Gravitate Towards the Bible

This article is an excerpt from Tim Gough’s book, Rebooted: Reclaiming Youth Ministry For The Long Haul - A Biblical Framework (IVP, 2018).

When I was growing up, my brother was big into mountain biking. He made his own bikes, had all the right gear, and wore ‘biker’ clothing. One of his t-shirts had a picture of an upside-down guy who had just fallen off his bike with the caption: ‘GRAVITY. I fought the law, but the law won.’

You just can’t fight gravity! Think about the amount of money NASA spends on rockets, fuel and propulsion systems to fight gravity. Gravity is incredible. It’s a powerful force that draws things together, keeps things sound and solid, and it helps things move healthily. If gravity was suddenly just a little different on Earth, then we’d lose the integrity in our joints and bones and even basic movement would become painful. Gravity is a big deal. The Bible has its own gravity: it draws everything together, keeps you on the right track, and holds your ministry accountable. We need to surrender to its pull (it is God speaking after all) and let everything we do be shaped by it.

When we teach young people, we don’t need to be afraid of actually opening and digging into the Bible. Over the past few years I have opened the Bible in every style of youth project I’ve done and – when I properly let them engage with it rather than just spoon-feeding it to them – it is always amazing.

I’d summarise what Peter was doing in Acts 2 (and the Apostles throughout the rest of the story) as gravitating towards to the Word. They opened it up at every possible opportunity. They used object lessons, full-on speeches, little chats, supernatural miracles – everything they could think of – to illustrate what the Word is saying. These things always accompanied their speaking of the Gospel; they never watered it down or replaced it.

If in doubt, gravitate towards the Bible and use all your considerable creative talents to bring what it actually says alive relevantly. It really works, and I guarantee you that if you can say something well – God can say it better.

There’s a scary and well-executed satirical training clip available on youtube called ‘Ignatius – the Ultimate Youth Pastor.’ Ignatius is the classic superstar youth worker, complete with his own theme music, designer haircut, and ill-conceived catch phrases. Throughout the video we see him doing increasingly stupid things, like dissing prayer and worship times, telling very inappropriate stories, and leading the most cringe-worthy, safeguarding nightmare of a response you’ve ever seen.

Just before he starts to give his disaster of a talk, he gets the young people to take out their Bibles and hold them above their heads. This is what he says to them:

“Repeat after me, say,

‘God’s word – is living – and active – it is powerful – it is more – than I – can deal with – at this stage of my life.’

Good. Put them under your seat, you’re not gonna need them tonight.”

Wow. What a terrible message to send to young people about their relationship to God’s Word! I sometimes wonder though just how close to this we sometimes get.

Acts 2:14-41 - Preach the Word… Properly

This is a great passage to explain what good Bible-based teaching looks like. Peter uses scripture to explain what is actually happening in front of the crowd, so he is speaking relevantly. He teaches about Jesus clearly using the Old Testament.

In v.21 Peter, quoting Joel, says ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ In v.22 he says that this Lord is actually Jesus Christ. Off the back of this he tells them the gospel: that this Lord Jesus came and lived (v.22), He died in your place (v.23), and He rose again from the dead (v.24). He moves them through another passage (a Psalm), and then issues them a direct invitation to follow Jesus today (vv.38-40) - which about three thousand did!

There is nothing more powerful than opening up the Word of God to hungry people, showing them how it all points to Jesus, moving them through the Gospel and calling them to respond. The Bible is not limited to discipleship, its words bring life, and should be used when calling young people to God.

The Dangers of Proof-Texting

What is really important to bring out here is just how the Bible was used. Modern talks and resources have a tendency to proof-text, or sieve through the Bible for a verse or two that seem to support the message we want to give. Like a rubber stamp of approval from God. This means first making a point, and then going to the Bible to find a verse or two that conceivably says something which sounds similar - even if it actually means something totally different!

This isn’t always a problem, as long as we’re sure the verse actually does mean what we have said it means. This is why we need to know how to study the Bible, because depending on context, word usage, semantics, the type of literature it is, the wider narrative, and how the text interprets itself, the verse might not mean what we think it does! If prooftexting was a legitimately safe way to preach and teach, then we would not need any relationship with the Bible - or with God. A relationship with the ‘holy google’ would do just fine.

Just imagine what you could ‘prove’ when proof-texting bits of a passage without understanding it properly:

• Jud. 8:30 - “…he had many wives.” Play the field.

