Priorities for Youth Pastors

00:00:05.000 | We have a question from Sebastian. He writes, "I am a youth group leader

00:00:09.360 | from Switzerland. What are the core values from the Bible to pass on to my

00:00:12.600 | youth group, or what are the really important things we should give our

00:00:15.540 | youth today?" Obviously a youth pastor can't develop a full

00:00:19.360 | systematic theology in the minds of his young people. He's got to choose some

00:00:22.920 | really key things to drive home. Pastor John, what would you put at the top of

00:00:26.080 | the list of your priorities for Sebastian? I would probably put at the

00:00:31.480 | top, or maybe it would be better to say at the bottom, as foundation, a true Bible.

00:00:38.320 | Help these young people be rock-solid and thrilled that they have a book in

00:00:49.280 | which the Creator of the universe has spoken the truth to them about Himself

00:00:54.640 | and about them and about the world. This is just stunning when you think about it.

00:01:00.000 | If this is true, if the Bible is inspired by God, we have a book in which our

00:01:05.840 | Maker, our Creator, and the Sustainer, and the One who runs the universe has spoken

00:01:11.560 | to us the truth. There just can't be anything more significant for a young

00:01:15.160 | person's life than to have a book in his hand. This book, this book tells me where

00:01:20.520 | I came from. This book tells me the meaning of life. This book tells me how

00:01:24.560 | to live and what my future can be. So that's number one. Build every week,

00:01:32.120 | every time you get together, use the Bible in such a way as to communicate. We

00:01:37.720 | have a book here that's foundational truth for living. Number two, I'd say a

00:01:43.080 | great God. So true Bible and a great God. Just constantly lift the sights of young

00:01:51.160 | people higher than they would go without your leadership, and higher means a

00:01:56.640 | greater and greater and greater view of God. Don't sink down to assume that

00:02:04.080 | they've got the level at which you should address them. So many people are

00:02:10.400 | so eager for relevance that they let the young people dictate all the agenda, and

00:02:18.600 | the young people don't realize that the way you solve their agenda usually is by

00:02:25.080 | creating in their hearts a space for a massive God that reorients the whole

00:02:31.160 | agenda, and they see everything differently. So I would say number

00:02:35.280 | two is build into them a great God. Number three, I'd say teach them that

00:02:41.160 | life is hard and suffering is coming, and that's an essential part of the

00:02:46.360 | Christian life. And number four, I'd say show them that the Christian life gives

00:02:51.960 | them the deepest meaning possible. That even though life is hard, it is richer

00:02:58.160 | and deeper and more satisfying to have a significant life in Christ than any other

00:03:04.800 | any other way. And maybe one other thing, two other things come to mind. Give

00:03:11.600 | them an absolutely certain, confident, glorious future that no matter what

00:03:16.840 | happens, they have eternal life. Everything's going to work together for

00:03:20.400 | their good. They're going to have a new heavens and a new earth. Every wrong will

00:03:24.160 | be made right. God will be exalted, and they will have everlasting joy no matter

00:03:29.720 | what they have to sacrifice in this world on the way there. And the last

00:03:34.800 | thing, in, under, and around that, weave the gospel, the cross of Christ, that

00:03:42.760 | Christ has covered all their sins and has provided all their righteousness as

00:03:49.120 | they trust in Him. Those are the radicals that I would build if I were leading some youth.

00:03:56.360 | Thank you, Pastor John, and thank you for listening to this podcast. If you have a

00:03:59.800 | question for Pastor John, please send it to us via email at

00:04:02.120 | askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org. Please include your first name and your

00:04:05.440 | hometown. You can find thousands of other free resources from John Piper

00:04:08.200 | online at desiringgod.org. I'm your host Tony Ranke, thanks for listening.

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