The Final Words on Acquire the Fire
Posted by: Stuart in Blogroll, Christianity, Jesus, Uncategorized, acquire the fire, atf, general, life, people, religion, yaconelli, youth, youth ministry
One of my more popular posts has been my review of Acquire the Fire. I continue to get feedback arguing with my opinion of the event. So instead of continuing to defend my stance that youth ministry should be more pursing Christ than a wicked-awesome (pronounce with thick Bostonian accent) entertainment extravaganza, I’ll let Mr. Mike Yaconelli speak for me:
“If I witness one more Jesus cheer, if I hear one more “let’s have a hand/round of applause/praise offering Jesus,” if I have to endure one more pep rally for Jesus, I’m returning my youth ministry I.D. card. Because as much as we criticize and complain about our media-ravaged society, as much as we rant about the evils of MTV and pop culture, we’ve imitated them by rushing to create the world’s biggest youth event.
At these events we parade around and glorify all things “beautiful” - the dazzling musicians, the laser shows, the foxes and studs for Jesus. At these events we mesmerize young people with how “cool” Jesus is. These pep rallies give teens the illusion that God is cool, that God is winning, that God is the majority - and that their ministries and youth leaders are cool, too. But what these don’t dare say that the even cool, dazzling, “beautiful” youth workers are screwed up, broken and consistently in need of God’s grace.
So rather than cheering our young people into the kingdom, maybe we should point them to the broken, inconsistent, uncool followers of Jesus found in the Bible. Maybe we need to stop pressuring our young people to cheer long enough to prepare them for a world in which the real heroes are powerless, tiny, and considered insignificant. - Mike Yaconelli
Amen.
Sphere: Related ContentTags: acquire the fire, atf, Christianity, events, Jesus, religion, yaconelli, youth, youth ministry
Entries (RSS)
Talk about hitting the nail on the head. Great post and great quote from Mike.
Stuart,
I don’t think it is either or. I think the one on one is extremely important. But for some people the big events draw them in and then give people opportunities to build relationships with them. JMHO.
Like I said before, my words towards AFT are done… I don’t agree K man, but there’s not much more to be said.
The world lost a great man the day we lost Mike Yaconelli.
dude, this is one of the best quote i’ve read about youth ministry. it’s right on man. from a guy that’s frustrated with all of that, Mike said it better than i could express. thanks for posting it. hope you are well. peace.
Stuart,
Jesus feed 5000 men plus women and children. Then he fed 4000 +. Peter spoke to 1000’s and the early church numbered 3000+. It shouldn’t be one is bad and the other is good. Jesus also had an inner circle of 3. It is both.
The numbers don’t bother me, it’s the methods. It’s the message. Numbers are great.
back in the 90’s these type events were the thing and they DID work. With this new generation they have basically become filling stations. they have thier place sure, but Youth ministry is heading to an uncharted teritory. Becoming the church. not parachurch. becoming outward not inward. and not being like a boys and girls club