The Youth In Christian Leadership

The Youth In Christian LeadershipYou be the light of the world. A city on a hill can non be hidden. This is whiz of many ways that Jesus describes the bold contrast among Christians and the rest of the world. It is a difference that should be as clear as night and day, but r bely is the case with Christians in the world nowadays. around non-believers use words such as hypocritical, sheltered, and judgmental to describe Christians. (Kinnaman, 2007) The materi exclusivelyy things that Christ warned us not to become argon the exact akin things we be viewed as forthwith. One of the biggest reasons for the skepticism of Christianity today is the ignorance of our own reliance. Believers atomic number 18 not getting into the word, and it shows in society. galore(postnominal) Christians cannot answer basic questions when asked rise-nigh their faith, and even if they can, many ar not living out those beliefs. (Kinnaman, 2007) Ignoring our faith has led to a religion of mixed up morals and hypocrites, and has mostly contributed to the scorn towards Christianity. These vices are slowly world passed down from the modern adults of today to the evolution Christian youth. It is therefore paramount to look for avenues to reverse this dapple and get back to inspiring hope in a burnish full of cynicism. This will enable us to form a computer computer programme for Christian leading among our youth. Christian lead as a up righteousnessness comes in many forms and traits. A leader is a dealer in hope. (Napoleon Bonaparte) On the other hand, according to (Means, 2000), servant leading is a leadership philosophy that implies a comprehensive view of the quality of hoi polloi, work and familiarity spirit.Servant leadership greatly requires a spiritual representing of identity, tutelage, quite a little and the environment. (Greenleaf, 2012) A servant leader is one who is servant first, who has responsibility to be in the world, and contributes to the well -being of people and the community. A servant leader looks to the inevitably of the people and asks how he or she can ease them solve their problems and countenance psycheal drivement. He or she places his main focus on people, be pee entirely content and motivated people are able to reach their targets and to satisfy the set expectations. The concept of servant leadership is crucial for youth in Christian leadership as it enables one understand themselves first so they can try to understand others and serve them. Thereafter people ingest trust in the leader and arrest to work towards the intended goal. (Berkley, 2005)The goals of a Christian leader should be to bring glory to perfection with their existence, evangelize, pass off the kingdom, and encourage others to grow in their relationship with Christ. There are authentic base characteristics that all Christian leaders must possess if they indirect request to be stewards of the Gospel, inspire hope among the nations, and ultimately accomplish their goals.Submission to God must be the starting point for each individual. We must stand God to lead us and shape our lives to fit his desires if we wish to start an impact on this world. This requires one to be daily fixking and engaging with God in prayer and in His Word. It is our actions and choices in life that pay off how others see us, and ultimately decide the kind of impact we leave on the world. These actions and choices are largely shaped by what we believe in and value. By allowing the Bible to shape them, a spiritual maturity will begin to flourish within the heart of a leader. They will begin to see the world as God sees it, and they will begin to see each person living on this world today as a beautiful and valuable creation of God. (Hybels, 2009) Further more than, according to (Berkley, 2005) leaders will understand the implications of sin and how it separates us from God, which will create a longing to help others be reconciled.A leader must strive to be an interpreter for others by trying to obediently follow Gods commands and exhorting others to do so, but withal must be careful not to fall into judgment. (Berkley, 2005) Instead, they agree to esteem others unconditionally as Christ would have, serving the people and working patiently with them to help them see the need of God in their life.Raising five-year-old leaders for Christian leadership is a challenging serve well.Raising and developing untested leaders mainly entails inculcating Christian values in them at a tender age, encouraging them to participate in perform activities so they can understand leadership from a Christian perspective, and ensuring they attain the right academic skills to enable them compete with the world.IMPORTANCE OF PREPARING YOUTH FOR CHRISTIAN leadingMinistry with teenage people has never been more important. Ever-increasing local, national and global concerns inquire that schools must do more than prepare mater ialization people as responsible citizens. (Adair, 2001) says that schools and in particular, institutions of higher culture must prepare newborn people as emerging leaders with a civic conscience who proactively seek solutions to issues such as increased poverty, the plight of refugees, terrorism, climate change, and corporeal greed.With reference to Christian leadership, ministry can be broken down to tierce parts namely Youth ministry, Campus ministry and Student ministry.Youth ministry(Fernando, 2000) describes youth ministry as a formalized Church-based program that is clearly centered on schoolgirlish people. He presents a framework for youth ministry based on tether goals. These goals are firstly, to foster the personal and spiritual growth of each schoolgirlish person, secondly, to draw young people into responsible participation in the life, mission and work of the church community, and thirdly, to em superpower young people to live as disciples of Jesus Christ in t he world today. The goals are advanced through six focus areas prayer and worship, evangelization, community life, justice and service, leadership development, and protagonism (Fernando, 2000, Leaders for tomorrows world pp. 7). These goals build on one another and are paramount for good Christian leadership. In addition, they are important as they help bring up an all-rounded and well-versed Christian leader who can battle the challenges of the modern society.Campus ministryThe focus of Christian ministry among the youth is greatly aimed at young men and women in college and university making campus ministry a focal point in developing Christian leaders. Campus ministry has four main elements according to (Nanko, 1997). These are a focus on young people, the ministry takes place in the context of an educational institution, the various programs attempt to challenge the faith life or spirituality of students into active participation, and the campus minister is central to the ef fective running of the ministry. Young people in campus should be encouraged to integrate ministry with their field of study so as to learn how to be most effective in society.A good example is seen in Christian universities where students from several disciplines attend chapel on a constant basis to facilitate spiritual growth. This enables the students to develop as Christian leaders and grow to other levels of campus ministry like missions, evangelism and regular participation in church related activities which facilitates interaction with other young students in ministry.Student ministryThis nature of ministry involves working with young