I often find myself having conversations with youth about their attendance to youth group or lack thereof. Usually their responses are quite legitimate; however, they commonly lead to a much deeper discussion about their struggles for belief in God. The interesting thing is that in most cases these youth have not left the group as a result of bitterness or lack of belief; but rather things such as baseball, cheerleading, work, rugby, etc. Therefore, I believe their difficulty with faith is largely due to their absence.

Essentially, in a teenager’s journey toward independence, they easily are influenced by the people around them. I believe they will imitate those they spend most time with; but more than that, they also will adopt the beliefs of those they’re around the most. Allow me to illustrate this thought with a question. Why is it that when on a youth retreat, almost all the youth are having life-changing moments, yet two weeks after you get home it seems as if you’re back to square one? I believe a lot of it has to do with their environment. In other words, I think the people the youth surround themselves with directly influence their way of thinking. I cannot begin to give an account of how many youth I have seen make incredible commitments to serve Christ; however, they end up falling away and seemingly abandoning the faith.

What does this mean for us as youth pastors/leaders/sponsors/etc? How can we influence them more than the world does? How can we keep the youth connected with the church?  What do we need to do to make the changes in their lives real? The truth is…we can do nothing. Not the answer you were looking for? Perhaps you were looking for 10 ideas with the main idea bolded and an explanation to follow…maybe some kind of new strategy or secret formula discovered by an ancient pastor who left his notes and glorious findings locked away in a box at the bottom of the sea only to be discovered by me, this random youth pastor in Canada, who is going to give you the recipe we’ve all been seeking.

Unfortunately, I have no such thing and do not believe any such thing exists (although, to be quite honest, I wish it did!). I’m not writing this to suggest there is something missing in your ministry or to infer that you need to examine yourself and right any wrongs in your life. I’m writing this in faith that you are doing all that you can do (and possibly more) to encourage and pour into your students. Instead, I write this as a reminder that we are not the ones who are going to change them…God is.

This is not meant to be a cop out or excuse to do nothing—but rather a realization that while we are being obedient in deed, we need to complement that with trust in God. In other words, there comes a point when we need to realize our strategies, commitment, passion, intention and overall ability is not good enough on its own; but it is the compelling nature of the Holy Spirit that draws the lost toward salvation. One of the most challenging things I have experienced is finding the balance of doing all I can do to serve Christ and at the same time trusting in Him and giving Him the glory. We are not only called to a life of obedience, but also one of faith and humility. Paul demonstrated this in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 where he said: “And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.”

It is obvious Paul was pointing people toward the Holy Spirit, not focusing on himself. Perhaps this is something we all say we do or at least we would like to do, but it is much harder than it seems. The reality is we attempt to solve problems based on human effort; we strategize and contemplate solutions based on our own ability; sometimes our faith in God becomes a boastable attribute. It seems as though we work so hard to get others to have faith that we forget to have faith ourselves. God is real, and He can do amazing things—an obvious statement perhaps; but is it obvious because we believe it, or is it obvious because we say we believe it? Maybe we should take a moment to examine ourselves and think about what we actually believe. It may be time to start exercising the faith we claim to have because it’s not all about doing, but also about believing He can—and will—do.