When I advocate “teaching to provoke” by intentionally aggravating or disagreeing with a teen or parent, I do not mean causing annoyance. What I mean is that the youth minister should be able and willing to occasionally — and prophetically — invoke the uneasiness of others.

To teach by provocation is a method by which we interrupt what might be a predictable string of beliefs or actions by surprising others with “larger-picture” issues or questions. When provoking teens (to use the writer bell hooks’ terminology), we teach them to transgress against what youth culture is often teaching them: In this sense, provocation may be thought of as suddenly undoing or disassembling teens’ previously held beliefs. In this sense, teaching to provoke must be subversive.

Jesus used provocation throughout his teaching ministry. Perhaps the best example of the Gospel writers recognizing this is in Mark’s retelling of a man claiming to have kept all of the commandments of Moses. Jesus lovingly hyperbolizes that the man must abandon all of his belongings. The Message then reads: “The man’s face clouded over. This was the last thing he expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart” (Mark 10:22). We do not know what happened to the man in the story, but we do know that Jesus was willing to provoke to prophetically teach.

We must be careful about teaching to provoke, especially when we might do so unintentionally.

A few months ago, I was giving a sermon on 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (gold tarnishes, but go for what is eternal) at my church’s youth worship service. During my homily, I said that Paul was saying that we should make ultimate things (to use a theological term from the other St. Paul — Paul Tillich) our ultimate concerns. In other words, SAT scores don’t really matter in an ultimate sense, but whether and how we choose to follow Christ ultimately matters. When I said, “SAT scores don’t really matter in an ultimate way,” I saw one of the parents turn to her daughter, whispering, “Yes, they do matter.”

What could it possibly mean for a young, junior-high-age teen to be hearing her youth minister say one thing and her parent say the opposite within a few seconds during a worship service?

Seeing what had just happened, I acknowledged what happened during the sermon (without, of course, identifying the parent involved) and took the opportunity to create a learning moment. In other words, I explained, addressing the parents, that if SAT scores and getting into the “right” colleges are everything their kids live for, what kind of future does this provide after the age of 18? What really does concern us ultimately?

I am perfectly comfortable in my position as youth pastor to, from time to time, create an air of discomfort between parents and teen in the middle of worship because I hope that it begins a conversation at home; and it gives me an opportunity to follow up with the family to encourage the conversations. This is not to say that it should not be done without care and reservation: Teaching to provoke is risky and dangerous, and it takes courage on the part of the pastor to do it honestly and fairly.

I am convinced that it is often through provocation that truly provocative youth ministry occurs — where we invoke — that is, provoke — the Holy Spirit to interrupt teens’ lives and encourage them to stand before and participate in what is ultimate.

_________________________

Christopher Rodkey is a Ph.D. candidate at Drew University, where he also teaches philosophy to seminary students. In addition to authoring articles and reviews in several journals, he is a three-year research fellow for the Youth Theological Initiative at Emory University and has worked in youth and campus ministries for six years.