by Jodie McNeill
Your topic may well be taboo… But if you preach the word of God properly, then you will deliver a message that is appropriate both to the Christians and non-Christians in your audience.
A popular strategy in youth ministry is to target the Bible talks at the spiritual "level' of the audience. Some talks assume a non-Christian audience, and other talks assume a group of keen Christians. To one, the speaker attempts to convince the hearers to become Christians, and to the other the speaker encourages the hearers to stay Christians.
To a large extent this dichotomy in preaching has been driven by the market-focused church growth strategies. To the "seekers' we preach "evangelistically,' and to the "believers' we teach "ethically.'
Yet, one of the biggest problems with this approach is the difficulty in properly classifying the audience. Is the room full of Christians or non-Christians? The answer is always "both", to a lesser or greater extent.
This is particularly true of youth. Even if a teenager has called him or herself a Christian since childhood, it is common for them at around 15 years of age to decide to "own' their faith. These "Christian' students needed both mission and nurture, not one or the other.
Fortunately, it is possible to speak both messages to both audiences at the same time. For, the word of God achieves both goals. It is dual action " our tool for the nurture of Christians, and also for mission to non-Christians. The same scriptures that are able to make us "wise for salvation' are also, "useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (2 Tim 3:15-17).
Why is this so? Because when we preach the word of God properly, we will naturally preach Christ Jesus as Lord, no matter what verse, chapter and book we choose. And as we preach this gospel of grace, we will bring salvation to all people, as well as teach them to say "no' to ungodliness (Titus 2:11-13). The dual action word of God will encourage all of the hearers to sit under the lordship of Christ, whether they are Christians or not-yet-Christians.
This doesn't mean that we can't teach "ethical' sermons to audiences that contain non-Christians. In fact, as we tell the teenagers to avoid sexual immorality, (for example), then as long as we show them that our motivation for such radical behaviour is in obedience to God in response to his gospel of grace, then everybody present (both Christians and non-Christians) will know how the death and resurrection of Jesus applies to their life. This is why a "sex talk" is such a great gospel message!
So, how do we speak God's dual action word to teenagers? How do we deliver Bible talks that are appropriate to both Christians and non-Christians? How can you preach "evangelistically' in every talk, and still push the keen Christians in their knowledge of God? Find out in my column next month!
Jodie McNeill is a Youth Ministry Trainer and Year 13 Director at Youthworks College. This is the first of two excerpts from his upcoming "Dual Action Teaching" seminar at the Youthworks Youth Ministry Conference in December.
