Give a youth pastor five sticks and a bag of marshmallows and students will be entertained for hours. Need an activity that teaches teamwork? Ask a youth pastor. Cool games, cool music, and cool church are the trademarks of youth ministry. These things may attract crowds, but do they fulfill the mission to which youth workers are called?

Youth ministry has been feeding students “milk and cookies” for too long. We have produced students who are “unskilled in the word of righteousness” (Hebrews 5:13).

For years I served my students milk and cookies. It was great. I would do cool games, have worship that rocked their world, and share a short message with a very hip anecdote and a few Bible verses. By all accounts this approach worked. There was only one problem. That kind of ministry is exactly the kind that led to students graduating away from their faith when they left for college.

BEEFING UP MY OWN DIET

After several years I began to see the negative patterns. I started to mix in some “meat and potatoes.” This meant two things: First, I needed to be serious about my own diet. In other words my “daily devotions” would no longer be enough. I had to actually study the Word of God. Second, it meant I would actually have to prepare spiritual meals for the students. This took effort and preparation. No longer could I practice cut-and paste ministry.

I began to study God’s Word deeper then I had before. I hadn’t been a theological midget, but my theological and spiritual muscles needed to be developed.

I had to learn how to read, think, and study in a way I never had before. This did not turn me into an academic who viewed the Bible as a textbook that needed to be decoded. Instead my appreciation for the gospel and the work of Christ increased. My passion and love for both God and students grew.

No longer am I content to have a large crowd in the name of Jesus. I am concerned about the spiritual health of each student in a way I have not been in the past. Emotional worship is no longer the goal. I want students to understand the God they love. They need to become mature in their faith. They need “solid food” (Hebrews 5:14). GOING FOR SOLID FOOD It’s time for milk-and-cookies youth ministry to go the way of the Dodo bird. We need to go on a diet that gives students the spiritual nutrients they need to become strong. Spiritual strength and maturity include the power to discern truth from untruth.

The power to discern what is of God is essential in a world overrun by spiritual lies. Such power will best serve students as they leave high school and venture into college or the workplace, where their faith will be challenged.

If the goal of youth ministry is to produce students who are mature followers of Christ, then we must serve them healthy meals during the time we have them. Milk and cookies will not sustain their spiritual health. We must bring them to maturity and beyond the elementary doctrines of the faith so they can discern what is good.

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John Byrne has been involved in youth ministry for more then 13 years. He is currently the lead pastor of Water’s Edge Church in Blaine, Minn., and maintains a Web site at www.pjs-web.net.