“We are now ready to start on our way down the Great Unknown…We have an unknown distance yet to run; an unknown river yet to explore. What falls there are, we know not; what rocks beset the channel, we know not; what walls rise over the river, we know not…With some eagerness, and some anxiety, and some misgiving, we enter the canon (canyon) below…” From the journal of John Wesley Powell, Aug. 13, 1869, written at the junction of the Colorado River and the Little Colorado River, Arizona Territory.
“On your way! But be careful—this is hazardous work. You’re like lambs in a wolf pack” (Luke 10:3, The Message).
It had been three wet, miserable days since John Wesley Powell and his team of nine hearty adventurers had crashed through the 14 miles and 35 rapids that make up the section of the Colorado River known as Marble Canyon. Powell and his crew were well into their fourth month of a grueling and breathtakingly dangerous attempt to navigate the entire course of the storied chasm known as the Grand Canyon. It was a journey that began May 24, 1869, when four boats under Powell’s command, the Emma Dean, the Kitty Clyde’s Sister, the Maid of the Canon and the No Name, were launched into the rippling gloss at Green River Station, Wyoming Territory. At 8 a.m., Aug. 13, 1869, the expedition team was ready to descend into the boiling, roaring froth that would lead them into the steepest depths of the Grand Canyon: a journey of amazing adventure, death or perhaps both.
It probably seems a little strange in these pages—where we’re used to reading articles about middle school ministry, teaching resources, church staff relationships and helping hurting students—that an article would open with these words from Edward Dolnick’s fantastic read, Down the Great Unknown (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2001, pp. 238, 239-240).1 We don’t normally borrow from the language of adventure to talk about what happens in our Sunday School rooms, youth meeting spaces and sanctuaries each week. However, in trying to explain to someone how (or why!) we might continue to feel passion for youth ministry through the long haul, there may not be a better place to begin than on the banks of a wild, beautiful, unpredictable river; because youth ministry—at least in my experience—is a grand and gracious adventure.
A Great Adventure
The language of the journey, the quest, the adventure: This long has been the language of the Christian life. At the very heart of the Bible, in the Book of Psalms, we find no less than 15 chapters of what might be described as pilgrim songs or hiking songs, psalms often referred to as Songs of Ascent. In reading through these 15 gritty and earthy psalms, Psalm 120—134, we come to understand why Eugene Peterson characterizes the Christian life as “a long obedience in the same direction,” a life marked “not so much by monuments as by footprints,” a journey marked not by arrival, but by survival.2 The Christian life is about a quest; it’s about pressing forward (Phil. 3:12-16; Col. 2:5; Heb. 12:1-3). It’s about milestones, not tombstones.
So much of the drama of Scripture centers around journey, whether the study begins with that amazing call in Genesis, “The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you'” (Gen. 12:1); or that dramatic night, simultaneously terrible and wonderful, when God led His people out of Egypt on a journey we call the Exodus. It’s interesting to note that while Israel sojourned in the wilderness, the Tabernacle—essentially a huge tent—always was set up in a sandy place. Yet, despite all the ornate furnishings for the Tabernacle, there never was any effort to cover the sand. The priests always could feel the sand under their feet, God’s subtle but vivid way of reminding His priests and His people that they were on a journey.3
In 1 Peter 2:11, followers of Christ are referred to as strangers and pilgrims (KJV) Eugene Peterson notes that this designation as pilgrims, “tells us we are people who spend our lives going someplace, going to God, whose path for getting there is the way, Jesus Christ…The letter to the Hebrews defines our program: ‘Therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith'” (Heb. 12:1-2).4
Paul’s words to the believers in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 might just as well have come from the waterlogged journal of John Wesley Powell, staring up into distant sunlight from deep within the walls of the Grand Canyon.
“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”5
Adventure is inherent in the Christian life. In fact, although he preferred to talk about it as a quest, it was that adventure of the Christian life that inspired J.R.R. Tolkien to pen his wonderfully creative tales of Middle Earth, with hobbitts, elves, wizards and perilous journeys in pursuit of the Ring.
One writer, in commenting on Tolkien’s work noted, “The Lord of the Rings is about a Quest…A Quest is any journey in which some difficult goal is to be achieved, some challenge must be met, some initiation has to be undergone, some place or object or person is to be discovered or won.”6
The Adventure of Ministry
To understand the adventure of youth ministry, we need look no further than these words cited above by Stratford Caldecott, “A Quest is any journey in which some difficult goal is to be achieved, some challenge must be met, some initiation has to be undergone, some place or object or person is to be discovered or won.”7 It would be difficult to give a better description of the youth ministry adventure. It’s all about facing difficult goals and pursuing real challenges. It’s about people—in this case, teenagers—who are to be discovered and won. It is every bit a journey “down the great unknown.”
That’s not to say youth ministry is always exciting or that it always will feel as if you’re engaged in a quest of epic importance. Spoiler Alert: You will not. Were one to read Dolnick’s full account of Powell’s journey through the Grand Canyon, one would read of long days on the river…hot, hungry, grueling days.
