It's here you make the hard decisions that determine whether your current program fits the kind of blueprint that will yield the program and product you intend.

Ten Years and Several Geometric Shapes Later...

It's been a decade since I first published my reflections on the funnel/pyramid approach to youth ministry programming. Since then, I've been exposed to a number of different youth ministries, and I've noticed some things about them.

• Bigger is still not better. In a culture with a Big Mac mind-set, it's not easy to remember that mammoth power plants don't necessarily deliver power. This is still the most common trap for those of us in youth ministry. Just because lots of kids come to your group doesn't mean you're producing students who will multiply themselves spiritually.

• If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time. I'm amazed at how much youth work simply happens by inertia. No real plan, no real vision—just a mind-set that says, "Here's a neat resource...it might work...let's give it a go." Thoughtful youth workers will submit themselves to a vision statement that stubbornly and consistently guides their program planning.

• The "unspiritual" is important. I heard a youth speaker—you'd recognize him if I told you his name—complain about his impatience with kids who have "only a bubble-gum commitment to Jesus." He said he just wasn't "interested in working with those kids anymore."

"I hope someone is," I thought to myself. Unless you're willing to endure the hassle of just getting kids in the door, you'll eventually run out of students who want your help to grow. Somebody had better maintain a vision for getting these kids into the funnel. Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do with a student is something that appears eminently unspiritual, where you simply meet kids at their point of need and try to listen and love them.

• The development of student leaders is spreading. Especially encouraging is the increasing attention youth workers and publishers are giving to developing leaders in youth groups. Youth ministers around the world are awakening to the tremendous potential in missions and service types of programming.

In Mexico, Haiti, Central and South America, Africa, Asia, our own inner cities—thousands of teenagers every year take part in student missions teams. The good news is that we're discovering that teenagers can accomplish great works of ministry if we will give them opportunities and training.

• One size doesn't fit all. A common error is still trying to meet the needs of all the students with one program a week. It simply won't work. We tend to program to the lowest common denominator. If you're working with a group of students whose commitment levels range from spiritual dynamo to likely axe murderer, you can bet you'll focus your efforts on the likely axe murderer. If you get too heavy for the come-level kids, you reason, they'll either riot or just stop coming. On the other hand, the committed kids probably will keep on coming, even if I'm forced to neglect them. After all, they tend to be more tolerant.

So the rowdy kids keep getting entertained, and the spiritual kids starve to death from spiritual malnutrition. Don't be afraid to program deeply enough, with enough content, with enough challenge that some students will balk. Be willing to say, "Maybe this Wednesday night program is a little too heavy for where you are right now. Why don't you just keep coming Sunday nights for a while and see what happens?"

Youth ministry programming is not about feverish activity or frantic planning. It's about taking the time to ask, "What are we building here?" It's about looking beyond the size of a group to ask, "Is this program going to really accomplish what it was designed for?" Ask hard questions and take creative action that will help you fulfill your mandate. Without that kind of vision, the church will continue to build power plants that deliver no power.