Personal confession: I’ve made way too many mistakes over the course of my time in youth ministry. Early on, there were way too many foolish decisions. Most of those had to do with stuff that we thought was fun. Those things are for confession at another time and place!
What I’m thinking about this morning is my history of working to maintain balance in ministry. . . and it’s balance in a host of areas. There’s the balance needed between fun/games and the need to nurture students in deep ways. There’s the balance between how to best minister to both the unchurched students the Lord brings our way and those from our church families. Then there’s the balance between ministering to those who have professed faith in Christ and those who don’t know Him. And, among other things, there’s the balance between time spent in preparation for our teaching/preaching, and time spent spending time with students in what many have called “contact work.”
The balance I’m thinking about today is the balance needed in our preparation to teach, speak, and preach God’s Word to our students. Over the years, one of the most helpful bits of guidance I’ve heard on this comes from the late theologian John Stott, who called all followers of Jesus to engage in what he called “dual listening.” What is dual listening? Stott writes, “We stand between the Word and the world with consequent obligation to listen to both. We listen to the Word in order to discover ever more of the riches of Christ. And we listen to the world in order to discover which of Christ’s riches are needed most and how to present them in their best light.”
If you know anything at all about what we are doing here at CPYU, you know that this concept of dual listening is at the heart of our ministry. All you have to do is scroll through our website or look at one of our newest regularly released resources, our CPYU Parent Prompts, to see how we are working to help you bring the light of God’s Word to bear on the rapidly changing realities of life in today’s World in ways that will inform your Walk with students, whether you are a parent, youth worker, grandparent, teacher, etc.
Of course, the proper balance always begins with God’s Word. . . correctly studied, interpreted, and preached/taught. The Apostle Paul made this abundantly clear in all of his letters. I think first about his words of instruction to the young Timothy in II Timothy :14-17: “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
So, let’s be honest here: when we get busy with the good work of youth ministry, sometimes the things that fall by the wayside are our own devotional lives, along with the preparation/study needed to know God’s Word and teach it well. Yesterday, I read something that I’ve found to be a helpful directive and reminder related to this high calling and privilege we have to teach/lead students. . . and I want to pass it on to you.
I picked up my copy of Philip Ryken’s Preaching the Word Commentary, Ecclesiastes: Why Everything Matters. In the book’s introduction, R. Kent Hughes writes “A Word to Those Who Preach the Word.” Attention caught! Hughes shares that “there are times when I’m preaching that I have especially sensed the pleasure of God. I usually become aware of it through the unnatural silence. . . through which my words sail like arrows. . . There’s nothing quite like it – the Holy Spirit filling one’s sails, the sense of his pleasure, and the awareness that something is happening among one’s hearers.” Who among us doesn’t want to experience this with our students?!?
Hughes goes on to describe what is behind making this happen. He says that the wind in our sails and the response of those we are preaching to comes from the categories of logos, ethos, and pathos. To maintain balance, we need to lean into these categories too.
First, there’s logos. This is God’s Word. Hughes writes, “This means that as we stand before God’s people to proclaim his Word, we have done our homework. We have exegeted the passage, mined the significance of of its words in their context, and applied sound hermeneutical principles in interpreting the text so that we understand what its words man to its hearers. And it means we have labored long until we can express in a sentence what the theme of the text is – so that our outline springs from the text. Then our preparation will be such that as we preach, we will not be preaching our own thoughts about God’s Word, but God’s actual Word, his logos. This is fundamental to pleasing him in preaching.”
Second, there’s ethos. This is what you and I are as people. The words that we preach have to flow in and through the very essence of who we are because we have longed to know them, have embraced them, and asked the Lord to transform us through them. Hughes writes, “Though we can never perfectly embody the truth we preach, we must be subject to it, long for it, and make it as much a part of our ethos as possible. . . When a preacher’s ethos backs up his logos, there will be the pleasure of God.”
Third, there’s pathos. This is more essential than we think. . . and it grows as we do the necessary legwork for teaching rather than relying on preaching and teaching someone else’s material. How many of us are guilty of last-minute “prep” through finding something plug-and-play just to have something to teach? Pathos is personal passion and conviction. Hughes writes, “When a preacher believes what he preaches, there will be passion. And this belief and requisite passion will know the smile of God.” I’ve been around long enough to know with great certainty that when your preaching/teaching flows out of your own personal struggling to prepare well and immersion in the text, there is passion. You believe it, you feel it, and you desperately desire for your kids to embrace it in the same way you do!
Perhaps you are someone who feels you don’t have the necessary knowledge and skills to preach/teach in the way I just described. Maybe it’s a lack of time. Whatever it is, take steps in the right direction. There are many helps out there for you to use. One starting point I might recommend is our CPYU The World In Youth Ministry podcast. Scroll through the archives to start your journey by being encouraged and equipped to move forward.
Perhaps you are someone who has allowed to slow movement of time to numb you to the need to preach/teach in the way I just described. I’m guessing you know the path you need to take and the adjustments that are required. Ask the Lord to reveal where your priorities need to shift. Reboot your ministry efforts to reflect good priorities.
For all of us, some of the resources I recommend include Youth Pastor Theologian, Ligonier Ministries, Gospel in Life, and Truth For Life. In addition, find some good devotional resources to use on a daily basis in order to growth your own faith and fuel your passion.
Hughes ends his introduction with these words of encouragement: “The pleasure of God is a matter of logos (the Word), ethos (what you are), and pathos (your passion). As you preach the Word may you experience his smile – the Holy Spirit in your sails!”
It takes balance friends. . . it takes balance. Let’s be sure we have it.
If you are looking to increase your skills and abilities in youth ministry, why not consider joining us at our 3rd Annual Northeast Youth Ministry Summit in March of 2025! Our theme is “Changing World, Unchanging Word”. . . and it will be a journey into “dual listening.” You can learn more and register here.