“The river seemed almost still now—so much for gliding along—and the men had to row hard in the broiling heat…” (July 14, 1869, journal of George Bradley).8
“It is with very great labor that we make progress, meeting with many obstructions, running rapids, letting down our boats with lines, from rock to rock, sometimes carrying boats and cargo around bad places” (Aug. 8, 1869, journal of John Wesley Powell).9
It wasn’t all splash and thunder, river mists and rugged vistas for those guys, and it’s likely that we, as well, will discover early in the journey that sometimes ministry doesn’t feel very…er…eh…adventurous.
There have been plenty of times in my ministry when I felt I was ready for the river—raft inflated, hopes pumped up—only to find that some person or circumstance (or church treasurer!) had punctured my boat and deflated my dreams. Be forewarned.
Somehow the landscape of Middle Earth seems very distant when sitting around the table at a church meeting.
Pulling on the oars of a heaving boat, careening through roaring rapids—that’s adventure. Talking a 15-year-old through the strong currents and dangerous waves of peer pressure—that can feel as if it’s a waste of time.
Yet understand this: Adventure is defined not just by story and landscape. It is defined by the heart of the adventurer. Herein is the grace permeating every page of our youth ministry adventure story and binds it all together from cover to cover. God is at work in us, by His grace and mercy, and He gives us the will and the way to press on: “The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it” (1 Thess. 5:24).
A Gracious Adventure?
In 2 Corinthians 5:18-21, the apostle Paul uses no less than eight main verbs to describe the message and ministry of reconciliation. The thing that’s so striking is that all eight of those main verbs have as their subject none other than God alone. In the words of John R.W. Stott, “The whole source of our reconciliation is the grace of God the Father.”
Now, what that means, in very simple terms, is that we are not in this youth ministry boat alone. We are not the only ones pulling on our oars. Whether in rapids or flat water, good times or bad, the adventure of ministry, by God’s grace and mercy, is a shared one. It is by grace that God ignites in us the taste for adventure. It is by grace that God equips us for the journey. It is by grace that Jesus goes before us to pioneer the way. It is by grace that Jesus travels beside us through the Holy Spirit (paracletos, Greek, meaning “called to the side of”). It is by grace that we are allowed the privilege of inviting others to join the journey.
A Word of Testimony
I’ve been on this youth ministry odyssey now for more than 35 years, and I’m not going to lie: There have been times of deep discouragement, grave disappointment, real peril, and the vivid sense that I was lost and on my own. However, I must testify that by God’s grace there also have been exhilarating adventures, stunning views, high peaks of profound joy, along with the hilarious fun and deep satisfaction of traveling with friends and others who share the same call.
If we’re to maintain this calling for the long haul, I feel that’s the way we have to see it. So, yeah, when I think of youth ministry, I think of a grand and gracious adventure!
Dr. Duffy Robbins, professor of youth ministry at Eastern University, St. Davids, Pa., is a 35-year veteran of youth ministry who is widely respected as one of the leading voices in youth and family ministry. He’s in constant demand as a speaker for teenagers and people who love teenagers. Duffy graduated magna cum laude with an M.Div. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Mass., and completed his doctorate in Ministry in Youth and Family Ministry at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. He’s the author of more than 15 books and hundreds of articles. His titles include The Ministry of Nurture: A Guide to Building Teenage Disciples, Everyday Object Lessons for Youth Groups, Youth Ministry Nuts and Bolts: Mastering Ministry Behind the Scenes, There’s a Teenager in My House (ed. Wayne Rice), Speaking to Teenagers, Enjoy the Silence and This Way to Youth Ministry. Duffy lives in Valley Forge, Pa., with his wife and best friend, Maggie. They have two grown daughters, Erin and Katie. Follow Duffy’s adventure on Twitter@DuffyRobbins.
1 Dolnick, Edward, Down the Great Unknown (New York: HarperCollins Publishers) 2001, p. 238, 239-240.
2 Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press), 1980, p. 13.
3 Camping with God, Stephen Olford (Neptune, New Jersey: Loizeaux Brothers) 1971, p. 17.
4 Peterson, op. cit., p. 13-14.
5 Wood, Ralph, Hungry Eye: The Two Towers and the Seductiveness of Spectacle, Books and Culture, March/April, 2003, vol. 9, no. 2, p. 17.
6 “Over the Chasm of Fire: Christian Heroism in The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings,” Stratford Caldecott, Tolkien: A Celebration, ed. Joseph Pearce (San Francisco: Ignatius Press), 1999, p. 20.
7 “Over the Chasm of Fire: Christian Heroism in The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings,” Tolkien: A Celebration, ed. Joseph Pearce (San Francisco: Ignatius Press), 1999, p. 20
8 Dolnick, op. cit, p. 163.
9 Dolnick, op cit., p. 215.
10 Stott, John R.W., “Our Motives and Message,” Change, Witness, Triumph (compendium of addresses from Urbana ‘64 (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press), 1964, pp. 47-48.
