It’s 1998 and I’m walking through the barren streets of a tiny, middle-of-nowhere, rural Polish village on a cold and cloudy January afternoon. Even though I’m thousands of miles from my suburban Pennsylvania home, the person walking toward me looks very, very familiar.

As she gets closer, I realize I don’t know her; but then again, I do. She’s a teenage girl who’s wearing a jacket and matching hat bearing the colors and logo of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins. Assuming she’s a fellow American visiting Poland, I say hello and ask her if she’s a Dolphin’s fan. She looks confused. She doesn’t speak English. I’m not sure she even knows what football is.

This brief encounter showed how the wide world of youth culture has quickly become much smaller. This girl didn’t look anything like any images of Polish kids from textbooks. Instead, thanks to the marketing machine driving North American youth culture, she was visually indistinguishable from her American peers.

Today there is a vast global youth culture that has blurred national boundaries while transforming labels such as “urban,” “suburban” and “rural.” Kids everywhere are increasingly alike in terms of how they look, think and act.

How did this happen? Technology is a major factor. The advent of cable and satellite TV made it possible for stations to reach further around the globe. MTV went global soon after its launch in 1981. The expansion of the Internet and other digital media increased this global awareness. Now, digital communication technology allows us to Skype globally…seeing and hearing each other in real time at no cost.

Increasing ease of travel also has changed our world. Ocean crossings that a century ago took weeks by ship are now made in a matter of hours through the air. Many of our kids already have been afforded the privilege of engaging in short-term mission trips in other countries and cultures, something that was rare 30 years ago.

Now that we’re all part of this new globalized youth culture, we must understand its challenges.

Pros and Cons of Global Youth Culture
For one thing, kids around the world today are the most targeted marketing demographic in human history. Young people are bombarded by marketing at an age when they are easily influenced and have few regular financial commitments. This means kids worldwide can engage in impulsive large-scale discretionary spending. Globalization gives North American marketers an ever-widening net through which to catch kids around the world. As a result, they sell kids more products, shape their hearts by selling them the worldview elements contained in ads and feed the epidemic of materialism.

There’s also the challenge of cultural pluralism and religious syncretism. Kids are exposed to varied cultural worlds and religious traditions and are encouraged to dabble in anything and everything. Some kids create dangerous faith hybrids which desensitize kids to the clear boundaries God has set that enable us to differentiate truth from error and right from wrong. They are shaped more by the forces of globalization than they are by God’s Word.

Globalization isn’t all bad. There are upsides that we should celebrate with our students. First, there’s the fact that the world is now at our fingertips, coming to us in real time. Our students are able to see, hear, smell, taste and touch things that previous generations were only able to imagine. With that comes a deep understanding of the cultural diversity God created to exist around the globe. Our kids are able to see and appreciate the image of God in others who are unlike themselves. The negative stereotypes, racism and bigotry that have marked American culture for so long—even among ourselves in the church—are being challenged and shattered (hopefully) as our cultural horizons and appreciation for others expand.

Globalization also allows the eyes of our kids to be opened to the world’s deep need. When Haiti was struck by a devastating earthquake, we could see the need on our TVs and computers, along with opportunities to reach out and help. Our kids are able to see people as people and the world’s deep needs as they relate to poverty, sex trafficking, hunger, disease and a host of other issues.

Our global culture also gives our kids a front-row seat to what God is doing in His world. Watching the news, Facebooking a friend who lives on the other side of the globe, Skyping with a missionary or traveling to a foreign mission field on a short-term mission trip expands our kids’ vision of the kingdom beyond themselves and their immediate surroundings.

Facing the World
How should globalization shape the manner and content of our ministries with students? Here are three suggestions to get you started.

First, go deep in the Word. Greater knowledge of the diversity that exists in God’s world will lead us all to face deep, deep challenges to our faith. The truths of the Christian faith that we’ve come to accept without thought and believe as a result of drifting through life in a homogeneous culture can be shattered if we don’t take the time to get and keep our bearings.

Scuba divers are taught that when they dive deep there is a real risk of getting turned upside down and disoriented in ways that can be deadly. The trick to finding your way is to watch and trust your bubbles as they always will go up and never lie. If you know the Word, you will keep your bearings. If you’ve got your bearings, your kids will have the benefit of being able to look to and learn from you as they try to make sense of life.

Second, know and exegete the culture. Ignorance of the many changes taking place in our rapidly changing globalized culture might allow you to sleep better at night, but you’re not doing anyone a favor if you’re choosing to ignore the fact that someone’s prowling through your house while you’re asleep. Once you know he or she is there, you need to be able to discern if that person is friend or foe.

Keeping your ears and eyes open to what’s happening in culture will allow you to respond in ways that affirm and celebrate the positive stuff that globalization drops into your lap and challenge and correct globalization’s negative messages and influence. Your responsibility is to help your students see how the Word speaks to the realities of their world.

Third, focus your ministry efforts in ways that teach your kids to exercise justice in response to the world’s great needs. God is using the realities of globalization to open our eyes to the hurt and brokenness that exists around the world. Gone are the days when people—kids and adults—are able to cloister themselves from what’s happening beyond the boundaries of their relatively easy suburban or rural existence. The needs of the world beyond our front step—needs that exist near and far—can’t be ignored. Seeing their reality demands a response of mercy and justice that overflows like a never-ending stream—a stream that carries the abundance of our time, efforts and resources to where they are most needed.

A few months ago I met an 18-year-old named Jared Henriques who, as have his peers, has grown up in a global village. In the midst of finding his way through the confusing and muddled mess of contemporary culture, Jared has chosen to listen to the Word of God and to the needs of the world. In an effort to bring his faith to bear on real life, Jared used the powerful tools of globalization to start a company he calls Pocket Change Apparel. The proceeds from the sale of the T-shirts he designs goes to support Compassion International’s Unsponsored Children’s Fund. When I met Jared, he excitedly told me that he already had raised $5,000!

Jared and others with similar stories are the result of globalization gone good. As people called to influence students for the kingdom, let’s be sure we’re doing all we can to lead our kids in that same direction.