time in our Christian walk putting in the hours towards descipleship. Being enthusiastic about evangelism is fine, but we need to know what we are talking about before we set out to convert or bring to faith new Christians. Thank you for tackling this topic. God bless you and the ministry work you do. I realize I'm probably outside your normal demographic 49, raised in a traditional Presbyterian home, and finally getting down to the nuts and bolts of my walk after some length away from the church. But I wanted to say thank you for your beautiful heart. You have me agreeing with you on your theology 99.9% of the time ☺
Amen 🙌🏼 thank you Jon. Definitely needed to hear this
I love this. I go to a pretty huge High School service every Sunday night at my church and a lot of my closest friends are in my group with me. I'd say we do a pretty good job at discipleship and evangelism, there are some pretty powerful things that happen there. Thanks for your thoughts on this Jon. It really made me think and pray on this.
So glad you have that community. It sounds like they are doing great work.
Thank you man. Christ's Church of the Valley (CCV) really focuses on the next generation as well as the adults. Our mission there is, "WIN, TRAIN, SEND". We WIN people to Christ, we TRAIN believers to become Disciples, and we SEND them out into the world to bring people to Jesus. We're in a teaching series in adult service right now with our Senior Pastor talking about the core values of our church and how we are able to live them out every week when a new person comes to church. We have 9 campuses. If you're ever in the Phoenix Valley area, you should check out CCV Peoria (that's where I go) or any other CCV campus we have. God bless you, Jon!!
Agreed! Loved this video and also your shirt is amazing ! ✨
Okay Jon! The stripes are dope!
That’s true you do not only have to give them the seed of faith , but also let it grow . We need to direct one another to seek our faith.
Really liked what you said, very good points made. 👍
Love the shirt, great video too!
Find your clique or create your own wherever you are.
Don't give up on any groups just because one doesn't fit in right away. Most cliques are formed from a strong bond of fellowship. Some people get intimidated by that but if you really want to be a part of a group don't let that stop you. Some people just bond easier and quicker.
We all need to be more welcoming in church, though.
100% agree. This is why I stopped attending youth groups when I was younger. I hate the cliques - I just never fitted into them. Though, to be fair, I was better off not trying to get into the cliques and found that they were the most ungodly.
Thank you! Very helpful!
I am looking at a job at a local church where I would be creating worship services and guide kids into a relationship with Jesus. Thank you for the insights so I can get off on the right foot.
I totally agree. This is something I see with the adults too.
Yes! Absolutely. It isn’t just with youth.
love love lovvvved this video today!!!!!
I agree with you. I have never seen any Christian church be so hard on teenagers until I was 14 when I went to another church. The youth teacher, (not youth pastor) helped or lead them to Christ first and never pressured them to save other people before they knew what they were doing. It was always about helping them know about His love, and developing yourself in a godly way. And the teens themselves would always help each other out to continue in His way and stand confident in the Lord as we were going through the regular teen struggles including being bullied or picked on for being a child of God. The teen makes the choice him or herself to reach other people to God as they get ready. The church that I go to since I was 14 kind of discourages me to continue going to church. I never felt so isolated or unfed spiritually by them. I just feel judged by them. And like you said about telling them that they are going to be persecuted or just telling them to go out there and just try to get people to come to church. I think that is just wrong. They probably don't know or understand the simplest parts of having a relationship with God.
Wow .. great thoughts...
May God bless you
I actually agree with you for the Youth Group. I rarely go to church because my work rarely allows me to and because of that when I do go I feel like I am outside the group and I feel that there are politics even within the group. I hate it when power comes into play. Instead of just doing what you want to do as long as it doesn't hurt anyone and also which is right in the eyes of God people just try to gain the power to influence people into the so called "dark side" I don't know if it makes sense. That is the main reason why don't don't go to church.
Hey Jon nice shirt
I agree with you. It happens even in Australia. Get bums on seats is what alot of churches seem to care about and then move on and get them to bring more in and no discliping to help them grow in their faith. We need to change this world wide.
