Thousands of miles, thousands of years and thousands of cultural differences stand in the way. To make matters worse, many teens I know are a lot like I was at their age and they don’t like to read. So how could we possibly inspire the teens we know to read something so massive as the message of Romans? I can think of a few good reasons not to try: “It’s over their heads”; “It probably wouldn’t interest them”; and “It would be easier not to try.”

Let me challenge these three assumptions by declaring that Romans can be understood; teens are fascinated by its message; and it’s exciting to teach. The secret to teaching Romans is to demonstrate that Romans is relevant. In fact, some of its themes are exactly the issues popping up in culture around us. Let me highlight just a few of the best instincts of culture that are shared by Paul in Romans. We will end with creative teaching strategies that have helped youth engage this great letter. All of this is in the hope that our students will create a life of discipleship as they claim the power of God and refuse to be ashamed of the gospel.

From Passionate Emotions to Passionate Love
I have a friend with a tattoo on her ankle that says “passion” in Chinese characters. She got this tattoo several years ago as an adolescent because she wanted to be completely invested in everything she did. She wanted to remind herself to live life to the fullest. It occurs to me that most people don’t get a tattoo that says “ambivalence” or “indecision.” Instead, they want something, such as “Passion!”

Most teens are passionate, so they resonate with passionate people and are drawn to them. The singer/songwriter Alanis Morisette has said, “I think the two most inspiring life forces are anger and joy. I could write six zillion songs about those two life forces alone.”¹  It’s obvious she’s passionate, but I wonder why anger and joy are so potent for her. I wonder if there are any other life forces that could compete for the title of “most inspiring” in her mind.

While our culture elevates passionate emotions, Romans reveals the passionate love of a  God who pursues us. This God has “poured out his love into our hearts” (Romans 5:5). He “didn’t even spare his own son, but gave him up for us” (Romans 8:32).  God isn’t half-hearted about this relationship he wants with his children. He’s all in! In fact, Paul said there is no life force in existence that could even come close to matching his passionate love for us (Romans 8:38-39).

Unfortunately, some followers of Jesus reveal their passions in judgmental attitudes toward others. This culture has a serious issue with that type of passion.

From Crass Judgment to Careful Judgments
A high-school senior came to my office one day asking for help with a problem. One of her guy friends told her that his girlfriend was pregnant and this guy, along with his girlfriend, were strongly considering abortion as an option to remedy this turn of events in their relationship. After all, they both needed to finish high school; and they didn’t even know if they wanted to stay together.  The teen who came asking for my help cared about her guy friend and the decision he was making for the baby. She wanted to be compassionate about the situation but didn’t believe abortion was the right choice. Her question was simply, “Should I tell my friend what I really believe? If so, how do you offer wisdom to friends without being judgmental?”

This high-school senior understands how things work in this culture.  Most people reject arrogant piety. Holiness is fine, but it better be humble. If she is going to have any impact in her friend’s situation, it will require an honest confession of personal imperfection and acknowledgment that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Otherwise, she may lose her voice and come off sounding too quick to find vault in others,  making the wrong verdict at the wrong time with the wrong motivation. This is the perception of 87 percent of young outsiders in one study who said Christians are basically judgmental².

This culture has a hard time with people who are judgmental. Singer Duffy has said, “Sometimes I feel like I want to disappear.  People judge you for all the wrong reasons. If you  get any element of success or recognition people want to hate you for it.  I never made music to be hated. I don’t do this for any reason other than the fact that I love music.”³ She understands people can be harsh. Too often Christians have joined in with hasty and thoughtless condemnation of others without recognizing our own weaknesses.

Romans speaks directly to this by warning, “you have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things” (Romans 2:1). Pointing out sin in others should only be done after removing the planks from our own eyes. Too often, those who say, “Don’t do that!” are engaged in the same behaviors (Romans 2:21-25). While culture says don’t be judgmental, Romans teaches us the same thing.

Instead of being judgmental we should make wise judgments, first about ourselves, and then with a humble spirit regarding others. By acknowledging our own frailty we also guard against the temptation of hypocrisy.

