5 Tips to Help You Teach Difficult Passages in Youth Group

Since “all Scripture is God-breathed,” we ought to teach the whole counsel of God… including those passages we are tempted to avoid because they’re so tricky. We want to give a few examples about how to teach tough passages in order to encourage you to teach the whole counsel of God. Read the rest of the series here: Teaching Tough Passages.

“Of course! THIS, of all nights, is when someone finally brings a friend!” 

Have you ever thought that? I remember one particular night when I’d be teaching on God’s judgment and the eternality of hell when Scott brought four friends. Mind you, we rarely got unchurched kids (despite my encouragement to bring them). I was beside myself: what should I do? 

I carried on with the planned lesson, entrusting it to the Lord, but made sure to teach the message with warmth and warning rather than harsh judgment. I saw those visitors off and on throughout their high school years. Although it may have been awkward, at least I didn’t entirely burn their eyebrows off. 

Ministry moments like that happen, and it can sometimes tempt us to avoid teaching confusing or controversial Bible passages. I get it, but I don’t think that’s wise. Here are some lessons I’ve learned over the last two decades about teaching difficult passages and doctrines to teenagers. 

Seek Clarity 

Do your best to get the lay of the land: understand the big picture, summarize the different interpretations, and clarify why it matters. If you can do those three things then you’re in a good position to teach the difficult text/issue. If you’re still really fuzzy about them, it might be best to keep studying and postpone teaching that message. 

It’s also good to recognize that you’re never going to have a complete understanding of the issues that have been debated throughout Christian history. Tell the students what you’ve learned, and don’t shy away from mentioning what you’re still confused about. Especially with difficult passages and topics, your transparency will be encouraging to them. It’s an excellent opportunity to highlight that you can believe God’s Word, even if you don’t have an answer to every question it raises

The articles in this series represent the challenge of teaching difficult passages well: 2 Peter 3 is exegetically tricky, Ecclesiastes 1 can be emotionally depressing, James 2 is theologically confusing, and Genesis 38 is ethically and culturally troubling. 

Since you’re not going to unravel all the questions in the text, how do you know when you’re ready to teach it? When you understand it well enough to believe it - when it nourishes your soul and prompts a prayerful response. 

Love Your Teenagers

Remember that you aren’t merely teaching exegetical information. You are ministering to teenagers. They are real people, not empty brains who crave information. Loving the youth God has entrusted to your care means that you deliver the Word of God to their whole selves: head, heart, and hands. 

It’s easy for a series like this to only address the intellectual side of teaching tricky passages. As you unravel the text for your students, pastorally consider how this message will affect their emotional and mental well-being. Think about the issues and challenges some of them are going through, and imagine what questions or objections they might raise. Engage the real-life experience of the teenagers sitting in front of you. 

Remember that if they go home thinking, “Wow, Pastor ______ is really smart!” then you’ve failed. You may have impressed them, but you didn’t bring clarity. Love your teenagers as you study the text, discern what to say and what to leave out, and craft the best way to lead them into the text so they can see and worship the Lord. 

Don’t Apologize for God’s Word

I once heard someone say you can only clear your throat so many times before you need to speak. When you give a ton of background to nuance your message before getting into it, then you’re clearing your throat over and over – to the point where students can get the impression that you hardly believe what you’re about to teach. In your anxiety about teaching a difficult message, do you almost apologize for God’s Word? 

I remember doing this in a sermon about Colossians 1 and the doctrine of election. I had forty minutes and spent the first twenty talking about the different viewpoints on the doctrine of election and freewill. I thought it would be a helpful way to frame the message since I knew the church congregation was not in agreement over the issue. By the time I got to the passage, I had backed myself into a corner where it actually became more difficult to simply preach the Word. 

If you need to give background information or add nuance, be sure to give enough that it’s helpful but not so much that it will distract from the big idea you’re trying to teach.

Stick to the Text

It’s always best to let the Word of God speak. This is especially true when the passage addresses controversial issues. Let your personal opinion remain on the sidelines, and do your best to keep that from shading the way you teach Scripture. Keep the Bible front and center. 

This is the whole point of expository teaching: the message of the text is the message you proclaim. This principle also applies to tone. If the text is direct and seeks to bring about conviction of sin, that should be your message's tone. If the passage is encouraging, then your message should be encouraging. Difficult passages tend to be on the conviction, correction, and judgment side of things. Hence, why they’re often difficult to teach! 

You may think it’s helpful for you to put it in your own words, but by doing that, you’re inadvertently setting up students to take your word for it. Instead, keep your message closely aligned to the text you are teaching, and let them see what the Bible says. Then, you can put it in your own words after you’ve shown them what God’s Word says. 

Remember, you don’t have any authority except for what comes from the Holy Scriptures, so let them speak. 

Remember the Broad Gospel

Sometimes people need to sit in one chapter of the broader gospel before they can feel the goodness of its narrower message: the hope we have in Christ.

Gospel-centered teaching means that every message proclaims the gospel because we believe every text shouts or whispers Jesus’ name. This means we honor the text by honoring its relationship with the gospel, understanding it in light of its place in Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Glorification. Whenever you teach, make it a habit to always ask, “Where’s the gospel?” 

When the gospel is front and center, proclaim it boldly and with great joy. But when the gospel is in the background, it’s ok to highlight whatever focus the text is intended to communicate, even if that is the judgment of God. Sometimes I wonder if a reason for spiritual apathy among students is that we’ve watered down passages on God’s judgment by trying to proclaim God’s mercy so much that students don’t appropriately fear God’s wrath. 

Don’t mishear me: proclaim the mercy of God’s salvation! We should never preach judgment or conviction without the invitation to receive the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. But if the text is highlighting the Fall, then the tone of your message should probably be a sober warning that highlights what happens when we live apart from God. That’s not fear-mongering; it’s a loving warning to escape God’s wrath and to embrace his love. 

It’s good to acknowledge where Scripture is difficult. Some messages are so counter-cultural they feel abrasive. Others might seem to target one particular sin that some of your students might experience, leading them to feel singled out. Others are just hard to accept. But let this be a reminder to believe the goodness of the Word of God. The Bible leads us to Jesus, and Jesus is good news of great joy for all people. That’s worth proclaiming… even from the difficult passages.