Cultural Relevancy and Youth Ministry
Lately I’ve listened to a conversation going on in youth ministry circles on whether or not it’s valuable to be versed in youth culture . . . to be “culturally relevant.” I think this conversation is of vital importance to us as youth workers. Give me 4 minutes of your time to share my thoughts (and I welcome yours, as well).
I believe youth workers must strive to be experts in two things: Scripture and culture. Let me explain.
We know the truth of Scripture is timeless. It’s as effective today at spiritual transformation as it was hundreds and thousands of years ago.
However, culture is not timeless. Culture is fluid. It changes with time and geography. You would never attempt to reach a people group in another culture without considering that culture’s unique realities. You wouldn’t travel to rural Chongqing, China and teach the exact same lesson you would teach in Idaho Falls. While the underlying biblical truths have a universal application, the cultural “vehicle” through which your lesson is communicated would be wholly ineffective.
I believe as youth workers we should approach reaching our students with the same level of cultural awareness that we would take in approaching another people group in another culture.
Why? What are the benefits of a commitment to cultural relevancy? Glad you asked.
- It’s strategic–Knowing youth culture helps you tailor your message in order to deliver Scripture’s un-changing truth in a way that is wrapped in the rhetoric of the society surrounding your students.
- It Shows You Care–Whenever I travel internationally, I learn some basic conversational phrases in the native language. When I need something and engage someone in their native language (however clumsily), they are much more inclined to help. It shows that I value their culture. Knowing youth culture says the same thing to your students.
- It’s Proactive–If you’re aware of a trend, movie, or TV show that you know you will need to respond to (such as this one), you can be proactive in engaging your students. By doing so, you have the opportunity to equip your students with a biblical response to whatever the specific issue is.
- You Become a Resource for Parents–I recently heard Josh McDowell say that the generation gap between parents and teenagers is wider than it has ever been . . . and parents don’t know it exists! You can become an invaluable resource for parents as they try and raise children in a culture that is pretty hostile to the ways of God’s Kingdom.
So, I’ve answered the “why.” What’s the “how”? How do we make sure we are as culturally relevant as we can be when it comes to youth culture? It’s actually pretty simple:
- Behave Like A Teenager–Watch the movies they watch. Read the magazines they read. Visit the websites they visit. Listen to music they listen to. By doing so you craft your cultural vocabulary. You will know the cultural factors influencing your students.
- Engage Students in Cultural Conversation–Titus 2:12 says that we are to “say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.” You can help your students know how to say “no” to the harmful elements of culture by engaging them in conversation regarding the cultural influences in their lives.
- Look for the bridges to God’s Word–I believe one of your goals as a youth worker is to help your students develop a biblical worldview, to be able to see the world through the filter of Scripture. It’s vitally important to look for bridges back to Scripture as you discuss what you see in culture. By doing so, you help students rise above the negative effects of culture.
- Let youthministry360 Help You–This is no shameless plug. The marriage of God’s Word and cultural relevancy is our passion. Through our resources and the YM360 Blog we want to be a source of information for you. Watch our “Trends and Culture” page for new posts. Share them with your students’ parents. And let us know of any trends you are watching. We’ll help get the word out to the youthministry360 community.
As I stated earlier, I believe all youth workers are called to be versed in culture. Want biblical evidence? Look no further than the way Paul conducted himself in Athens. Acts 17:22-23 says this:
Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship.
Paul studied Athenian culture then used this knowledge to craft a Gospel message unique to his audience. It is our call as youth workers to be committed to the same level of cultural relevancy. The effectiveness of your ministry is at stake.
Andy Blanks is the co-founder of youthministry360. Andy has worked in youth ministry for 12 years, almost exclusively writing, designing, and developing curriculum. Andy is a teacher at heart and loves to challenge teenagers and youth workers alike through his writing and speaking.
Share your thoughts with the youthministry360 community:
Andy…
I absolutely believe your blog entry… except the last line.
