Knowing The Next Generation
- Understanding Youth Culture (1)
- Cracking The Easter Code (2)
- Responding Well (3)
- A Secure Identity (5)
Picture the scene: you walk into a room full of kids as you embark on the youth provision in your community. Have you ever considered what your response to them will be? Perhaps a better question to ask is, ‘What is God’s response to them?’
Grace to listen
Often children approach me, waving or tapping me at what I see as the most inconvenient of times. ‘Coach, it’s my sister’s birthday today,’ whilst I am trying to referee a game of dodgeball at match point. ‘Coach, I got a new game for my PS5,’ as I am squirting strawberry sauce on ice-cream for 45 other children. The typical response might be, ‘Not now Jasmine,’ or ‘Tell me later Joey,’ but I am learning to consider it from the child’s point of view. They are itching to share what is to them ‘good news’. They have found a window of opportunity to share some amazing detail in their life with me.
Let’s remember that the children came to Jesus at the busiest and most inconvenient of times, and the disciples who shooed them away thought they were doing exactly the right thing (Mark 10:13-16). Jesus was displeased at the disciples’ response. The adults came for the blessing but the children were expected to miss out! Jesus had time for the children and blessed them.
Measured responses
Children are all packaged differently. Who is the child that talks through the gospel story? Who is the child that always wants the bathroom? Who is the child that doesn’t participate in any of the activities? It will be impossible to give them all your undivided attention throughout the whole session but might there be a reason for their behaviour? How can the restless child be engaged?
In dealing with behaviour we need measured responses, not favoured responses. As leaders we need to guard against favouring one child over another. Christ looks equally at these children with love and wants us to respond with the same grace to the boy who won’t stop talking during the prayer as he does to the quiet, withdrawn girl who is a victim of abuse. We can’t know all the details of each child and it’s probably good that we don’t or our responses would be completely inconsistent.
Structured activities
The pandemic has had lasting effects on children. Some find it hard to engage or explain how they feel. Some children are struggling to socialise, get a grasp of basic education and even understand the core elements of friendship and teamwork. At our youth group we have plenty of competitive and team sports. Every term the children are swapped around to a different team so that they interact with others. These structured events have massively helped the children to bond and socialise better whilst providing lots of competitive fun. There is such a temptation at the end of the week to throw a ball into the middle of the hall and say, ‘Help yourselves kids.’ Yet for some children, our youth club might be the only activity they have outside of school. We need to provide these children with a nurturing environment, a place where they can develop life skills and most of all a place where Christ shines through us. Our response needs to be one of dedication, devotion and determination week in week out.
Sowing the seed of the gospel
Our youth clubs are vital to maintaining the good principles of friendship, sharing and teamwork. Most of all they could be the only place where the seed of the gospel is sown into these young lives. This might be the Bible story, the final prayer of the evening or simply our consistent right responses to the children in all situations. Believe it or not, children read you, your face and your reactions. They also absorb every word you say and hold on to them. Our responses can be tailored to the children that come through the door but the bigger picture is our hearts in the matter. When we come to God as a child with a humbleness of heart, he refines us and highlights our right responses. Flicking through the Gospels we see that Jesus had the right response every time. As we come to him in our own vulnerabilities he will guide and lead us in our responses to help children with theirs.