• Is. 55:12 - “You shall go out with joy…” She sounds nice.

• Jn. 8:7 - “…throw the first stone.” Fight, fight, fight, fight!

• Hos. 1:2 - “…Go and marry a prostitute…” Yup.

• Rom. 14:2 - “…another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.” Those unspiritual vegetarians!

• Am. 4:4 “Go to Bethel and sin…” Sounds like a fun weekend.

• 2 Kgs. 2:10 “Then David slept with his ancestors…” Well, that’s awkward.

• Hab. 2:16 “…Drink and let your nakedness be exposed…” As is that.

• Ps. 14:1 “…There is no God.” I’ll just leave that there.

Hopefully you’re now thoroughly repulsed and screaming at the book, ‘that’s not what those verses mean!’ And you’re right. You could prove almost anything by proof-texting, and feel justified because you’re using the Bible. But anyone who’s taken an English class knows better. Context is a big deal!

This is absolutely not how we should teach, especially because young people take their cue from us, and will use the tools we give them - for bible reading as well as other things in life. It is essential that youth leaders learn how to use their Bibles. Learn the stories, know the narratives, understand the genres. Sure, you don’t have to have a Bible College degree to be a youth leader! Making a regular and growing effort to properly know the words of life given to you, however, is just sensible.

In his excellent book ‘Growing Up, Biblical Youth Ministry in the Local Church’ Dave Fenton gives us a very recognisable example of poor Bible usage in a talk to young people. See if you think it’s familiar:

“One example I heard started well with a quote from the Bible and went a bit like this

• ‘Jesus said, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35)

• Bread is very good for you.

• It’s very nourishing.

• We need to be careful what we eat.

• I recently read in a film magazine what the movie stars eat…’

• A list of stars and their diets then followed.

• Some quite funny remarks were made about what various movie stars ate, and the effect it had clearly had on them.

• The verse was never mentioned again, nor any other Scripture.

• The next mention of God was the concluding remark, ‘God cares about what we eat’, and this didn’t mean spiritual food.

• The talk was essentially one about following a good dietary regime.”

This is an extreme example of misusing and not using the Bible, but we don’t have to travel too far from unchecked proof-texting to get there. Consider these two proof-texts that are often taught in youth groups:

1. Matthew 18:20 - “When two or more are gathered…”

This is often used in defence of youth church, or youth groups being a church alternative; ‘Well all you need for church is two or three believers and a cheeky Nandos’, or ‘Me and my mate do church in the car listening to Hillsong!’

There’s two whopping problems with this. First, God is in lots of places that aren’t church; that’s the deal with omnipresence. God’s presence alone doesn’t make something church. Second, Church is lots of other things than just gathering (or in the original context of the verse, correction and discipline). Church should probably include things like worship, teaching, scripture reading, a wider variety of people, sacraments etc. too.

Making a specific group is fine – but using this verse to call your Friday night Xbox-and-God-slot youth group ‘church’ is really a little bit naughty!

2. Jeremiah 29:11 - “I alone know the plans I have for you…”

How do we interpret this verse? ‘God has an amazing (kinda) plan for your life (true if you add an ’s’ to plan) which, if you find it (how?), you will never get bored, hurt, needy, depressed, or confused (just no).’

We use this verse to help us push through hardship in the hope of getting to something better by tapping into God’s secret blueprint for our lives. The problem though is, in context, this is not what God was offering to the Israelites. He was not promising to sort out their struggles and send them home from exile. In v.7 he says they can prosper right where they are.

This verse is not about some individual future blessing or plan, it’s about the whole people of God communicating with and depending on Him right slap bang in the middle of suffering and trial. We don’t want to encourage young people who can only connect with God when everything is hunky-dory and we don’t want to subliminally teach them that if life feels happy and fulfilled then God is with them, and when bad stuff happens He’s missing - or they’ve messed up on His plans somehow. This passage is about the communal movement of God’s people back towards Him, which will take them through some painful and frustrating times. It’s an encouragement to dig deep into God when everything else is pants. And isn’t that so much better? Let’s teach that instead!

If you’ve enjoyed this book excerpt, buy Tim’s book on Amazon (and leave a rating/review!): Rebooted: Reclaiming Youth Ministry For The Long Haul - A Biblical Framework (IVP, 2018).