I live this concept you have just written about. It is so true.
I understand the heart of the last line and the intent… but I believe that bottom line is knowing your identity in Christ. The Spirit is what makes ministry effective. Knowing the culture sure bridges the gaps!
I am for you bro!
Absolutely agree with you, Rusty! As I wrote this, I realized there may be a chance that I could be perceived as minimizing the Spirit’s role in transformation. Let me say, I believe the Spirit works at all times to draw people to the Lord. So, will the Spirit work if we neglect to be culturally relevant? Absolutely, He will. And the foundation of our ministries must be God’s Word.
To me, it is a matter of effectiveness. If we are diligent about knowing the culture surrounding our students, we will be more effective at ministering to them.
Great to hear from you! And thanks for lending your voice to the discussion.
Great post Andy!! I really appreciate your thinking on this issue & have saved this article to refer to in the future. I do think I differ with you on one point you made. And perhaps its just a matter of semantics or how I interpret what you’re saying. You said:
“Behave Like A Teenager–Watch the movies they watch. Read the magazines they read. Visit the websites they visit. Listen to music they listen to. By doing so you craft your cultural vocabulary. You will know the cultural factors influencing your students.”
While I think I know where you’re going with this, I don’t think as a 27 year old youth worker or youth pastor that I have to behave or act like a teenager. I do think its important to be “familiar” & study the forms of media that teenagers are into these days, I don’t think I need to be spending hours watching the movies, reading the magazines, & listening to the music that teenagers are into — simply because I don’t necessarily enjoy all of that. Don’t get me wrong, I think youth pastors & youth workers need to be in touch with our culture, but I also think we need to in some ways stand apart & live a separated life from this culture. Even in Romans 12, it says: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world…” This is where I think Scripture takes precedent — especially because culture changes so fast. If I’m consumed & spending all this time trying to be relevant & cool for teenagers, then I begin to lose influence & credibility as a leader to them. And while knowing the culture is important, my commitment is to be their leader FIRST, and their friend SECOND.
Your thoughts??
Frank, really great thoughts, man. I think we’re on the same page . . . Let me dig in.
First, I hear you loud and clear. Maybe “behave” was a poor choice of words. I definitely am not advocating that we try and “mimic” the behavior of teenagers. (In fact, I see many youth workers doing this instead of putting in the time to truly understand the world their students live in. Call it “trying to be cool” vs. really studying the world students live in.)
Second, let me address your thoughts about “standing apart and living [a] separated life from this culture.” I think quoting Romans 12 is dead on. We cannot conform to this culture. We can’t do it personally, nor can we craft ministries that simply parrot the cultural trappings of the world out students live in. I wrote “You can help your students know how to say “no” to the harmful elements of culture by engaging them in conversation regarding the cultural influences in their lives.” I think what I am advocating is that we are better served at helping students know what to say “no” to if we are active students of youth culture. We are in a better position to know how to address their lives scripturally if we know the cultural influencers. God saved us from the world, but He left us in it to be salt and light. Helping students now how to specifically do this is key.
As for your thoughts on the time commitment, you’re right. It’s a balance. And if you are going to err on one side or another, I think we would both agree you err on the side of studying the word and teaching it in an atmosphere of relationship.
Thanks, Frank for your thoughts. Great discussion.
Hey Andy,
Great post. When I was a younger youth worker, I sometimes tried too hard to do the things you listed under “behave like a teenager.” Now that I am a little older (I am 47), I realize that the key is to have a real interest in students’ lives. I don’t think I have to watch all the same movies or listen to the same music that students do. In fact, I have actually found that it gives me some credibility with students when they understand that I am not trying to join in their culture. They understand that, as an older youth worker, what I have to contribute to their lives is wisdom and maturity, so they don’t expect me to watch the same movies or listen to the same music they do. I have found that when I show that I have a legitimate interest in a student’s world, and engage them in conversation about their culture (as you mentioned), they will supply me with all the information and vocabulary that I need. Students are happy to share their world with people who genuinely love and care about them.