people in a school setting. It frequently incorporates many of the programs associated with youth ministry and campus ministry. Such programs take on student leadership development, service-learning and social justice, retreats, prayer and reflection. (Means, 2000) In this respect, student ministry, youth ministry and campus ministry have str ong connections. The main differences lie in the explicit leadership focus inherent in all student ministry programs, the mentoring role which teachers assume when working with students, and the leadership responsibilities that many students exercise when working with fellow students. A good illustration of student ministry is seen in campuses where students take up leadership roles in the church and handle activities such as praise and worship, intelligence study, event planning and preaching. This enables the leaders to gain experience in church related activities while under the mentorship of senior church leaders and teachers. In addition, the leaders learn to take responsibility being in panoramas of leadership, drill discipline within their lives and grow closer to God at a personal level.CHALLENGES IN PREPARING YOUTH FOR CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIPIn the process of maintaining the authentic character of Christian leadership, leaders face many challenges. Many of them are perenn ial, given with the very character of Christian leadership as being rooted in God and directed toward the good of the world. These challenges may occur when people assume positions of Christian leadership for the wrong reasons that implicate power, prestige, and personal gain rather than as a result of the strain of God. These challenges can be further broken down into three fall upon areas The will of God, the authority of the church and duration charge.The will of GodIn most cases, Christian leaders have responded to a genuine betoken of God, but may have lost sight of their calling and their unsounded character as beings translucent to God. When this happens, leaders are deprived of the animating power of God to continually ground and sustain leadership in the life of God, as stated in (Kinnaman, 2007). And yet, since they are religious leaders, they frequently have to act as if they have already actualized what they are preaching in their own lives, as if they are bringi ng the message somehow from God. Instead of real ascent in Gods word, there is a pretence of ascent mostly not intentional, but negligent and usually a result of the pressures of responsibilities, the accumulated force of disappointments, and many other reasons leading to the step-by-step erosion of faith. (Nanko, 2001)Young Christian leaders face the very real dangers associated with modern culture head on. Increased expectations, time constraints, developing disciples in an increasingly secular society, and an entire host of dangers in personal and schoolmaster life abound.Many of the pressures to which young leaders succumb, causing personal burnout and fatigue, are as a result of personal mis distinguishment. (Berkley, 2005) We each have decisions to muddle with regard to how much and in what way will own these expectations and sensed pressures.Authority of the churchThe great authority of the Church resides in the power of the testimony of Jesus. In a modern culture which asserts that truth is relative, it is rough for a Christian leader to begin to lead a person into Gods will for their life when at a foundational level they do not recognize that the testimony of Jesus is unique and trustworthy. The modern worldview influenced by occidental liberal culture, which is common in various forms today, presents a great challenge for Christian leaders as seen in (Hybels, 2009) and can except be controlled by continual spiritual nourishment and constant prayer.Time have intercoursementPersonal time guidance is crucial to ones successful usage of their time. Dangers are very real in modern Christian leadership. In rig to have the strength to stand, young Christian leaders must manage their efforts in such a way as to properly manage themselves. (Nanko, 2001) Christian leaders face temptations of every kind to fall into sin. As the modern culture becomes increasingly celebrity based, young leaders in ministry face the real temptation of pride. In tack together to avoid burnout, fatigue, and temptation to sin, (Means, 2000) suggests that Christian leaders must remain grounded in the Lords strength and provision. The management of personal and professional time is central to this. We must make time for God, family, and personal rest and development in order to stay wide awake and healthy for the work of the kingdom.RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING PREPARING YOUTH FOR CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIPReading widely and having a good command of languageAccording to (Fernando, 2000), in the orgasm years we will need well-educated young men and women. therefrom a young, aim Christian leader should read widely, ranging from people they acquiesce with to people they dont agree with. All things being equal, the people who can let loose with confidence and who can write clearly will rise to the lead in any field. (Fernando, 2000) also recommends taking speech classes as well as taking returns of technology as far as writing is concerned as it gives o ne a huge advantage in this generation.Identifying ones strengths and making good decisionsIdentifying ones strengths varies from one individual to another in terms of time. (Means, 2000) says that, In the beginning, you naturally think you can do everything. You cant. Youll learn that the hard way. Find out what you do that God blesses and keep on doing it. A young leader should not get stuck in the gin of thinking that they have to be a pastor or a teacher or a missionary forever as we are past the days when people would stay in the same position for a lifetime. As a Christian leader, one should understand that their only call is to serve the Lord in whatever way he or she chooses. Therefore it is important to remain flexible.Beware of envy and learn how to be all-roundIn the game of life, we are all unceasingly being compared to everyone around us. We, especially church leaders are being measured, quantified, and examined to see how well we are doing versus those around us and there is null we can do about it. (Adair, 2004), Envy tends to be the sin of evenhandedly successful people and one should pray to be delivered from it as it destroys happiness and makes one a miserable person. When beginning church ministry, one is rarely able to specialize and should learn how to be a jack of all trades and a master of a few.TravelIn todays world, diversity is the order of the day and the future belongs to those who have multicultural experience. Aspiring Christian leaders should be encouraged to participate in a semester exchange program and study abroad. The experience gained by learning about other cultures, and a different people in a different setting is valuable as (Fernando, 2000) puts it. In addition, it gives one new vision for the global cause of Christ. CONCLUSIONChristian leadership is indeed challenging especially for young aspiring leaders but with the right approach and guidance one can succeed in the field. As John F. Kennedy said, Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. It is important for all young aspiring leaders to recognize that leadership is a learning process and that the more one learns, the more they earn the right to lead.