Yes I love Spotlight ❤️
YEARS ago I had a couple of big prophetic words over me about "Youth Ministry" but nothing has really come about and I'm not if I should keep pushing doors or just lay low for a bit...
Keep knocking on doors. Keep listening. And when you hear what you need to hear, knock em down!
“On the outside always looking in” HAHA 🤣 that’s from Dear Evan Hansen!!!!!!
You nail it. Nice talk
I agree with this cause at my church the youth group is up to age 20 and then u can’t join no more and most of the youth kids have family in the church and I feel alone because I’m not like them and they don’t hang with me they just say hi to me every time I come to the church and most of the youth kids or teens don’t even. Say hi to me I wasn’t born in the church so I can’t join the youth group and because they do signing songs and stuff like that
alornas army I can relate.
Fr tho
As a teenage girl in a smallish youth group, I would say you are very accurate. In my youth group, there are friend groups that stick together and kind of shut others out. I would also say that there is a deficiency of female adults at least helping out (I’m not going to get into female leadership, that’s a whole other sack of potatoes), and as a result, many of the girls feel like youth group is geared towards the boys. My youth minister is a great guy, I don’t want to attack him, but I do feel like he is reluctant to turn the direction of the lessons away from the boys because he is afraid the boys will lose interest. I’m definitely not saying there’s only stuff for boys, because there’s a separate girls bible study group and boys bible study group, but many girls do feel a little bored with such little relatable content. My church is pretty good about letting people in and allowing them to figure out their faith before forcing them to go out and witness to others, which tbh I don’t think teenagers do much. At least in public school, I have never seen nor met any other teens share their faith with others. I think that is because we are afraid of the reactions of our peers, and the fact that we’re pretty confused ourselves and many youth leaders don’t realize that we aren’t little kids who are learning the basics or adults who have it figured out. Adolescence is the time in a persons life when we figure out who we are as people, who we want to be, and what our basic morals are. Yet in youth group, all we learn is “You should make friends who are not carbon copies of you” or “be like the praying mantis and meditate and pray” so I mean I don’t know. I think adults just need to realize that we are growing up and we need lessons that challenge us to think about our beliefs and decide what those are.
Yess...why I feel called to youth ministry
These things definitely don’t just apply to youth groups.... I came to Christ as an adult and I have had all these same experiences within the adult church
The Great Commission actually says, "Therefore go and make DISCIPLES (emphasis mine) of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,..." (Matthew 28:19)
Jon, the same thing causing you frustration now is what caused me much confusion and doubt as a young Christian over 25 years ago. How can we expect our youth to make disciples of others without first being made disciples themselves? Evangelizing someone and convincing them to agree and pray with you isn't the same as discipleship. It takes time, love, and a committed relationship; the techniques I was taught and what they continue to teach is more like being a spiritual pick-up artist.
Funny enough, I grew more in my faith by not going to church and just being on my own and listening to God by meditating.
I've been real close to Evangelical Union - a student's ministry for almost 4 years now and I've always felt and thought discipleship training camps were more rewarding and fruitful not mention impacting.
Ningi Mollie me too, dear with EU in college days
Same man , same. Youth kinda turned me off.
That Evan Hansen reference though 😅 Great video!
i love this video. 💖
My youth pastor keys on discipleship, because with discipleship, evangelism comes naturally.
Oh my gosh! I agreeeeee.
I hated youth group too because of these issues. Now that I'm in my 20s, I still struggle going to church because of bad experiences, but I'm trying to get more involved and work past it to bond with other believers. :)
I had a very similar experience and it really wasn’t until the last year that I really feel like I belong to a church for the first time in a long time. Praying for you.