I agree with you 100% that cultural relevance is important. As you point out, Paul modeled that in Acts 17, and Jesus modeled it as well. It is also important to note, however, that the message we bring from Scripture to students is completely counter-cultural. I fear that many youth workers are doing pretty well at being students of the culture, but are not as strong at being students of the Word.
Just my 2 cents.
Greg, “Yes” to a lot of what you said!
1. Teenagers most definitely benefit from solid relationships with adults a generation (or two) removed. I think Ed Stetzer and Lifeway Research did a study a few years ago that showed the more meaningful relationships with adults a teenager has, the less likely they are to leave the church as young adults. Great point.
2. You bring up another way of learning about youth culture: relationally. And you’re dead-on. So often we learn about teenager’s worlds by (here’s a shocker) asking about teenager’s worlds. We may differ a smidge on the methods, but it sounds to me like we would agree that an awareness of youth culture is key.
3. Sadly, I agree with your final thought. The aim of being culturally aware is to more effectively speak God’s Word into the lives of teenagers. Cultural relevance without biblical relevance takes students down a dead-end road.
Really appreciate you sharing, Greg. Thanks for being part of the community!
Thanks for the post, Andy. Found this site from Facebook and am very thankful for the information. Your article is indeed helpful. I am not keen, however, on “watching” movies or tv shows or listening to music that is unfortunately toxic to my spiritual well being. That being said, I refuse to stick my head in the sand and not be aware of what’s going on in the culture.
Just this week I researched the HBO hit True Blood. One of my jr. high students was raving about the show. I figured it was another in a long line of teen angst vampire shows. But I took the time to check out it’s website and discovered how brutal the show was. Because I understood what it was all about I was able to discuss the it with my student and show her how God was not cool with that at all. It was poisoning her spirit, and was definitely not something that would draw her closer to God. She definitely heard me – because I knew what she was watching – I didn’t have to watch the whole show to know it was bad news. And I’m thinking her parents have not a clue watch she was watching, so your point about keeping parents aware of cultural trends is spot on!
Kathleen,
First, thanks so much for stopping by. I mean it! We want youthministry360 to be a community of youth workers speaking into the lives of their fellow youth workers. Conversations like this do just that. So, thanks!
You bring up something so interesting: the tension felt when “studying” culture. Watching a Lady Gaga video is pretty much the last thing in the world I want to do. At times, however, I think it’s worth the price to be able to accurately speak to a teenager about what a video or a song might represent.
You do bring up a great point, one that is valuable as we wade through the cultural mess surrounding our students: we don’t always have to immerse ourselves in the actual media itself; a website or a review is at times enough. I think your example of “True Blood” hits the nail on the head. How cool is it that you were able to engage that student in conversation? That’s what it’s all about!
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts. Stop by again soon!
Years ago I sat in a leaders’ meeting for a youth convention coming to town. He compared youth ministry to cross-cultural missions and said that teens are “our people.” While we can never look quite like they do (nor should we want to) nor see the world through exactly the way they do (though we should seek to understand), it is imperative that we speak the same language. The Gospel is the message, but the means of communicating must ever adapt to local youth culture. That’s another thing I appreciate about your article. “Youth culture” is not monolithic. It is different within every country, region, city, and even from group to group. We must always be students of our students’ culture so that we can be ambassadors of Christ to the kids in our care. Thanks for prompting deeper thought and discussion!
Yes! Thanks for saying it much better than I could have!
Appreciate you and your thoughts, Andrew. Keep ‘em coming!
Hey, great article!
