Acts 2 gives us one of the great verses telling us how the early church worked.
‘And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers’ (Acts 2.42 ESV). Leaving aside one, three and four, I want to look at fellowship in the context of youth ministry. The ESV Bible footnote gives us two paraphrases, namely ‘participation’ and ‘sharing’.
Counter culture of caring
As we begin a new year of youth ministry, I’m sure many have planned how the ‘apostles’ teaching’ will be communicated, but should we also give consideration to how we develop fellowship in the lives of our youth groups. Is it sufficient to gather our group, pass on the teaching and send them home? Should there be genuine ‘fellowship’ at the heart of groups. Our young people are living in a competitive world where they are actively encouraged to strive for the best – the top spot. You only have to look at a bunch of teenagers playing sport to see the competitive edge coming out. But does that competitive spirit sometimes drift into the lives of our groups? The result is not ‘sharing’, but a rather unsavoury atmosphere of one-upman-ship. In the world of academic performance it is vital that we teach a counter culture of caring for one another and supporting the weak – I don’t think this will come naturally to many of our people.
Encouraging service
This is such a different value system but it makes the church (and our youth groups) something very different in our society. People of all abilities and gift sets living and working together for the glory of God. We must both teach and model that idea. But if there is to be ‘participation’ it must involve the whole group. What steps could be taken to actively involve young people in what needs doing around the place. There may be simple tasks that young people can do – it may even lighten your load.
Still good to talk?
And there’s another way to participate. I am increasingly concerned about the way we share issues with each other. Is it still good to talk? We talk to young people but do we talk with young people. Do they know our stories and do we share (appropriately) our stories and testimonies. Do we allow and encourage young people to engage in conversation with us and let them talk about their own lives? Is there space in our busy programmes for young people to tell us what it is like to be a Christian in their culture?
With the increasing use of social media, conversation is increasingly done with fingertips on keyboards. At a recent youth event where I was speaker, one young person was reluctant to go to bed until they had experienced 15 minutes in their Facebook community. I value what social media has brought to communication, but it can create over-dependence.
If we want our young people to be gospel sharers, conversation must be had somewhere. There could be dangers in creating youth groups where the idea of belonging in a precious Christian fellowship group is lost. In these days of shifting and fragile relationships, it is increasingly important that we create groups where ‘to belong and share in the life of the group’ is both valued and acts as a great prelude to church fellowship for the rest of their lives.
