The struggles of a youth pastor to be relevant in today's society while maintaining a high standard in his personal spiritual walk.

Relevant·ique

"And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice" (John 10:4)

And the people said: "baa, baa"

That's what I feel sometimes like saying when I hear that text. C'mon, have you seen a sheep lately? Do you know how they react to their shepherd? Have you ever met a shepherd? A real one, not the one from the Christmas play at your kid's school. Do they even exist in the Western society? How do you know what a "good shepherd" is? Who talks about sheep today, anyway? 

Christians. 

Now, you go and tell a super wired, technologically savvy teen (or young adult for that matter) a story about sheep. Yes, S.H.E.E.P. If you've grown up "churched," chances are you are completely fine with that concept, for you've heard it over and over, from the pulpit to the Sabbath School class. But in real life, sheep don't play well with iPhones, Xbox 360, Halo 3 ODST or even Facebook.¹

How relevant are we when we insist in adopting the same illustrations that Jesus used two thousand years ago? Jesus applied the small jobs, tasks and common objects of the daily life to the transcendent message he delivered: vines, sheep, wheat, fishing, you name it. Jesus was relevant. We risk being relevantique.

Observe, and mean it

Got the point? Need to be relevant. No sheep. Now what? OBSERVE.² Be curious. Develop a genuine interest in today's youth habits. Don't fake it though, because they will read it on your face.

Is your next door neighbor's kid an emo? Go to darksideclothing.com and see if you can identify some of the clothes that he wears. Next time you see him say, "hey, did you get that shirt at Darkside? They had a very similar one last week on sale!" Be ready to call the ambulance, because he will pass out. "A C.H.R.I.S.T.I.A.N. dude who knows about Darkside? How cool is that?" Next time you cross paths with him, chances are that there will be eye contact. 

Do you know anything about smartphones? Research! Subscribe to TechCrunch.com and be up to date with the newest development in the tech world. Familiarize yourself with the most popular cellphone models³ and even have a look at the carriers around. Instead of telling a teen "excuse me, you shouldn't be texting during church" try this other one "hey, is that the Nexus One? Did they fix the 3G reception problem yet?" 

Did one of your Facebook young friends update her status to "Say something funny. Say something sweet. But don't say you loved me"? It seems out of context, right? Google it. Remember, be curious. You'll find out that it comes from Katy Perry's song "I'm Still Breathing." Now go to Youtube and watch the video. The whole thing. Then go to her status and add the comment: "are you still breathing?" Silly, probably.⁴ But you got her to smile and have established a connection.

The key is to observe and be curious. Equally important, if not more, is to mean it. Please, don't fake it for the sake of being cool. That's disrespectful. The clothes they wear, the gadgets they use and the music they listen to is part of who they are. Don't just look for Katy Perry's lyrics, but google her biography! Learn more about her style. That artist is important to her! Research about emo's, punks and gothics. Get a texting plan for your phone and start texting away! Feeling your thumbs go sore after a 40 text conversation is similar to smelling the sheep as Jesus  used them to illustrate his points.

The Fine Print

Being culturally relevant to the youth comes with a price, though: the exposure to material, artists and media genres that are in open conflict with the Christian faith. You can argue that in order to know what's going on with the teens you don't need to "consume" their products. True, there are tons of Christian sites and magazines that offer you a review⁵ of the latest music hits and blockbuster movies. But those who solely rely on said reviews lack credibility when bringing the topic to their youth group.

Let's take as an example the Twilight Saga, you know, the vampire teen melodrama. If you take the advice from the review sites, you won't encourage your teens to watch it. But if you actually see with your own eyes how incredibly cheesy, horrendously acted and philosophically wrong the movie is, your body language will be totally different as you discuss it with your teens. They will listen to you. They will believe you. They'll see that you know what you are talking about.

Having said that, it is not necessarily an enjoyable task. The brain collects everything you see and listen. You cannot chose to open an incognito tab on your brain browser and get rid of the history and "cookies" after watching the violent scenes from the movie 300. It stays with you. This is where you need to learn to set boundaries.⁶ Don't hesitate to walk out of the theater.⁷ Furthermore, do tell your kids that you walked out. You will become even more real to them. They may follow your example!

The key to "being relevant in today's society while maintaining a high standard in your personal spiritual walk" is in the last word: WALK. Your walk with Jesus ought to be directly proportional to your exposure to worldly culture. Don't let that exposure unsensitize your spiritual buds. If you don't feel offended by the cursing in a song, or clench your fists when injustice is shown or turn your eyes when there's a sensual scene, then you may be crossing the line. 

Moses spent forty days with God before bringing the two stones to his unstable and often wicked people. Jesus fasted forty days before starting his public ministry and spent countless hours in prayer on a regular basis. How else could he walk among prostitutes and eat with drunkards with a clear conscience? Follow Jesus' and Moses' example. There's a fine line between being in this world and of this world. Satan will try to force you into the dark side⁸. It won't be easy, but God never told us that reaching out to the youth was going to be a bed of roses.⁹

¹  Afew days ago, while speaking at an academy, I decided to replace "the sheep know their shepherd's voice" with "everybody knows their own cellphone ringtone"

² I know, it's on all-caps, a big no-no in digital communication. But I'm screaming!

³ A teen in my youth group had, at one time, two iPhones, two Androids and one Blackberry. Crazy? He's not alone.

⁴ Real life example. I just did it while writing this article

⁵ I feel tempted to say, "yeah right, let others do the dirty job, so I can remain clean."

⁶ There's no money in this world that can make me watch movies like Paranormal Activity, for example. And I limit my secular music intake to a few fresh big hits or the songs that my youth are actually talking about. I simply can't stand listening to that music more than a few minutes!

⁷ or turn off the DVD player. I've done both in numerous occasions. I'm not ready to sell my soul to the Devil just to keep myself up to date!

⁸ Pun intended =)

⁹ Some food for thought here: it is actually good to struggle. Not feeling the tension between good and evil in your life could mean that a) you are perfect or b) you don't care!