And the results…
It was a good night for the youth ministry in a very backwards way. I started the conversation with the question:
What is so remarkable about the gospel?
We started with a lot of very cliche answers like Jesus died for your sins. I asked them how that was remarkable and why anyone who wasn’t a Christian would think that was remarkable. The very essence of what we mean by it is that you can be free, but most people think they are pretty good and don’t need forgiveness. That says a lot about the way most people go about evangelism in itself.
After moving through the vague, generic answers we moved to more specific questions. There were some great ones asked. One person asked how to talk to people who have faith but are doubting because of they circumstances. This seemed not to be a made up question. I felt really good about the dialogue. Then I asked them:
What is so remarkable about the gospel to you personally.
Screeching tires could be heard internally in everyone’s ears. Externally it was more like crickets. It was sad but very telling. Not one of the teens there could give an answer beyond the superficial freedom from sins. I admitted that I struggle with the same question and often find the same answers. Not much.
So the gauntlet got thrown. After posing some scenarios that would help them see ways that we have been made remarkable through the gospel, I asked them to come back with a story next week that would help answer that question. I asked them to actually tell someone in the next week about a struggle they are in and how God is changing them with the gospel.
Wow, is that what the Christian life is supposed to look like?
[tags]Youth Ministry, Purple Cow [/tags]
