As I look at my calendar to see what day of the month it is, I realize it has been nearly two years of youth ministry at Quest. It seems like just yesterday I was graduating college and Christ was opening the door for me to lay the groundwork for the youth ministry of Quest. It has been an amazing two years, but it is this youth pastor’s opinion that many of our students don’t see a need for a relationship with Christ. We as parents, teachers, youth ministers and mentors have SAID you need to follow Christ and having a relationship with him is important, but we have failed to help students SEE and EXPERIENCE for themselves their need for Christ.

Every student looks at each aspect of their lives and asks two questions:

1. Do I need this in my life?
2. If so, to what degree do I need it?

Students ask these questions for EVERYTHING. Take a cell phone for example. In a students mind, “Well of course I need a cell phone! It’s incredibly important so I can be up on social media, I can stay connected with friends, and I can chat with the attractive person of the opposite sex.” So of course, students will do everything in their power to own a cell phone, keep it charged and have all the latest games and apps.

Now, take a relationship with Christ. In many student’s mind they are saying, “Ehhhhh, I don’t really need a relationship with Christ right now. It supposed to be important and people I respect say it’s valuable, but I only see it as a hindrance to what I want to do right now. I will worry about that later.” So they do not pray, they do not read Scripture and they only go to church and youth group for the snacks, social interaction, and to keep mom and dad happy.

So what is to be done? It has been shown that every student needs five other Christ loving adults besides their parents to pour into their lives in order to have a growing, lasting relationship with Christ. I challenge each one of you reading this article to be one of those five people to a student in your life. Whether it is a niece or nephew, a grandson or granddaughter, a student at Quest, or just a neighbor… I challenge you to be one of their five. I challenge you to be so engaged with your walk with Christ that students cannot help but stare and wonder what it is that you have that they do not. As cliché as it sounds, these students are the next generation. Let’s show students that Christ is not just another something in their lives, but that HE IS EVERYTHING!!!

-Jake