Take the Lead

In ministry, we often fall into the mindset that we have to know all the answers. And then, once we’ve downloaded all the data of the faith, it’s our job to cram it into the minds and the hearts of our young people. Because, if we can just get the information into their heads, they’ll “get it”, suddenly love being Catholic and then follow Jesus. And that, my friends, is how we make disciples and raise up a generation of saints.

Right?

The process I just described sounds ridiculous, but so often, this is how we do ministry. A kid asks a simple question about the Eucharist, and before you know it, we’ve rattled off everything we know about the Eucharist and why we’re so passionate about it. Or a youth tells you that they’ve been struggling with a particular vice, so you then tell them what virtues to pursue and Bible verses about those virtues, and which saints would love to pray for them. