Your Students Are Willing to Delay Gratification, If You Are

I’ve been writing this week about my recent experience at Summit Worldview Academy and the nature of student
training. There are a number of similar worldview programs around the country
(including the Centurions
Program and the Worldview Academy),
and I’m always impressed to see how many students are interested in this kind
of intensive preparation. To be sure, there are always some students at these conferences
who are present because their parents demanded their attendance, but these young
people are always in the vast minority. Most students come (and put themselves
through the rigorous material) because they heard about it through a friend who
highly recommended the experience. And while there are some fun opportunities
to hike, relax and play games along the way, these activities (commonly
associated with youth group retreats) are typically few and far between at
worldview camps. Students are here to roll up their sleeves and get to work. They’re
far more interested in learning than lounging. Youth
pastors can glean something from worldview academies.

I have to confess: When I was a new youth pastor, I was more
likely to provide my students with pizza than preparation. I thought the only
way to attract students in the first place was to satisfy
their desire for entertainment and social interaction. I simply tried to wedge
in the important stuff (theological and apologetics training, Spiritual
formation and Biblical literacy) along the way. It took me a year or so to find
a better approach. I eventually realized my students would willingly delay
their desire for fun if I could
effectively show them their need
for truth. I began to take them to places where their worldview was
tested and I did my best to demonstrate their deficiencies. As a result, the Utah and Berkeley trips
became a regular offering of my ministry. It wasn’t long before my students
were ready to do whatever it took to better defend themselves. They were more
than willing to delay their desire for what they used to think of as fun to
achieve a greater goal. Along the way, they discovered how satisfying it is to learn
the truth, articulate it effectively, and engage the world.

It turns out that students are willing
to raise the bar and do much more than we expect of them in most youth
groups across the country. If you’re a youth pastor or are serving in a youth ministry,
think about what your students are typically willing to do in order to succeed
on their club sports team or to prepare for their next academic AP test. Our students
are already working hard to prepare themselves in some area of their young lives;
why aren’t we willing to ask them to prepare this rigorously as Christians? It’s
time to show students why it’s so important to equip themselves as Christian
ambassadors. It’s time to stop
teaching and start training.

Many of the students I spoke with at Summit told me they originally
heard about the academy from a friend who was transformed by the experience.
Some were attending the training for the second time. These Summit veterans
said their second interaction with the material was even more helpful than the
first. They admitted they were originally overwhelmed by everything they heard
in the first year of training and many wanted to come back to better absorb the
information. As a result, they spent two summers engaging difficult but
important issues. Interestingly, some of these two year veterans were in that
minority of students who were originally required to attend by their parents.
While a few young people may arrive here reluctantly, none seem to leave here
willingly. It’s amazing how God uses the truth to transform the lives of
students, and how willing these students are to delay traditional forms of
recreation to become good Christian Case Makers. Let’s learn something from
worldview academies and turn every
youth group into a Christian worldview training opportunity.

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