Kevin DeYoung has posted a couple of posts recently on reaching the younger generation with the gospel. He has some excellent (and biblical) suggestions for how to do this. Here is an excerpt from his first post…
“Reaching the next generation—whether they are outside the church or sitting there bored in your church—is easier and harder than you think. It’s easier because you don’t have to get a degree in postmodern literary theory or go to a bunch of stupid movies. You don’t have to say “sweet” or “bling” ” or know what LOL or IMHO means. You don’t have to listen to…well, whatever people listen to these days. You don’t have to be on twitter, watch The Office, or imbibe fancy coffees. You just have to be like Jesus. That’s it. So the easy part is you don’t have to be with it. The hard part is you have to be with Him. If you walk with God and walk with people, you’ll reach the next generation…”
You can read the whole post here http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2009/10/19/reaching-the-next-generation-is-harder-and-easier-than-you-think-grab-them-with-passion/
In a second post, he advocates the following biblical strategy:
“The evangelical church needs to stop preaching the false gospel of cultural identification. Don’t spend all your time trying to figure out how to be just like the next generation. Be yourself. Tell them about Jesus. And love them unashamedly. I think a lot of older Christians are desperate to figure out what young people are into because they are too embarrassed to be themselves and too unsure of themselves to simply love the people they are trying to reach. Jesus said it best: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Jesus did not say “They will know you are my disciples by how attune you are to new trends in youth culture.” Or “They will know you are my disciples by the hip atmosphere you create.” Give up on relevance, and try love. If they see love in you, love for each other, love for the world, and love for them, they will listen. No matter who the “they” are…”
You can read the rest of this second post here http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2009/10/20/reaching-the-next-generation-win-them-with-love/
This seems to be an ongoing series, so check back at his blog for further posts (found here http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/.)
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