I’ve worked with students for over 25 years. I have 2 high schoolers in my own home. And here’s what I’ve learned…
There is ONE THING that towers above anything else we can do to impact a student’s life for Christ. This one thing matters more than anything else. This one thing will long outlive our relational proximity with young people.
What is it?
Getting students to regularly engage the Bible.
The above statement is the #1 thing we should be attempting to cultivate as those wanting to disciple this generation of students. Read that again. It’s #1. There isn’t a close second.
Let me ask you: “How are you doing at helping your students regularly engage the Bible?”
For those of us who are parents…how can we do this?
For those of us in youth ministry…how could we do this?
For those of us that are church leaders…how should we do this?
We know anecdotally that Bible engagement translates into life change. But there’s good research to back this up too. For example, one study says that you are 59% less likely to look at porn when regularly engaging the Bible. (along with many other amazing statistics) The ground breaking “Reveal” study by Willow Creek clarifies that Bible engagement is the #1 catalyst for spiritual growth in EVERY stage of the life of a believer. For both the new believer and the mature student, engaging Scripture is key for continued growth.
SO…WHO’S DOING IT?
And yet, the nagging question I have asked for years to youth workers, ministry leaders, and parents is, ”What are you doing to help engage young people in Scripture?” While many/most state the importance of a focus on Bible engagement, very few I’ve talked to actually give it much thought or effort. Most even say it is probably the most important thing they should be doing, but they’ve done little about it. Wait, Huh?!
Many leaders may throw out or mention a “read through the Bible” in a year plan in early January, hoping that somehow it will magically stick. My several attempts have always derailed somewhere in the “toe fungus” laws in Leviticus! But it’s easy to see that this one-size-fits-all approach rarely works, especially if not followed up and encouraged often.
While we hopefully agree on the importance of getting students into the Bible, it seems that little real good strategy, time and effort are being put into a structure to accomplish the goal of student Bible engagement. “No, wait, you’re wrong, there are more tools out there than ever for young people.” Look around. Yes, there are plenty of options, but count how many you find that actually promote and structure regular Bible engagement. There aren’t many.
Yes, there are many devotionals and curriculum out there. But look closely and you’ll find that regular individual Bible engagement is a huge missing piece. As spiritual leaders and shepherds, whether parents, vocational or volunteer leaders WE MUST HELP OUR STUDENTS REGULARLY ENGAGE SCRIPTURE! And please don’t believe the myth that this is only for our “deeper students.” The truth of Scripture can be experienced by ALL of our students, regardless of age or stage.
It seems ironic that we live in world of abundant ministry resources that draw from Scripture and yet there seems to be little thought or strategy for how to get people to actually pick up and read the physical Bible?! So I’m writing multiple posts on this topic to hopefully help motivate you to do what I did years ago, figure this one out.
Let me share you my story of how Bible engagement changed the entire paradigm and foundation of my ministry.
In 2000, I gathered a group of students, parents and youth workers and asked, “How do we help disciple our students?” We eventually settled on a direction, that the foundation of becoming a disciple of Jesus happens most effectively when students are regularly engaging Scripture. So we started from there. So our goal became to build a support structure so that ANY STUDENT COULD REGULARLY ENGAGE SCRIPTURE.
We built a system, and for the next 10 years I saw something happen that I had never seen before or since in over 25 years of ministry experience…a MAJORITY of our students weekly engaged in Scripture. I don’t flippantly say that it changed EVERYTHING about our ministry! The ripple effects could be seen everywhere.
The method we created eventually became published as “Don’t Climb Alone.” And today throughout the world students, entire churches, families and even small groups are using it as a proven method of engaging Scripture. Twenty eight guides (arranged in any order preferred by the user) walk through the entire Bible and can be adapted to any size or type group. Find out more on the web site.
Stick with us, and you’ll see some great information about what happens when students engage Scripture, and more about what you can do whether you are a parent or youth worker.
We’ll show you:
· The top 3 reasons students don’t engage the Bible
· How many of your students are currently engaging the Bible
· Stories of where it is happening
· What you can do about it.
Jeff Eckart, CEO
Never The Same
© 2014, Never The Same