Just throwing my 2 cents in. I agree with the article and thank you for pointing it out. I feel many of us as youth workers understand this concept; and it’s refreshing to hear it again. I would add that I think this is a topic that is also relevant for the church as a whole. Teens and adults alike are more connected today to so many different types if cultural influence thanks to technology. I see adult members become upset when culture is used in the church as a connection, and while we as youth workers must focus on our students, we need to make sure we communicate to our leaders and our parents the relevancy of culture, so they don’t mistake our “study” as immersion and acceptance. Miscommunication can quickly lead to isolation or misjudging. It’s a delicate balance. But one worth the effort. Thanks again!
You said, “we need to make sure we communicate to our leaders and our parents the relevancy of culture, so they don’t mistake our “study” as immersion and acceptance.”
So well said, Seth. An important word, for sure. It’s funny . . . I wrote the post after being a part of two conversations with youth workers where the general tenor was that we put too much emphasis on culture and need to work to lesson our focus on it. It got me thinking and I figured I’d write a post about it . . .
Seth, thanks a ton for letting the community hear your thoughts. Great insight! Stop by again soon.
I guess I fall into the camp of “cultural relevance is overrated.” I would rather spend time studying individual students rather than cultural trends. I think students care more when they feel like they matter rather than whether or not you can defend if you are in the Edward or Jacob camp.
Thanks for sharing your voice, Matt. I think there is certainly validity to what you say. If we break it down to an issue of reaching individuals, I too would probably invest the time in that person as opposed to being well versed in the world he or she lives in. But, I do think so often as youth workers, we spend our time having to address our students as a whole, or as a group. My angle was more from the perspective of a holistic approach to working with students in general.
Great thoughts . . . BTW, I am a fan of your blog. It’s on my reader and I check in regularly. (read your t-shirt post today . . . not sure i totally agree, but you made me think about it!:) )
Stop back by again, soon.
I think that cultural relevance, when you do put any effort into it, needs to be constructed from the ground up. We should start with the students in front of us and pay attention to the things they pay attentions to rather than subscribe to some publication or read a book that tells us about big trends in culture. We already tend to live in the same broad culture as teens, so there’s really not a whole lot of need to study it as if we are foreign to it. Teens might interact with culture differently, but when we are engaged in their lives we learn about how that happens.
I guess I’m saying that there are a lot of worse things out there than understanding culture. For me and my time and ministry and energy I have simply chosen to not put too much effort into being a cultural expert so that I can free up time to be an expert in the lives of my students and families.
That bring said, I tend to take a more micro view of ministry. For those who approach from a macro perspective I can see the need to be a bit more culturally aware.
Thanks for reading my blog. I have YM360 in my reader as well. I’ll comment whenever I feel like I have something snarky to say. :p
PS – A feature that lets people subscribe to comments on posts where they have commented would be mega-helpful. It really helps to bring people back to continue the conversation.
Great insights . . . I like the way you think. And, I think your approach to starting with your students as your “cultural lab” is very solid.
Let me say this: there are many, many youth workers who are very separated from the culture their students are in. We see these folks all the time. Bi-vocational or volunteer, many in rural areas, very small churches . . . these folks are the youth leader at their church because they see the need and step up, or because their child is a teenager, or simply because they feel called. But for a lot of these folks, they don’t have any sort of seminary training, or any real background to draw on that prepares them for ministering to teenagers. They are lawyers, and mechanics, and teachers . . . I think it’s important for these folks to realize just how different being a teenager today is from when they were teenagers. So, for these folks, I make the appeal to do the work it takes to study culture.
But, even to them, your advice to start with their own teenagers is really valid. Its a great perspective.
OH, and I am kind of embarrassed that I did not catch the fact that we do not have a comment RSS! We are re-skinning the blog for the full launch on 8/2. I will make sure we get it added.
Thanks for your thoughts, as always. And come back anytime . . . snark, or no snark! –Andy@ym360
Excellent post. Enjoyed the fresh reminder to study the culture. I totally agree we need to be culturally savvy enough to steer our students through the mess they experience and live day in and out. Cultural education should never take priority over truth however relevancy assists our students in the application of truth.
