A Thomas Nelson Ministry Resource: Youth No. 1

Nelson: Why, Jay, is i! important to reach kids with God’s Word?

JK: If we start with the idea that man is God’s creation, then we realize that God desires to and has spoken to man through both his written word and the visit of His son, Jesus Christ, to the earth. Logically speaking then, if in fact the scheme that man is God’s creation is true, there can be nothing more important than trying to learn and understand what God has said. So the Bible becomes, in a sense, the most important book in the history of mankind.

No Bible publisher or other person interested in promoting the Bible could over-emphasize the words of the Bible if indeed it is what we believe to be the Word of God to a world. Think of the time it saves us to have had God look in at the human condition and speak on the nature of the world, of man himself, of our inner relationships, of knowing each other, of repairing relationships, of forgiveness. All this and so much more—an invaluable education—is available to man if we study the Bible.

The Bible gives us a place to begin, and a place to stand in the world. It is the written unmoveable Word of God on which we can build all the rest of the superstructure of civilization. Without it, we have no foundation upon which to lay the bricks.

Nelson: As Christians we accept the Bible as the Word of God and the focal point around which we build our lives, yet we seem to have real difficulty sharing God’s Word with others, and especially different generations of others. Why do you suppose for parents and older Christians it is difficult to reach out to teenagers with God’s Word?

JK: I once looked up the word “preach” and found it defined, “to deliver a boring lecture, to give moral advice, especially in a tiresome way.” I think sometimes people associate too closely the method in which the Bible is all too frequently communicated with their own methods or approaches to sharing God’s Word—thus limiting themselves and the effectiveness of their message. I think to break that cycle is to sit down with our children at the table, read a portion of scripture and start with the youngest asking, “What do you think God wants us to learn from this?” Using this approach, we will find both children and parents pleasantly surprised at how relevant the Bible is for daily living.

Somehow parents get the idea we are supposed to force feed our children the scripture—to present it to them as a boring, restrictive set of do’s and don’ts. The Bible is much, much more than that. It offers experiences of real people and how living in real life, in either obedience or disobedience to God, affected the outcome of their destinies. These are very exciting themes, and parents need to be challenged to overcome that prejudice and not feel they must be overbearing, struggling constantly to establish orthodoxy.

Nelson: What would you say to the parents of an older teen who is standing at the crossroads of life, no longer communicating with parents, and beginning to make decisions for himself/herself that will have a profound effect on his/her future. These parents feel the need and maintain the desire to relate to the teen the importance of God’s Word, but lines of communication are down. How might they reach this son or daughter?

JK: I think at a certain point in a teenager’s life, a parent has to believe that the influence they had on the child when the child was much younger is going to pay off. Parents like these must trust that God is at work in this child’s life, that God loves this son or daughter a great deal more than they as parents are capable of loving. As parents we’ve got to believe that when communication between us and our child breaks down, God’s faithful Holy Spirit is still at work, and that we should continue all efforts toward reaching that child.

I am of the opinion that when kids go to their rooms to shut themselves off from the rest of the world, it doesn’t mean there is nothing going on in their heads. This is more reason I believe so strongly in the printed page and, more specifically, in The Transformer. A kid will take this Bible into his room when he has slammed the door to everything and everyone else, start thumbing through it, see a picture of someone his own age or a topic of interest and begin reading the written word. Kids will spend more time in the written word at that age than parents have any idea. This book is their own, not going to come and go. It’s a friend there on the shelf.

These kids are observing Mom and Dad and the quality of their lives. They’ve seen the failure of friends with poor judgment, doing things they’ll be punished for. They’ve seen classmates become pregnant. They are seeing thousands of things and are gathering and interpreting them all. It is during this time that I think the Word of God should stand steady and would be a great help to kids.

People ask, “Why do you have these Bibles with pictures? Why Bibles with commentary in them for teenagers?” These are difficult adolescent years—special and often confusing times for young people, and God uses these kinds of vehicles to reach them. I see so clearly as I watch thousands of young people and numbers of parents over the years, that God is faithful in supplying helps like this one—putting into hands the significant things like a Bible young people can understand, that is prepared for them. In fact, I think the very heft of the book itself, its very size is important to the young person. It’s not a pamphlet; it’s something of importance.

Frankly, I would hope that every parent would spend a few hours of reflection on his or her own. Maybe then he or she will get that young person a Bible and keep it in his or her own room for a few days to think through a couple of significant paragraphs to write in the front:

“Dear …: I am giving you this book because …” and then offer the young person some self-evaluatory kinds of things about his or her own soul. “I love you. Here is what I hope for you. Here is what my dreams are.” No advice, just “I’m here, I’m your friend. You’re a young man or woman now. Life has its temptations and this book will help you handle things.”

I think there is a sanctity of the soul whereby certain things must be worked out by some people between them and God. Having anybody there at all when that is happening is a kind of intrusion on the soul. It is very important that parents realize every person needs that freedom, that space—especially, perhaps, as a teenager. These young people often feel so unsure of themselves and are so afraid others will laugh at or make fun of them and expose their weaknesses. They’re putting on facades of independence, machoism, selfishness and the like that so many teenagers create for themselves in competing for the attention of peers.

If parents could only understand that beneath all this there is this very sensitive person thinking thoughts they are afraid to tell anybody about, and that the Holy Spirit will roam through his world and speak to that part of the soul during that period. If parents could understand that this is actually happening, and that the same Holy Spirit that is faithful to us is faithful to these young people, it would relieve a great deal of their tension.

Dr. Jay Kesler, former president of Youth For Christ/USA, has been a major influence in shaping the national and worldwide youth ministry. He has written a number of books, presently authors a monthly column in Campus Life magazine, and is heard daily on the radio program “Family Forum,” broadcast over 250 stations worldwide. Dr. Kesler recently assumed the presidency of Taylor University.

Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here.