My Answer to a Pressing Question

But there are probably many correct answers.

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to speak to a group of reformed youth ministry staff members and volunteer leaders from around the country who were gathering in Nashville for a training event. Dr. Christina Edmondson, Les Newsom, and I were tasked with answering the following question in fewer than 10 minutes:

What is a significant/pressing issue that the church needs to better understand and address in order to more effectively reach and equip the next generation for Christ?

Below are the notes I used to answer that question, copied verbatim from my little Moleskine notebook. Much of what you’ll read will likely not be new to you if you’ve read this newsletter for a while. But I thought the framing of the question was good, so I wanted to share how I answered it. Okay, here’s how I answered:

• Social media is the chief discipler of our age, regardless of generation, but especially among young people.

• 2022 data: Avg. U.S. adult spends 2.5hrs/day

  • Only things we do more than this is work and sleep.

  • This is not only a young person issue.

• Teens are always in the hallway.

  • Most of their parents never had to live with this, so they feel ill-equipped to parent amidst it.

  • Such intense, ever-present pressure to socially perform

• You cannot out-disciple social media with sermons and programs alone.

  • Your only hope for out-discipling social media is to fight time with time, and the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit of course.

• We must disciple young people toward rhythms of worship in everyday life rather than just hope that preaching and programs solve everything.

SO, that’s how I answered the question. I think there are probably a dozen right answers to the question. But I was asked to speak to social media’s impact, so naturally my answer is colored that way.

I hope it’s helpful for you!