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I’m amazed at how often, when I ask about the youth ministry in a local congregation, I will hear an excited response such as, “Oh, we have a wonderful program. Our group is really, really active!”

Of course, it’s great that they are so supportive of the youth ministry. And there’s nothing wrong with a full youth calendar. But I can’t help thinking, “Why do we in the church get so excited about activity?” Viruses are active; so is al-Qaeda; but that doesn’t make either of them a good youth ministry.

There is no place in the Bible where God calls his disciples to be active. Our mandate is to be productive: to “go and bear fruit, fruit that will last” (John15:16). That’s not a mandate for activity; it’s a call to productivity. Full calendars and busy programs may look good, but only in the way that Christmas trees are prettier than actual living, life-giving fruit trees. One looks good for a season; one extends growth for seasons to come. A good youth ministry will always be about more than programs stacked on top of each other.

In the last two issues of Good News we’ve been thinking about youth ministry programming by using the image of a wind chime—different notes, kept in proper balance, and moving and responding to the winds of God’s Spirit. It’s not exactly a picture of frenzied activity. In this last column on the youth ministry as a wind chime, let’s make two final observations:

1. Balanced youth ministry programs benefit from diversity. A wind chime with only one chime, or with eight chimes that all sound the same note, is not going to offer the same harmony as a wind chime properly balanced that sounds eight different notes. Systems thinking reminds us that diversity can bring the kind of strength and flexibility that fosters growth and survival. Amphibious is better than land-only or sea-only. Crop rotation is better for the field than the same crop planted repeatedly every year.

Surely this is part of what Paul was referring to in 1 Corinthians 12:14-30, a passage he introduces by saying: “Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.”

A youth program that has a diversity of leadership (young, old, quiet, rambunctious, athletic, musical, listeners, speakers), a diversity of program elements (variations in worship, music, teaching approaches, gaming and recreation, small group meetings, large group meetings), even a diversity of students (skaters, jocks, geeks, church-kids, urban, small town, unchurched-kids, kids who are new to the ministry, kids who’ve grown up in the ministry), and a diversity of leaders (young, old, athletic, artsy, quiet, outgoing, musical, relational, round, lanky) will probably have greater strength and flexibility than a program that is completely homogenous and monotone.

2. A balanced youth ministry is a wind chime within a wind chime. I like the idea of a systems approach that sees the youth ministry program itself as part of a larger program system. In other words, the youth group is a part of a larger congregational body. This is a critical factor often lost in the single-minded focus of a youthworker.

The congregation’s program for elementary-aged children can have a direct impact on the middle school program. The congregation that places a strong emphasis on high school ministry must ask where they will assimilate their students after high school.

The danger is that we will be microscopic in our thinking, forgetting that this youth group is part of the larger system of the church, or that this parachurch ministry is part of the larger system of the Body of Christ, or that this Sunday school ministry is part of a larger program of Christian education that begins with young children, or that this youth ministry is only one facet of this student’s larger world that includes family, school, and other outside interests (1 Corinthians 12:21-26).

A wind chime that is a whirlwind of activity is a wind chime that is silenced by knots and chaos. All the parts are there, but they aren’t making music. Busy youth groups may make a lot of racket, but they don’t offer the kind of balance and harmony that makes a joyful noise unto the Lord.

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Systemic thinking: youth ministry as wind chime III By Duffy Robbins

Systemic thinking:
youth ministry as wind chime III
By Duffy Robbins