Commitments of a Youth Pastor Theologian

What exactly is a youth pastor theologian? Does a youth pastor need to attend seminary or be a theological nerd to qualify? How many systematic theology books are required? 

This emphasis on being a pastor-theologian was a consistent emphasis while I was a student at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Some descriptions I’ve seen could make you believe advanced degrees and high academic research are required to qualify. But that’s not what I was taught. Instead, a pastor-scholar is someone committed to the spiritual nurture of real-life men and women, and they believed they’d be better equipped to do that by embracing a lifelong commitment to biblical and theological studies. For some, that does mean pursut a Ph.D or D.Min. or Ed.Min.D or some other formal degree. But for most, it’s an intentional commitment to reading, discussing theology with fellow pastors, and to keep one’s minds sharp in order to pastor our people. 

With this foundational description of a pastor-scholar in mind, here are three core commitments I have in mind as Youth Pastor Theologian continues to launch. 

Reaching Teenagers With The Gospel

First off, we are youth pastors. And we’re not ashamed of that. Our mission is to pastor teenagers into maturity in Christ. I like to say it this way: the purpose of youth ministry is not to make teenage disciples, but adult disciples whose faith took root in their teen years. We may be a different breed of youth pastor, but we’re youth pastors nonetheless. 

Many who read this blog are the types who routinely attend conferences and seminars for pastors and find themselves frustrated to discover, once again, they are the only youth pastor in attendance. Not only are they the only youth pastor present, they’re viewed as “lesser-than” by other pastors - usually in subtle, but telling, ways. But they continue showing up to these types of training opportunities because they believe they’re worthwhile. 

I’ve written on the TGC blog about Why I’m Staying in Youth Ministry. Just because you can become a senior pastor, that doesn’t mean you necessarily should. If you’re a pastor theologian with a commitment to reach the next generation with the gospel, stay in youth ministry without shame. When being a youth pastor theologian makes you feel alone or misunderstood in ministry, may this site encourage you and bolster you to endure. 

Theology, For The Sake of Pastoral Ministry

Youth ministry is theological ministry. It is impossible to preach the gospel without understanding the person and work of Christ. When students feel lonely and misunderstood by their friends and family, youth workers can provide encouragement that’s more than a cliche because they understand the Holy Spirit’s role in the Christian’s union with Christ. And when students question the reliability of Scripture, or the historic claims of the resurrection, or ask how a good God can send anyone to Hell… being a youth worker who studies theology will equip you to patiently walk beside those students discover that doubt and faith aren’t always opposites. 

There’s a difference between teaching systematic theology, and pastoring theologically. Yes, theologically-driven ministry will include teaching doctrine. But this doesn’t mean we view ourselves as theology professors for our students. Our ministry is pastoral, and directed towards students and their families. 

Youth pastor theologians will read nerdy books with unsexy titles and terrible covers. We won’t always use Greek or Hebrew while preparing our messages for Middle School youth group. But having this solid foundation means we have a deep reservoir from which to draw, and waiting until that knowledge is needed is simply too late. Theology, studied with a humble heart and mind, can prepare youth pastors to shepherd students with love and wisdom. 

Faithful Contextualization in Youth Ministry

Jesus jukes are cheap and cliche. These types of responses apply a cheap gospel message to complex issues. For example: when students feel unloved, a “Jesus juke” response says, “God showed you how much he loves you through Jesus on the cross. Will you receive the love of God?” Now, that’s not a wrong answer. But it comes off as an easy solution to a deeply personal and complicated struggle that many teenagers face. 

Instead, youth pastor theologians consider the nature of broken relationships. We were created for perfect fellowship - with God, with one another, and with creation itself. But the sin has corrupted even our best relationships so they don’t reflect the holy intimacy we all innately desire. When students feel unloved, it’s uncovering something deeply personal about what it means to be human in a sinful and broken world.  Even further, when we confess faith in Jesus, we receive the Holy Spirit are are united with Christ. That means that we are hidden in Christ. God loves them with the same love he gives to his own Son, whom they have been united with through the indwelling Holy Spirit. They might feel alone, but they aren’t. Identifying their hurt and sympathizing with it helps students wrestle with their emotions and experiences. From there, we’re able to help students think biblically about what they’re experiencing, and we can help them consider God’s response - he moves towards us, in love. 

This is only one example of the ways youth pastor theologians give pastoral care to teenagers from a theological foundation. Cultural awareness is what gives us wisdom to apply theology to students. Contextualization doesn’t mean we change our message so it’s acceptable to the people in our ministries. It simply means we understand our cultural context well enough that we know how the gospel speaks into it with perfect grace and truth. This looks different in the youth room than it does from the pulpit. 

Youth Pastor Theologians are pastor-scholars who pour themselves out for teenagers. We will be overlooked by pastors and scholars and influential Christian organizations. At times we will even be misunderstood by parents and fellow youth workers. But our students benefit from our efforts to think deeply about Scripture, theology, and culture - and so we press on. 

My hope for this website is that confirms to you, “I am not alone.” I want this website to thrive in the fertile soil in between the youth room and the academy - to learn from one another and to think theologically and practically about youth ministry.