From Hypocrisy to Authentic Transparency
A 16-year-old boy was engaged in a battle with his parents. They wanted him to obey their decrees, but he continued in defiance of their rules. They wanted him to take responsibility for his role as the oldest child, but he acted out in ways they perceived to be irresponsible. This struggle continued as the boy posted on his Facebook status that he was “facing hypocrites.” The parents thought the problem was their child, but the child was placing blame on the lifestyle of his parents. Youth crave transparency and desire relationships that are genuine. They want people to be real, not hypocritical. This explains why Angelina Jolie’s comments in an interview were so well received: “I don’t see the point of doing an interview unless you’re going to share the things you learn in life and the mistakes you make. So to admit that I’m extremely human and have done some dark things, I don’t think that makes me unusual or unusually dark. I think it actually is the right thing to do.”⁴

This type of honesty is exactly what Paul offered when he said, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do … when I want to do good, evil is right there with me” (Romans 7:15-21). Paul’s struggle was the struggle of all humanity. It is good versus evil. It is making wise choices in a world of foolishness while never fully succeeding.

What distinguished Paul from many other religious leaders of his day is that he refused to conceal the mistakes that he made. He was open about the struggles that gnawed at him. When we do this we prevent any accusation of hypocrisy and build genuine relationships of transparency.

Within the context of genuine relationships we can deal honestly with our weaknesses. In the safety of true friendship we find help for the hurting that is prevalent in too many young people. We see within our culture and within the letter of Romans some of the pain that makes us desperate for good news.

From Despair to Good News of Hope
I know a medical doctor who specializes in family medicine. While his experience may not be reflective of every doctor, he claims there is one condition he sees more than any other illness in his patients. That condition is depression. People are hurting and struggling with the loss of feeling, the loss of meaning and the despair of hopelessness.

Romans speaks out within this cultural numbness by shouting good news of hope. Sure, we have all sinned, but we can by justified by God’s grace (Romans 3:23-24). There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1). We can become heirs of God’s promise through faith (Romans 4:16; Romans 4:14-17). We may feel alone but we can become adopted children of God (Romans 8:23; Romans 9:4). We can be reconciled to God (Romans 5:11) and find peace with God (Romans 5:1-10). We can actually become receptacles of God’s Spirit (Romans 5:5) and we can rejoice in hope that does not disappoint us (Romans 5:2-5).

Our teens have been disappointed before. They know what it’s like to hope in something that never happens. My promise to you as a teacher of youth is that teaching Romans will be worth the investment. Within this letter we find the central message of the gospel, the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes (Romans 1:26). May we be faithful stewards of this great letter and help our teens understand its relevance to their lives today. Here are some ideas to get us going:

Ideas for Engaging Romans with Youth
1. Post quotes from Romans on your classroom walls. Compare and contrast these with quotes from culture, challenging youth to memorize the Romans verses.
2. Select a popular song and invite youth to compare and contrast the message of Romans 12:9-21 with the lyrics. How does our culture support or compete against these guidelines for living?
3. Create a diagram or draw a picture of the legal scene Paul paints in Romans 8:33-34. How does the courtroom/legal language of Paul help you understand what God did for us?
4. Take a trip with teens to a location where two different groups (or types of people) are working together toward a common goal. How are these groups similar and different, and what allows them to co-exist? Explain the tension between the Jews and Gentiles in the Roman church. What divisions challenge us in the church to work together?
5. Invite teens to imitate Paul by writing a letter to another church (or your church leaders) to encourage them and remind them of the gospel (Romans 1:11-17).
6. Challenge teens to read Romans 8:26-27 every day for a week, asking God in prayer to give them the Holy Spirit.
7. Read Romans 8:37-39. Using Play-Doh, create an image that represents the message of these verses for you.
                                               
¹ Alanis Morissette in Entertainment Weekly, June 6, 2008, p.20.
² Kinnaman, David and Gabe Lyons. 2007. UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks
about Christianity … and Why it Matters. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker. p.182.
³ Duffy in Spin, August 2008, p.62.
⁴ Angelina Jolie in Entertainment Weekly, June 20, 2008, p.24.