Home Youth Leaders Articles for Youth Leaders Rhett and Link Controversy: Lessons From the YouTubers’ Deconstruction

Rhett and Link Controversy: Lessons From the YouTubers’ Deconstruction

As disciple-makers, we can’t be parked in intellectual neutral as we engage teens relationally. For the student who needs popular level intellectual engagement, we must be ready to walk beside them to unpack the works of Christian thought leaders like Lee Strobel, Sean McDowell, Rosaria Butterfield or Nabeel Qureshi.  To dig deeper, turn to thinkers like N.T. Wright, Francis Collins, Nancy Pearcey or William Lane Craig.

Introduce young people to robust thinkers who will help them process through challenging questions. If we don’t engage them, where will they turn? You have the influence and capacity to walk beside them as someone who loves them. The combination of your relationship and robust thinking may be the difference maker.  

Let’s move to a model of increased belonging. A model where it’s not about entertaining, but about being a relational disciple-maker who helps kids navigate a changing world. These kids will lead the culture and church of 2050, where the church will likely be increasingly marginalized. Will they be adequately prepared?

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Matt Markins serves as the President and CEO of Awana, a global leader in child discipleship. As a leading researcher in child discipleship and children’s ministry, Matt has commissioned nine research projects since 2013, including a study conducted by Barna Group called, Children’s Ministry in a New Reality. He’s a board member at large for the National Association of Evangelicals and is the coauthor of three books, most notably RESILIENT: Child Discipleship and the Fearless Future of the Church. He’s also the cofounder of the Child Discipleship Forum and D6 Conference. Matt and his wife, Katie, have been involved in children’s ministry for more than 25 years. They spend their time in Nashville with their two sons.