God bless whoever is reading this and i pray that you turn to the Lord before his return and please seek the Lord so you can be in forever be in happiness you dont have to suffer because the Lord already did so for you as long as you follow him, God bless you and Jesus has a plan for you keep your head up 😃❤🙏
OMG I have been thinking exactly about the same problem for the last 6 months! People are sent to preach before they even get to know Jesus! That gives a super bad image of Jesus :( People grow to think they need to achieve and achieve...
True Jon👍🏻
Hey Jon! Isn’t youth service for evangelism and small groups are for discipleship? I’d love to get your feedback on this
In my experience, at my church at least, those things are combined. Small Groups are a part of youth group , both in my church as well as others I have visited in my area. I think that both evangelism and discipleship are important, and they should both co exist in the same space. That’s how I look at it at least.
All youth groups do things differently. Speaking specifically about the sermon portion of a service, I believe that there are many different kinds of sermons, and evangelistic is an important one, but not the only one.
JonJorgenson And I totally agree with that. Evangelism is important but obviously it’s not the only thing to talk about. God can speak through people in all aspects of life. Thanks for the feedback!
Also(thanks for recording a video with my friend Sam when you were recently here in Tempe, AZ) It rocked my world!
I do agree I have a kind of youth group but it was not religous it was more just friendly and I only Found friends in faith through the internet I still loved the youth group but yeah I just wanted more
Dang boi, you got some pipes on ya. You ever consider writing and singing your own song...if you haven't already?
I find that to be the case as well that and at least in my church the youth's style tends to be locked up in just one part of the church, the way they dress is jeans and a t shirt and many people want them to come in to the sanctuary dressed all prim and proper, and the elder people bad moth the newer Christian music and say we should stick to the old hymns
If it weren't for my youth group, I would have probably of gotten deeper into my depression and never would of come back to church.
That’s awesome. I’m so glad God led you there.
JonJorgenson Thanks Jon. ❤
The biggest thing that helped me through my youth group was my youth leader who was awesome at discipling to us.
He really helped me to learn what it REALLY means to be a Christian and how I should live my life for God.
Discipling is SO IMPORTANT for young people's growth as a Christians.
Youth leaving the church is for all kinds of reasons most of which have little to do with how they were "discipled". Rather it has more to do with exposure to a broad spectrum of philosophical ideas in an age of information and the internet that don't comport with Christianity. On the playing field of ideas there is much to consider and reflect upon.
Stripes look good man!
Haha. Thanks friend!
I couldn't agree with this any more!!!
You should check out what Young Life is about!!
Rachel Brammeier as a Young Life leader I was thinking that this whole video! Lol
LilTrautie same!
If you take away youth ministry then who's your future church?
If that group was CYT, then I loved the one show that I did there :)
I know this is dumb but where did you get the shirt? :P
Preach!
Hey Jon, I was just wondering: did you watch the recent video of Unlearn the lies? He covered the same topic and came to a conclusion that - from my point of view - points in the same direction as yours.
The real problem is that if someone is not old enough to understand the old testament, they're not old enough to be taught the bible.
Hello Timothy,
I agree that children can be familiar with some of the stories, but the uncensored bible itself is not a book for children.
I was always in youth groups and ended up being bad a Christian
is better help free? of not what is the cost?
I have issues with Jon's ministry. And perhaps it also relates as to why Millennials are turned off to Christianity. The Word of God is potent like wine. And instead of keeping it so, people like Jon make the error in watering it down. The Church as a whole has been following that path. And that is not a good thing.
True that
My problem with youth ministry is that I'm an atheist.
The background music is annoying!
Can I call you JoJo?
peeps that Dear Evan Hansen song at 1:07 XD
Jon, you do know that "better help" is porly made and it has UNPROFESSIONAL councillors that actually make peaple more deprest, I saw reviews on it... And ... Most of it was pretty bad, so... Please don't sponcer it again, if your wandering how bad it is then check out pewdiepies review on it. You would make a good councillor tho!🙌
You should change rooms because you have such a echo that I had to turn you off sorry buddy