One of the reasons I did not originally pursue work in the field of youth ministry is that I never took it seriously. So you can imagine my surprise that after years of planning to enter the mission field as an anthropological consultant, I now find myself deeply entrenched in youth ministry!

But I still have my old concerns about whether youth ministry can be taken seriously, and I often wonder: Why aren’t youth pastors themselves taken seriously?

Some of my concerns were confirmed by a project I commissioned. Barna Research worked with 300 parents of churched teens to produce the qualitative study entitled “Parents Perceptions of Youth Ministry and Youth Ministers.”

Among the study’s findings was the clear conclusion that youth ministers have a perception problem that needs to be fixed. As I reflected on the Barna study, I came up with my own conclusion: We need to be seen as wise rather than wacky.

The only Scripture that describes Jesus’ journey into adulthood is Luke 2:52, which says, “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (NIV). Could the same be said about youth workers today? I don’t always think so.

Developing wisdom in young people should be a goal of every youth ministry professional and program. Given my own predisposition for foolishness, I humbly present three steps for recasting the image of youth pastors from wild and crazy guys and gals to workers of wisdom in the lives of today’s young people.

Step 1: We must develop a higherorder creativity.
 
Youth workers often encounter the word creative, but it is typically used in marketing campaigns for new products. In order for us to become wiser, we need to apply the Word creative to our own thinking.

Most of America’s educational institutions focus on one kind of thinking only: analytical thinking. As a result, many of us can break a problem down into its component parts and attack each one.

Because our education system does not focus on creative thinking styles, many of us have not received adequate training in achieving higher stages of creative thought. As a
result, youth ministry programs and products are often less creative and effective than they could be.

Theorists have debated the nature of creativity for centuries. The following three elements are at the top of my list of factors youth workers need to embrace:
Uniqueness — Has anyone seen this? Has it been done before?
Captivation — Will the beauty or mystique of this creation appeal to the attentions of others?
Functionality — Does my creation serve a purpose? Is it meaningful?

Now let’s break these elements down further by focusing on ways we can move toward something I call the “higher end” of the creative scale. For example, many youth workers mistake uniqueness for novelty; but novelties are those items found next to the check-out line at Target. They’re mildly interesting but cheap. Sure, people can make a living selling chewing gum that looks like an iPod, or a sucker that looks like a baby bottle. But you won’t win any awards for changing the world. Some youth workers settle for novelty over real invention, which ranks higher on the creative scale:
Novelty ————————– Invention

Invention requires thought, creativity, experimentation, and wisdom. Inventions such as the light bulb and the cell phone have resulted from this process. But novelties are easier to come by and much easier to forget.

We can understand even more about creativity and wisdom by examining two other concepts:
Cleverness ————————– Innovation

Once again, see where youth ministry typically falls. We are famous for clever acronyms and evangelism aids, but clever gimmicks rarely make a lasting impact on people’s lives
or on our entire field. Gimmicks are simple, while true innovations require a great reduction of complexity to make them look incredibly simple. Have you noticed that few digital
music players have the elegance of the iPod? Innovations look incredibly simple but require immense effort to produce.

I believe youth workers will grow in wisdom and enhance their failing images only when we can move to the higher end of the creative spectrum. The journey from wacky to wise requires a conscious effort to produce higher levels of creative output.

Step 2: We must pursue wisdom as a personal goal.

Do you want to know why we need to reimagine youth ministry? Here’s why:
Depending on whose numbers you use, 58-84 percent of youth graduating from church youth groups are not returning.

What are we equipping students to do when they leave our youth groups? I used to believe we needed to ground them in doctrine and the ability to defend their faith. This is
essential; but without wisdom, kids only have data. Wisdom enables them to apply their knowledge to life. The Barna Research study of 300 parents found that they feel youth
workers love their kids very much but have little respect for the life skills of youth pastors.

Youth workers also received low marks for their organization skills, communication with parents, use of time, and diplomacy within the church system. In other words, parents feel youth workers don’t know how to apply wisdom to life.

Step 3: We must disciple with wisdom in mind.

One look around the latest youth ministry convention shows that we are desperately looking for creative and practical tools to help us in disciple making. But in order to teach
wisdom to a generation, we must stretch our methods from those we personally favor to those that produce the results of a mature disciple.

Some youth workers have abandoned experiential learning for the sake of the brainier, intellectual models, while others have turned their backs on doctrine and biblical teaching
in search of experiences that put the Word into action. Both sides seem to cite Jesus’ ministry as an example of their preferred style.

