Widen Your Circle

“Every son and daughter needs other adult voices in their lives who will say things a Christian parent would say.  One of the smartest things a church leader can do for a family is provide a system where kids and teenagers can be connected to that kind of adult influence.  One of the smartest things moms and dads can do is to participate in a ministry where they can find the right kind of adult influences for their kids.”  -Reggie Joiner-

This quote has really made me think lately about the role of the church, specifically the youth ministry for my purposes, and how that compares to the role of the family.  The point Reggie Joiner is making here is that the family, first and foremost, was setup by God as the primary vessel for the transfer of faith to the next generation.  My wife, Janae, and I are the primary people from whom our son Joshua should learn about God and His unconditional love for us.  The church and its ministries should act as the echo that reaffirms what the family teaches. 

          So my role as a youth minister is to create, with the help of volunteers, an environment that reaffirms and says what a Christian parent has already said at home.  Joiner’s goal is to help us see that the family and church need to work together in the transfer of faith.  My job and the job of the youth volunteers is to be that voice that reiterates what the parents already say and to give the students another voice of Christian wisdom and maturity. 

          As parents, when we widen the circle of influence for our children we will increase the chance, exponentially, that our students hear God’s message, take it to heart, and then act it out in their own lives.  This is how the Family of God, the Body of Christ is most successful: when it acts in cooperation for the spread of the gospel through the family, not in competition to have bigger ministries that stand apart from and often in competition with each other.  Widen your circle.