Friday Review (9/16/22)
Each week we compile a list of helpful articles from other sites, in a variety of categories, for youth workers to read, reflect on, and/or discuss with parents and volunteers. If you have any articles you’d like to suggest, we’d love for you to share those in the Youth Pastor Theologian Facebook group. That’s a great way to bring them to our attention and to discuss them with like-minded youth workers! (Inclusion in this list does not imply complete agreement with the publishing source, but we have found these articles to be beneficial.)
Youth Ministry
Reframing the Work of Youth Leaders by Andy Jung (Fuller Youth Institute)
We want to be part of our teenagers’ lives. We want them to know Jesus as a close friend. We want them to experience the abundant life Jesus promised in John 10:10. We want them to be an integral part of the whole church. The mission hasn’t changed, but maybe our strategies should. That shift in strategy begins with reframing our own role in the church.
Unplugged: Encouraging Students Toward Offline Living by Rebecca Lankford (Rooted)
Jesus is the ultimate “greater affection” that can expel our lesser desires; the only one who can direct our souls away from the deadness of the online world and towards life in him. For an online-saturated generation, guiding our students towards life with Jesus is offline living at its fullest.
Biblical & Theological Studies
Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Apply a Passage to Others by Mark Becton (Sola Ecclesia)
Reminding myself that the Holy Spirit guides us in all truth, I ask him to lead me in observing, interpreting, and especially in applying a passage (John 16:13). I also listen to and read those gifted at application. I’ve found the following questions helpful when applying a text.
Do You Submit to the Bible, or Does the Bible Submit to You? by John Beeson (The Bee Hive)
What is the Bible to you? A collection of helpful stories? A book of ancient wisdom? Do you think it contains God’s word to us?
Cultural Reflection & Contextualization
Why I Am Optimistic About the Future of Social Media by Chris Martin (Terms of Service)
I think the social media scene will get more dire and gross before it gets better, but I do think it will get better. And I think the teens and toddlers we are shaping today will play integral roles in helping us all collectively have a more healthy relationship with social media.
How Manti Te’o’s Fake Girlfriend Helps Explain Transgenderism by Brett McCracken (The Gospel Coalition)
More than its insights about sports stardom, media hype, or the perils of online dating, Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist reinforced for me a theory I’ve had about contemporary culture: transgenderism and social media are inextricably linked, and the plausibility of trans identities is a unique byproduct of the digital age.
Serotonin and Depression: 4 Questions and Answers About a New Study by Ed Welch, Mike Emlet, and Alasdair Groves (The Gospel Coalition)
Perhaps this news about serotonin will be an invitation for us to redouble our efforts in biblical care. So we join hands with other potential helpers (friends, pastors, physicians, counselors). As we do this, we’re confident we have all we need for life and godliness in our knowledge of Christ (2 Pet. 1:3).
Pastoral Ministry
The Need for Confession in a “Copy” and “Edit” Age by Justin Jackson (For the Church)
God, in His infinite wisdom, has made transparency and confession a necessary component of spiritual health. If we are to grow in Christ, then we must allow someone, or a few someones, to see beyond the cropped and edited version of ourselves.
Building Ministries vs. Making Disciples by James Warren (Ministry Architects)
The commitment to discipleship is time and energy-intensive, ultimately taking time and energy away from the ministries we are paid to oversee. As a result, discipleship takes a back seat to most everything else.
Family & Parents
3 Ways Family Discipleship Changes as Kids Grow by Jared Kennedy (The Gospel Coalition)
As our kids grow, we have an opportunity to move from being simply an authority over them to being an influence who walks beside them. This means a mindset change for family discipleship, but with the Spirit’s help, that change in thinking can bear beautiful fruit.
From YPT this week
God is Jealous for His Image by Greg Buchanon
Are we inviting students to live as faithful image-bearers of God? Or are we content to be a living deepfake, portraying a false image of who God is and what he’s like?