Theology and teens. Does it sound like an explosive combination? Or a grand exercise in futility, filled with yawns and eye rolling? If you’re like most youth leaders, just the thought of mixing teens and theology can leave you wondering where to start.

So how do you go about getting teens interested in theology? You lay a foundation for great spiritual discussion by asking questions that tap into their natural adolescent inclination to spout their own opinions and question everything.

I learned this firsthand during the filming of Dare 2 Share’s reality series, “GOSPEL Journey Maui.” Using Craig’s List, we intentionally gathered a group of young strangers, including a Buddhist, Christian, Jew, Mormon, New Ager, Muslim and Seventh Day Adventist. Then we filmed their controversial spiritual conversations while they were living together in a Hawaiian beach house. It was anything but boring.

So how did I get the cast to engage in serious theological conversations about the nature of God and religious truth? By asking them questions. Each day on the set, I launched the conversation by asking one of the big questions of life. Questions such as: Is there a Higher Power? What is the purpose of life? Why is there evil in the world? Why are there so many religions in the world, and can they all be right?

While the cast members responded to these questions by sharing from their own spiritual worldviews, they also responded by pouring out their hearts and talking about their own lives. From the open-minded Buddhist to the devout Muslim, these young people moved from observers to participants in the search for spiritual reality because they were seriously seeking answers to questions that mattered to them. As they shared, I listened with care and respect. Then at an appropriate time, with their curiosity piqued and their divergent opinions still swirling, I circled the conversation around to what the Bible had to say about the subject at hand—and they listened attentively, intrigued by the search for spiritual truth.

Tips from the Master

Jesus was masterful at communicating truth by initiating spiritual conversation. In Matthew 16, we catch a glimpse of Him asking questions that drilled to the core of others’ belief systems.

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

“Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”

Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you” (Matt. 16:13-17).