Youth Connection: Back to Basics

This post is part of the Youth Connection, articles sent as follow-up to GYMN trainings.

Several recent events in my life have forced me to be reminded of what is foundationally important in youth ministry and even in our life apart from ministry. Allow me to share them with you along with the back to basics lessons I learned. See if any of these three are areas for you to revisit in your life.

Lesson #1: Slow down to listen.

Interestingly all of these insights occurred in times when I was able to sit in on other ministry events; one was a gathering of thousands of youth ministry leaders, the other at a gathering of 80 pastors. Both gatherings were places where I was not in charge or asked to have major speaking roles. Although I do think that God can minister to us while we are ministering to others, often times these find us speaking about Him more than listening to Him. Is slowing down to listen some­thing that you and I may need more of, so that we can lis­ten to God more effectively? These recent events have encour­aged me to consider how I can arrange opportunities to hear from God through others. In addition I have been challenged to find elongated alone times for listening to Him. I have personally learned that it takes a concerted effort to schedule time alone or to listen to others in ministry through community. Without an action plan our busyness takes control of our time with Him. What are some ways you can make it a priority to find time to be ministered to?

Lesson #2: Remember your first love.

While being involved in a recent pastor’s conference, we were encouraged to study chapters 2 and 3 of the book of Revelations and to list the one area that God was speaking to us about. I camped on Revela­tion 2:4-5 (NASB),

“But, I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore, remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lamp stand out of its place—unless you repent.”

We may have refer­enced this passage in our life or in our teachings before. As I read this I focused on the area of my first love. I pondered what life was like when I first came to Christ. How clean, how joyful and how relieved I felt. It is very healthy to pause and compare today with that time and to insure that we have not left that time in our life totally behind. However, the area that rang loud in my ears from this passage was the statement, “Remember from where you have fallen.” I believe that when I disappoint God and sin against Him (not if I do that, but when I do that) I tend to look at the fall itself and to live in guilt. But review in the passage where God tells us to start, not on the fall, but “from where” you have fallen. He wants us to look back at our high point, our place of walking upright with Him. Remembering “from where we have fallen”, for me personally that meant to go back to very regular quiet times and to talking to God regularly throughout each day. It also meant attending church and ministry events in order to be fed, not just to feed others. I think that is what God is saying to us. Not just to return to our first love, but in that process focus on that first love. Do not beat yourself up by just fo­cusing on where you are if you are not close with God now, but go back to the basics of your walk with Him.

Some people do this remembering step in their mar­riage relationships by renewing their wedding vows, which is a very tangible way of reminding and recommitting oneself to their spouse. Maybe God is calling you and me to renew our vows as a back-to-basics move toward Him.

Lesson #3: Personal relationships in community are critical.

I have to confess that this is a hard area for me personally. I tend to enjoy working somewhat alone and especially to gather my strength by being alone. Being alone with God is not a bad thing. In fact, balance is the key here. But, I am assured that God also speaks directly to us through others in our community of faith.

This has happened to me several times in the last 4-6 months. But one profound time was when I was at a youth workers convention here in the USA with close to 3000 other youth workers. Not necessarily a quiet place for someone like me to typically hear from God. However, I made a commitment to relation­ships and community during this time. Accompanying me at this conference were several of the GYMN trainers and staff. I asked that each person make time to gather together in our room as we all sat in a circle each night after the day’s activities. At this time together we each took time to share about what God was saying to us. God was reconfirming my work in youth ministry and showing me why I do what I do. Not only did we meet as a small group each night to hear from and to pray for one another, but I made it a point to meet alone with each person dur­ing the conference. This meant that we had to miss some ses­sions, but I wanted to put relationships in front of programs. This time was one of the highlights of the last few years in my life. In­terestingly, at the end of this convention we were asked to share in front of the entire crowd of thousands. This was probably the largest group I have ever been in front of to speak. You may think that the highlight was being on the stage and seeing our team up there in the lights and on the video screens, but the high­light to me was the time we spent in community relationships talk­ing about what was going on in our lives. I remember then and now that this is why I got into youth ministry from the beginning—to serve and care for young people one at a time.

Maybe you are like me in that you love youth ministry and you totally enjoy meeting with and seeing God move in young peo­ple’s lives. You may also be like me in that you have been teaching about community and relationships and even writing about them at times, but found yourself feeling more alone in a crowd than being connected to a deep, believing community.

If that is the case for you, as it was and at times still is for me, I believe it is extremely healthy that we take these basic lessons to heart. Take time to look at your life and ask some key questions. For us to make it through our marathon race of life and ministry we need to refuel and check in at markers along the way. Is God asking you to refuel by going back to the basics of slowing down to listen to Him, remembering your first love and to commit to personal community relationships where you can not just speak about God, but hear from Him through others as well?

I know He has been speaking to me about these basics and maybe He is speaking to you as well. Listen as the book of Revela­tion states over and over, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches”.

Remembering the Basics,

Chris Davis
Founder and Executive Director of GYMN

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Reflection and Action Items (for you or your youth leadership team to discuss):

1. Read this newsletter on your own and attempt to discuss it within a group setting as well.

2. Regarding basic lesson #1: Slow down to listen, how would you say you are doing in this area?

a. If you had to answer using the terminology cold, warm or hot, how would you describe your time with God right now?
b. How much time do you feel you spend listening to God? (Be honest…you may be like me in that you have “quiet time”, but it is easily filled with distracting thoughts of all you need to do instead of it being quiet and really listening to God).
c. How do you think you could improve in this area? Try a new spiritual discipline: like fasting, praying aloud, walk­ing and praying, journaling your thoughts, etc…. Or maybe consider going back to a discipline that has worked well for you in the past. Maybe it would be good to schedule time at another church for just sitting and taking in the worship (explain this to your pastor so he understands your need for refreshment in a place where you are not serving constantly).

3. In reviewing basic lesson #2: Remember your first love, what are some things that you would like to recapture in your love with Christ?

a. Are all of these realistic?
b. How would you like to “remember from where you have fallen”? How would you describe that starting place?
c. What other steps is God speaking to you about regarding the idea of “renewing your vows” to Christ?

i. What would your vows to Him say?
ii. What do you think His vows to you would say?
iii. Consider taking some time to write these vows to Him and what you think He may write/say to you. Pon­der these and feel free to even share them in the group (a good starting point for basic lesson #3: Personal relationships in community).

4. How would you rate your current level of community and depth of personal fellowship in your life?

a. Are you in a place to not just share about your victories and concerns, but in a place where you can hear God speak to you from the lives and reflections of others?
b. What unique challenges do you face in getting close to other people?
c. Is it ok to have a care group outside of your local church that you can be transparent with? Is that something you have now?

5. Write out and discuss together what other basics you believe are important for you to get back to in your life.