I recently had the privilege of presenting a seminar at the Men Meeting the Challenge Conference. The topic was ‘Men connecting Boys with the Gospel’ and in particular the boy’s in our church. As I prepared and presented two things were very clear; the sociological and spiritual needs are obvious but the solution is far more elusive.

The social upheaval caused by the breakdown of the biological family unit is unprecedented in modern Australian society and the negative impact is being clearly felt by our boys (and girls). We have boys, both within our churches and outside who simply don’t have older male role models to look up to as men or as Christians. Within our churches our services have become increasingly homogeneous with older men often attending different services from the boys and teens. As one older guy said on Saturday “the boys are walking in as I am walking out”. For those men willing to get involved there is a well-founded fear of being branded a predator if they take an interest in the welfare of a younger boy.

Paul commands Titus to be an example to the young men, to teach them with integrity and to have soundness of speech. As Christian men we can see that Paul’s command to Titus is also valuable for us but how do we do it? There are programs we can commit to; men can get involved in the Sunday School or Kid’s Club or Boy’s Group, men can take time off work and teach scripture, men can go on camp as house parents and helpers and cooks. These are all good things and can I encourage you to consider committing to this type of ministry. There are however other, appropriately transparent, Safe Ministry approved, opportunities that don’t require another program. It might not be as obvious but there are ways to build real Christian relationships with the boys in our church.

I would like to hear other ideas but here is one to get started. Get to know some of the boys at church; know their name, ask them how they are going, ask them about Sunday School or youth group or camp, commit to praying for them and tell them you are praying for them. It’s not dramatic, it doesn’t take a whole stack of time but that boy knows that someone else is on his side. That is pretty significant for any kid but for a kid without a dad it will mean more than you could imagine.