While it’s true these skills are best developed in experiential-type environments, experience only works if students have an adequate knowledge on which the experience is
based. My observation in youth ministry is that while many excellent experiences have been developed, the proper knowledge base and thinking skills are not present to be able
to fully realize the potential of these opportunities.

Three techniques can be used to help aid in the acquisition of wisdom and, when properly used in dialogue, can help the discipler come to an understanding of what information
the knowledge base contains.

A) Signposting
By looking ahead to situations students might face in the future, we can help them think wisely about their responses. The lack of good signposting activities has been the failure
of many True-Love- Waits-type programs. The goal of many programs is to convince students they need to wait for marriage before engaging in sexual activity. I have found that getting students to sign pledges is easy, but giving them tools to keep the pledge is much more difficult.

To signpost, you create a scenario that is ripe with dilemma. Then you throw it in front of students to discuss. Careful listening to the problem solving will let you know
1) Do the students have a biblical base they can sort through for their decision? (Do they even consult the Bible?)
2) Are their solutions mindful of the complexity of life, or too simple?
3) Are they balancing long-term and short-term benefits and what will benefit themselves as well as others?

B) Decision Making
Where signposting looks to the future, decision making deals with the here and now. What visions of decision making have we presented to students? Have we helped them
learn how to connect with those wiser than them to assist in their decision-making processes?

C) Reflection
Reflection deals with considering events that have already happened in the life of a student or someone else. The idea here is to draw out of the student what he or she has
observed about a past event. What were the consequences or rewards of a particular behavior? How do such life events support or oppose what we know from Scripture? And how can we apply these lessons to our own lives?

“Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares” (Proverbs 1:20, NIV). Is wisdom raising her voice in your group? And is anyone listening? While the lessons in this article don’t exhaust the subject, perhaps they are enough to challenge you to reimagine the role of this fundamental virtue in your own life and ministry.

Are you wise or wacky?
Below you will find six key qualities of wise people. As you examine this list, honestly assess your own wisdom by giving yourself a grade from 1 (low) to 10 (high). And if you’re really brave, ask someone who knows you to evaluate you in each of these areas.

1) Wise people have a consistent walk with God and revere Him in all aspects of the self: heart, mind, soul, and strength.

Without such reverence “heavenly wisdom” cannot be present because it is only from a right relationship with God that wisdom flows. Simply walking consistently with God doesn’t guarantee wise living, however. This is merely the beginning, or foundation, of wisdom.

2) Wise people do not seek solely their own benefit.

While most wise people seem to be successful in life, they are rarely self-seeking. Instead, they always seem to be living to the advantage of others. That’s why the Bible says
humility is a sign of wisdom.

3) Wise people possess self-control.

People who are wise are typically well mannered in their display of emotion and rarely posses a hot temper. This does not mean they lack passion; they just know how to channel their emotions to productive ends.

Wise people often have most of their vices in check, as well. They abstain from questionable activity, not out of piety but from virtue. These are people who have relatively few bad habits.

4) Wise people often have good communication skills.

Literature on wisdom discusses the control of speech as a clear sign of a person’s wisdom. The ability to communicate clearly and succinctly is an essential character trait of those considered wise. Wise people know when to speak and when to be silent. Plus, they know what is appropriate content for their audience and what isn’t.

5) Wise people produce results in all spheres of life.

While wise people are not necessarily “successful” in the world’s terms of fame and fortune, they are definitely skilled at living. They typically possess a special skill in their areas of giftedness or vocation; but they are seen also as generally successful in all areas of life: family, marriage, business, community involvement, and more.

You’ll often see wise people living an enviable life based on quality of experience rather than material wealth. This is typically the result of knowing how to balance life to achieve the right short-term and long-term objectives. This in itself is a fruit of wisdom.

6) Wise people are good managers of resources.

People who are wise typically also share the quality of generosity. They seem to manage their resources (financial, time, talent, etc.) in such ways that they have the ability to be
generous and still obtain the needed objectives in life.

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Mark Matlock is an author and speaker to students, parents, and youth workers. He is the founder of WisdomWorks Ministries, the creator of a leading youth-oriented Web site called PlanetWisdom.com, regular author for Campus Life, the author of several books, including Living a Life That Matters: Lessons From Ecclesiastes, Smart Faith with J.P. Moreland, and Freshman: The College Student’s Guide to Developing Wisdom.