Family-Based Youth Ministry Chapter 11

So we’re back in the book Family-Based Youth Ministry by Mark DeVries. The title of this chapter is “God Calling: Thinking Theologically About Youth Ministry”. I found myself really beginning to think through what I believe regarding families and the church as the extended family and the priority that each should have in a person’s life. The two quotes from DeVries that really stuck out to me were:

“As disciples of Christ, our ultimate goal (our “chief end”) is not limited to our own personal growth. That goal is much too small. The glory of God and our enjoyment of God come first for the Christian. Our own spiritual growth is a natural outgrowth of learning to glorify God” (Pg 163)

“…the nature of the life of discipleship involves a practical commitment to a specific community of faith.” (Pg 164)

As I was sitting here thinking about these two quotes from DeVries, I started to really think about if the priorities that I have been hearing all around me while growing up are truly biblical. How serious are we about the only thing that matters most in this life being a person’s relationship with Jesus? What if that began to interfere with a person’s relationship with his or her family? The point that I find myself wrestling with a lot right now, is just how important ministry is. I have been around the argument about where the church should be in relation to the family in the order of personal priorities, but what if you are hanging out with your family and a person calls you and needs to talk with you about something that is a major emergency? Granted there are usually varying circumstances that occur with situations like this, yet if this exact situation arose and that person needed to talk with you and needed your help to help disciple them and what not, how should we respond? If what we say that the most important thing in this life is what is going to be carried on to the next, then would the decision that we need to make not be to go help the person? I know a lot of people who would say that you need to take into consideration your family, and I would agree. However I believe that if you are raising your family so that they understand that you have been called by God to do this and that this is something that is affecting a person’s eternity, your family should join in with you in this. That might look something like having your family gather together and pray for you as you are gone meeting with the individual. I certainly do not know all the answers to life and questions like this, but I am trying to wrestle with these and figure out areas in my life that need to be reevaluated and turned over to God. What about you? Do you have any thoughts on the subject?