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How To Destroy a Christian

By Scotty Gibbons

When we fail to disciple young Christians, it places the total responsibility for their spiritual growth on their shoulders.

Before your morbid thoughts run away with you, I want to assure you that I’m not giving a thesis on the finer points of marksmanship. When I speak of destroying Christians, I’m not talking about physical death, but spiritual death. The war youth leaders are fighting is a spiritual war, not a physical war. Youth leaders aren’t just laboring to reach the lost; they are struggling to keep young people on the straight and narrow once they are saved.

Youth pastors often boast of the decisions made at an outreach, only to ashamedly admit that only a small portion of those converted have developed into devoted followers of Christ. This causes frustration for hardworking leaders. Why do we fail at discipleship though we appear to be winning young people through conversion? In many cases, it’s a spiritual issue—the Word of God is not sown on fertile soil and fruit is not produced in the lives of our young people (Matthew 13:18–23). When we fail to disciple young Christians, it places the total responsibility for their spiritual growth on their shoulders. In these cases, the leader can do little more than intercede for a change in the hearts of the students. Ultimately, the choice is theirs.

In many situations the spiritual growth of our young people is not a spiritual issue, but an issue of neglect. The youth ministry may be so focused on a decision for Christ that there is little focus on discipleship. Before a leader finishes the celebration of the altar cards, he or she is interrupted with the reality that the life represented by the card was dead in sin. Often the problems of spiritual growth in our young people are a lack of attention to proper care. When faced with the stories of commitments gone nowhere, youth leaders ask, "What am I doing wrong?" The answer could be that it’s not what they are doing wrong as much as it is what they aren’t doing right. By following the steps listed below, your youth ministry can destroy any converts it has worked hard to reach. Examine your ministry. Are you equipping your students to become devoted followers of Christ? Or are you following these steps and leaving them to their own destruction?

1. Don’t give them a personal encounter with God. Some ministries are steeped in religion and ritual rather than relationship. They produce students who merely go to church, convinced that prayer is a meaningless ritual, worship is singing a few songs, and "reading a few Scriptures a day will keep the devil away." It’s time to break the pattern. It’s time to give our students an opportunity to truly encounter God and experience Him in a way they cannot deny. Teach them that talking with God is essential to their Christian walk; it’s their lifeline to Him. Teach them to love the Word of God—to hide it in their hearts—not for the approval of man, but so they might not sin against God. Teach them that morning devotions aren’t just something to mark off their to-do list. Instead, teach them to be so dependent on God that they can’t start their day without Him. It’s time we give our students a personal encounter with God, not just a church experience.

2. Don’t give them a cross. Too many times we are so concerned with getting sinners down the aisle, we neglect to explain to them the price they will have to pay. Jesus said to follow Him we must deny ourselves and take up our cross.

The cross is associated with death. When someone carried a cross in Jesus’ day, everyone understood it to mean that person had no rights. There was no turning back. There was no changing his mind. He was as good as dead.

It’s time we teach our students what it is to die daily to the things of the world. The Christian life is not something to be taken lightly. It’s not a whenever-you-feel-like-it lifestyle. It’s a decision to daily lay down your rights and pursue the things of God. Students are looking for something to give their lives to. Show them that a life following God is the very thing they are looking for.

3. Don’t chase them with love and encouragement. Junior high and high school years can be lonely years. Students are willing to do almost anything to be accepted by their peers—to feel a part of something bigger than they are. If we leave them to walk alone, it will only be a matter of time before they find the acceptance they long for from the world. As youth pastor, it is your responsibility to chase your students. Follow up on them. Get into their world. Find out what they’re interested in. Let them know you care about them and miss them when they’re not there. Hold them accountable in their walk with God. Ask them how their prayer life is going. Ask them what they’re getting out of their Bible reading—not to stand in judgment over them, but out of genuine concern for their spiritual well-being. And finally, be a godly example. Spend time with them and show them what it is to live a Christian life when you’re driving down the highway, or going to the bank, or picking up your dry cleaning. Let them see you living for God, and let them know that you love them.

4. Don’t give them a ministry. Your students are talented. Their friends, school, and coaches recognize their talents. It’s a shame that the church so often fails to recognize the talents and abilities God has put in our trust. Look at the things your students are doing. Break out of the mind-set that they can only minister if they sing or preach. Are they good at drama? Start a drama ministry. Are they athletic? Encourage them to use that as a platform to bring glory to God. Are they artistic? Let them paint a mural in the youth room, or use them to design a mail-out. Let them use the talents God has given them to further His kingdom. Don’t try to fit them into the mold of what’s always been done. Be willing to let them dream. Give them ownership of their dreams, and let them realize how God can use them. Before you know it, you’ll be developing true disciples—devoted followers of Christ.

Scotty Gibbons is the youth pastor at James River Assembly of God, Springfield, Missouri.