Inspire
Never underestimate the power of inspiration. Heck, much of the Bible is inspiration. When I read the book of Acts I’m not thinking about it being a historical timeline upon which I can hang the epistles. Instead, I’m thinking about storming the castle! The Psalms inspire me. First and second Samuel inspire me. The gospels inspire me. Stories inspire me and, if you’re honest, they inspire you too!
We need to motivate our teenagers to live THE Cause by telling stories of heroes who were willing to share their faith. And then we need to open up opportunities for the teenagers in our youth groups to tell stories as well! Some youth groups “Take 5 for THE Cause” every week. Others use baptisms as a time to share the stories of those who are coming to Christ. Some youth leaders tie gospel-centric stories into their weekly talks to keep the spread of the gospel as a top priority in their youth ministries. Make a plan of how you are going to inspire your teenagers to share their faith on a regular basis.
Equip to evangelize
Once a teen is inspired to share their faith they must learn how to share their faith in a way that combines the best of relational and relentless evangelism. Motivation without information that leads to application leads to frustration. In other words, many teenagers have given up the quest to share their faith because they simply don’t know what to say.
Teenagers must learn how to bring it up, how to lay it out, how to deal with objections in a gentle way and how to give someone an opportunity to put their faith in Christ. There are all sorts of resources out there to help you equip your teens to share their faith, many of which you can find on www.dare2share.org.
Deploy to multiply
At the end of the day THE Cause (aka “The Great Commission”) is not just about making converts to Christianity. It’s about making disciples who make disciples. Our teenagers are called to reach their friends with the hope of Jesus and then disciple the ones who say yes to grow deep in their faith and go wide with their faith.
Your job is to coach them to do this effectively. It may feel clunky at first but, through the power of the Holy Spirit, it can be done.
Will all your teens be ready, willing and able to do this? No! So start with your core and move out from there. That’s what Jesus did. He started with the ground that produced “thirty, sixty and a hundred fold.” We scattered spiritual seeds everywhere and then poured his life into those who were willing to go for it. “Go with the goers and pray for the others” must be our ministry mantra is we are going to truly get multi-PLIED for THE Cause.
So what’s your “Get multi-PLIED” Strategy for THE Cause?
What’s your plan…
…to make intercessory prayer a bigger priority in your life and ministry?
…to live THE Cause in your own circle of influence?
…to inspire your teens to live THE Cause?
…to equip your teens to evangelize?
…to deploy your teens to multiply?
Please share your “Get multi-PLIED” plan in the comment section below so others can be encouraged and challenged by it. Just remember that it doesn’t need to be a perfect plan, just a good one. In the words of the great “theologian” General George S. Patton, “A good plan violently executed today is better than the perfect plan next week.”
Share your good plan and then passionately get ‘er done!
