The following is an article written for our church magazine
'Jesus is far too important a figure to be left only to the theologians and the church'
J. Pelikan
Nicky and I delivered our first Youth Alpha course in the summer of 1996 and this was the first time we had ever been given any teaching responsibility. We had a small group of 12 and 13 year old young people and from what I can remember, it went really well. Two of that group are now in full time ministry, one of which is in Africa managing a programme for orphans with HIV.
As we run our Youth Alpha programme at Emmanuel, I’ve been reflecting on how youth culture has changed since my first adventure into Youth Ministry. Back in 1996 young people did not have mobile phones, social networks did not exist and everything seemed much simpler. The young people even had some understanding of the Christian faith and precepts such as sin were all easily understood.
Jumping forward a few years, I was introduced to a philosophical concept called ‘Postmodernism’ when studying for my theological qualification. Lecturers told me that this new way of seeing the world was emerging and that it would challenge the way the church interacted with the world. I was taught that the concepts of absolute truth, sin and good and evil are very hard for Post-moderns to swallow.
Youth Alpha courses have come and gone over the years, but on each occasion the content has moved further away from the one that the class of 96 heard and responded to so faithfully. Over the years I’ve seen postmodern thinking emerge and be established in the way that young people see and understand the world.
The Youth Alpha course we are currently running at Emmanuel is the most Post-modern group of young people that I have taken through the Youth Alpha programme. They see the world differently that I do and as a result, we’ve had to think very carefully about how we present the gospel. How do we present the death of Jesus to a group that is not convinced they’ve done anything wrong? How do we teach Jesus as ‘the way and the truth’ (John 14:5) when they are convinced that truth is what they decide it to be?
One of the opportunities that Post-modernity presents is that while truth is out of fashion, stories are seen to be of real value. As a result, we’ve spent a lot of time in Genesis, talking about Eden and God’s ideal for us. We’ve told the big story of God from the tree in Eden to the tree at Calvary. And most importantly, we’ve told the stories of Jesus. We’ve told about how he connected with people, how he lived and what he taught. We’ve tried to present the whole life of Jesus and to give the young people the space to ask questions and respond. I’ve been reminded of how the Gospel transcends cultures and even though these young people are a world apart from my class of 96, the gospel remains as alive and provocative as ever.
There is no question that youth culture has changed dramatically in the 15 years I’ve been working with young people. This generation is not just different in appearance and lifestyle, but also in the way they think and see the world. If the church is seeking to remain relevant and accessible to the world around us, we may need to do the same.
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