When Daniel was in Babylon he took a stand and I find it interesting upon where he drew the line in the sand. Daniel and his three friends were being completely acculturated according to the ways of the Babylonians. They were being forced to read and understand some pretty cruddy information that was totally against their Hebrew laws and probably even satanic in nature as they were learning about the Babylonian religion and customs and magic. (Daniel 1:4)Yet Daniel never took his stand on that issue. He never refused to read books that were blatantly against God. No, he chose food as his battleground and by him not throwing away the cultural leaning he actually won the respect, over time, of all the kings magicians and wise men and saved their lives from a mad king.
Being culturally sound or relevant while living a life of fasting and prayer in the midst of our culture in the eyes of our students will surely teach them how to live by truth and not be swallowed up by the sea of deception. And it will also teach them how to save the lives of those around them even as Daniel did.
Enjoying reading your blog, keep it coming.
Great thoughts, Todd. Love what you say here: “I totally agree we need to be culturally savvy enough to steer our students through the mess they experience and live day in and out. Cultural education should never take priority over truth however relevancy assists our students in the application of truth.” That’s the heart of it for me.
Thanks for checking in! Let us know what we can do to serve you better!–Andy@ym360
Great post and loved the call for us to jump into the world of youth. To the Skateboard kid i became a skateboarded, to the athlete i became a coach, and so on. Really getting into their world and allowing ourselves to BETTER communicate the timeless truths of scripture is essential. And i’d have to disagree with certain responses. I believe the spirit works on His own at times, but mostly has chosen to work alongside us and God has chosen to use us to make disciples. Thus the call to MAKE disciples. So if we don’t study the Word, don’t study youth culture, and don’t continue to grow i don’t see the Spirit saying…”hey let me bless your work”. Love the passion. Enough pats on the back here is my question… Where is the healthy balance between knowing and being in their world? If students watch shows, movies, and listen to things that scripture would considers toxic, what benefit is it for me to experience the same poison with them? I’m just as human. So i think you already know this so the real question… what’s the resources! What can be done to know the shows, speak about the movies, know about the songs and videos without harming our own souls. any help would be great! thanks! And free is even better lol
Josh, Great thoughts! I think you have articulated the most pressing part of the issue when you ask where the balance is. I think it’s important to know the culture your students are living in on two levels: one is a general level, a 30,000 feet approach. This is merely an awareness of their culture so that you can speak the timeless truth of Scripture in a cultural context appropriate to the world your audience (in this case your students) finds themselves living in. Whether folks really think about it this way or not, this is how the Church and the Saints have always delivered the Gospel. Jesus did the very same thing when His message was full of agrarian analogies that hit home to a first century audience living in Galilee, Samaria, and Judea. So, that is the argument for a general understanding. On this level you are not really immersing yourself in any of the “toxic” stuff, just a knowledge of it to know how to approach your students in a culturally relevant way.
Second level is a specific understanding of youth culture, and this is based off your students. As you hear them talk, what shows and movies are they watching? What music are they listening to? My perspective (which some disagree with, which is totally OK) is that instead of telling students “no,” we need to help them know why what they are consuming goes against the things of God. As you hear what they are consuming, engage them with it. Ask why they watch it, what they like about it, etc. Tell them you will watch the show or movie or whatever next time it’s on, and that you will talk about it afterwards. At this point I would engage with whatever they are engaging in, and then follow up with a discussion that helps teach them specifically how this show/movie/etc. goes against God. Help them discern culture from a biblical worldview. Equip them with the knowledge to make the decision to turn away, nto because you said so, but out of love for and obedience to God. Long answer . . .
As far as resources? I keep my eyes peeled on the web for any youth culture stuff. Of course, we run our ym360 Trends & Culture Updates every other week. I look out for research. I pay attention to Walt Mueller and CPYU. Basically, my antennae are always up!
Thanks so much for stopping by the Blog. Look forward to talking more!
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