Image via WikipediaThis comment really bothers me. I've heard it a few times, mostly centering around an idea that I have that I'm sharing with other youth ministers. I share an idea, one that I believe will ignite the fire of the Holy Spirit in the youth or deepen their understanding of their faith, and the response is "they can't handle that." These comments are coming from the same youth ministers who fill their meetings with games, skits, and activities. Not that there is anything wrong with these things (I use games and activities in my meetings, too), but to think that a high school youth cannot handle being challenged in his faith is bothersome.
When I first became a youth minister, I attended a workshop that suggested the idea (among others) that most Catholic adults are walking around with the faith of a 4th or 5th grader. It was suggested that most Catholic adults do not have a mature faith. I ask why? Why don't most adults have a mature faith? I think that a big part of that is the fact that most catechists, youth ministers, priests, or anyone who works with youth in the Church have the mindset that "they can't handle that."
When I started high school, my parish was without a youth ministry program. When I became interested in my faith the summer between my sophomore and junior year, I was invited to a youth ministry program that was not a part of my parish. I joined and loved it. It was a thriving, Spirit-filled program that drew about 20-30 teens every week, even though it met on Wednesdays, when most of us had sports, homework, and other commitments. Shortly after I started attending that program, my parish hired a youth minister. I was excited about it and jumped on board to be a part of a program and to take a leadership role. The program was a miserable failure. It never got off the ground and never drew more than a half-dozen teens to the weekly meetings.
What was the difference between the two? For one thing, the thriving program was established and had been running for many years. It's hard to start a youth ministry program from scratch. I know. I've done it. But I think the greatest difference was the approach to the program. The thriving and active program (the one I joined first) challenged us teens. The adults running the program would not accept mediocrity, would not accept that there were certain things about our faith that we couldn't handle. The other program, the one at my own parish, filled the teens time with movies, games, and food. (Again, there is nothing wrong with movies, games, and food, but if that is all your program is about, you're missing the point).
The way I see it, we don't challenge the youth today. We have very low expectations for our youth. We don't think they can handle many things, particularly when it comes to their faith. This is a tragedy. Teens are going to grow up living lives of mediocrity. They will never rise above the low expectations we set for them. I'm not being trying to be prideful, but I believe that I have an adult faith. That adult faith came from the youth ministry program that challenged me. It came from the program that did not accept that there were things that I was not mature enough to handle. If we have an attitude that the youth cannot handle being challenged in their faith, then they will never mature.
---------------------------
We need to be challenged. All of us, young and old, need to be challenged. It is through being challenged, being stretched, that we are able to grow. If we live lives of mediocrity, never being challenged in anything, then we will never grow. We will never grow mentally. We will never grow emotionally. We will never grow spiritually.
"I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth." (Revelation 3:15-16)
