“Culture” isn’t the dirty word it used to be—at least not in youth ministry circles. I know that’s the case because I’m not getting beat up as much as I used to.
When I first embarked on a mission 18 years ago to study youth culture full-time, just looking at it was considered by some as akin to dining with the devil. To challenge youth workers to understand and engage youth culture was risky business. (“Wait a minute! You’re telling us to do what?!”)
Today, youth workers and many others realize it’s wrong to not listen to, understand, and engage this rapidly changing youth culture.
Here are some of the other major themes that have emerged from my lengthy study of pop culture.
What Is Culture?
Culture is what we believe, what we do, and how we live our lives from day to day. It binds us to those who think and live in a similar manner. It’s the values, attitudes, and behaviors that drive how we live our lives.
I’ve always found it helpful to view culture as the “soup” the emerging generations swim in every day. Consequently, if we want to engage students for the sake of the gospel, we’d better take the time to know what’s in the soup.
In one of my local restaurants, the soup bar features three selections. I’ve watched how people choose their soup. They lift the lid off the tureen, stir the soup, lift the ladle, and examine the soup’s ingredients. If they like what they see, they fill their bowl.
If we are to effectively engage our students with the truths of the gospel, we must step up to their world, lift the lid, and look carefully at the unique and ever-changing mix of cultural elements they swim in every day.
To change the metaphor, culture serves our young people as their “map.” The reality is that—in today’s world, where the traditional life-shaping maps of family, church, and school are breaking down—kids still need a map to guide them through the question-filled years of adolescence. We might be tempted to close the soup lid because we don’t like what we see. But if we hope to communicate the Good News effectively, we can’t avoid the ingredients of that culture.
Who Are We?
Here’s one more metaphor: Culture is not only a “map” for our students, it is a “mirror” we must gaze into.
We must picture ourselves standing behind young people as they look into the mirror of their culture. As we look over their shoulders at the reflection, we want to look at their music, their magazines, their movies, their Web sites and so on. What is reflected back helps me understand them at a deepened level as I gain insights into their worldview—a worldview I may not share.
Looking into the mirror of culture helps me see where the map has sent them, is sending them, and will send them. With that knowledge, I am now able to frame and communicate the map of the Good News in a manner they cannot only hear but apply correctively to all areas of their life.
In effect, I am a cross-cultural missionary who needs not only to know the message I’m called to deliver, but how to contextualize that message for the audience I’m called to reach.
Where Do We Go from Here?
The only accurate prediction we can make about culture is that it will continue to change—more and more and at a faster and faster pace. Here are some suggestions on how to respond to this reality that we can’t afford to ignore or deny.
First, lift the lid and stir the soup every day. Theologian Karl Barth once said, “every Christian should start their day with the Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other.” Whether you like his theology or not, Barth was dead-on right with this one. Look at the changing soup of youth culture by listening to what they listen to, reading what they read, and watching what they watch. Keep your ears and eyes open for news stories about them, advertisements targeting them, and artwork done by them. Observe kids at the mall. Like the apostle Paul in the pagan city of Athens (see
Second, respond prophetically to what you see in the soup. Make an intentional effort to look for and seize opportunities to speak biblical truth into their lives in response to the realities that exist. Looking in the soup will reveal the realities that exist. Spending time with Jesus in His Word will shape your prophetic response. At times, you will find yourself affirming the map of culture is sending students in the right direction. At other times, you’ll challenge the map when it sends them down the wrong road.
Third, respond preventively to what you see in the soup. As the parent of four children, I knew enough about young kids to know they might wander into the street, talk to strangers, or reach for hot objects. As a result, I did my best to help them learn not to do those things. Likewise, if we care about the spiritual health of our students, we should answer the map’s faulty directions preventively. We need to pass on the valuable information we’ve learned about life so they adopt values, attitudes, and behaviors that keep them from harm and provide for their spiritual well being.
One very practical suggestion is to offer your students opportunities regularly to evaluate their music and media from a Christian perspective. Not only does this preventive measure teach students to think Christianly about all of life, but it opens the door to address all the topics in the media soup from a biblical perspective.
Finally, respond redemptively to their sin, failures, and mistakes. All teens—like us—face temptation, and all teens—like us—will make dangerous and sinful choices. Your goal should be to help the student and their family redeem these situations by turning a mistake into an opportunity for the teenager to experience God’s grace and become a more Christlike person. Don’t ever write off a teen as hopeless or irredeemable. Rather, treat him or her as you know your heavenly Father treats you when you are the offending party.
Understanding the Times
God is calling us to reach and shape students. It starts with knowing Him. But we can’t ignore the risky power of examining the soup, studying the map, or gazing into the mirror.
Following the examples of our spiritual ancestors—including Jesus, Paul, and countless missionaries—many in youth ministry are taking seriously their biblical and pragmatic responsibility to be like “[the] men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (
