Greg TeSelle

“Sunday’s Coming” Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

Get ready for this…the sunday after the earthquake, a pastor went to the field across from his church that was destroyed and started preaching. People just started showing up to listen and 21 people accepted Christ. The next day he was carrying buckets of water to fill up a neighbor’s cistern so they could baptize all 21 of them.

The core competency of any movement is apprenticeship.

This fundamental principle of reproduction is so often and so easily overlooked. A gifted communicator can attract a huge crowd; a charismatic leader can create tremendous energy and a talented writer can sell books by the millions. But if that teacher, leader or writer wants to see a missional movement they must become and surround themselves with apprentices.

The very first action that Jesus took when catalyzing his movement was to recruit twelve apprentices. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” () He was calling them into an apprenticeship and giving them instructions that they would do the same with others. 2,000 years later the Jesus movement has reached billions and billions and continues to move forward into eternity. It is through apprenticeships that people are empowered to reach their leadership capacity and influence as many people as possible for the mission.

While disciple is a brilliant word and a word used by Jesus; it does not mean to us what Jesus meant when he said it. “Disciple” is a ruined word. When Jesus called people into discipleship it was a calling into the mission and to prepare you in every way to accomplish the mission.

When the world “disciple” is used today it has more to do with consuming cognitive content than it is about missional action. Today, “disciple” is more about an individual and his/her ability to get a passing grade on the subject matter than it is a follower of Jesus living in community for the mission’s sake. We will have to wait another generation before we can use “disciple” and know that it will be heard in the way Jesus meant for it to be heard.

The introduction of new language is crucial for re-shaping paradigms and getting people to think differently about the movement of Jesus. Successful businesses are now seeing the importance of this language. Ram Charan, in Leaders At All Levels, explains the power or the word apprenticeship: “…apprenticeship is at the heart of this new approach to leadership development. To understand why, you’ll have to come to grips with a potentially controversial belief: leadership can only be developed through practice. Those who have talent for leadership must develop their abilities by practicing in the real world and converting that experience into improved skill and judgment. That conversion does not take place in a classroom.”

You may choose to continue to use the word “disciple”, but that choice may get you the same kind of static thinking you are trying to change. I much prefer the term “apprentice.” The power of the word “apprentice” is that it clearly says that you are not only a learner, but that you are in a relationship to take on more responsibility to further the movement of Jesus.

As I was watching an NFL game something occurred to me.

When I am watching a team that I am cheering for, rarely do I see things objectively. I want all of the close calls to go my way and should a controversy arise, I am always biased on what is right and fair.

I discovered this while cheering for the San Diego Chargers when they played the Oakland Raiders on Monday Night football. I wanted all calls to be in favor of the Chargers. Even if the Raiders had a bad call against them, I could care less. If it was in the Charger’s best interest, to me, that was all that mattered.

I think Christian church people are like this. We aren’t interested in Truth, we are interested in our version of the Truth. As long as the calls favor our team, we are fine. But when a controversy arises we want our Truth to prevail, even if the replay shows otherwise.

No place does our bias rear its ugly head than in the realm of apologetics. Most Christian apologists start out to defend Biblical claims by doing what – quoting the Bible.

In my opinion, the only honest way for Christians to view their faith is from an outsiders perspective. They must become skeptics of themselves if the goal is Truth, rather than which team they wish to win.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a student minister who doesn’t use some kind of lecture strategy as a fail-safe way to communicate the gospel to students. The youth sermon has been around since the beginning of Student Ministry. (in other words – forever) Now don’t get me wrong, I have been a Student Pastor for 17 years, and for pretty much all 17 years I did a form of a Group Talk on a consistent basis. So I’m guilty, am I’m writing this to myself as well.

Why am I sick of youth group talks? Here’s why. There’s a mountain of research that discounts lecturing as an effective way to help people learn, especially young people. But that’s not all. Even if you’re a big believer in youth talks, you likely can’t point to a sermon or message that actually changed your life. Life change is almost always the result of an experience followed by some kind of debriefing. I could use my fingernail to drive a screw into a piece of wood, but I’d rather use something that’s more effective, like a screwdriver.

When I talk to and ask Student ministers around the country to tell me the most effective way they teach their students spiritual truths, youth talks and sermons are their last choice. Though youth talks are popular, they’re not all that effective. So why do Student Ministers use youth talks so much?

Here are a couple theories. What do you think?

1. Sermons require less time, work, creativity, and risk. Time is a driving factor. In order to come up with something different, it takes lots of effort and creativity. It’s hard to find or make the time to do something different. If you try something new, many times that involves having group leaders or others involved and it simply takes more preparation. There’s also the risk factor. It’s a risk to try something new.

2. Youth talks are traditional in ministry – that’s how most student ministers were trained to teach, and they’ve always done it that way. Most people like to stick with what is familiar, regardless if it works or not! If student ministers have been to seminary or Bible college, they’ve had a preaching class that taught them that that’s how you teach.

3. There are few resources that help youth leaders teach in active and interactive ways. I’m not sure about this one because I always created my own stuff, but I think it’s probably true. Good resources for student ministries has always sucked.

4. It’s all an issue of control. Pastors have issues of control. If they present a half-hour talk on some topical, and they direct the questions, it’s more under control than otherwise. So I’m sick of youth talks.

Let’s try to figure out ways to better teach students.

What do you think?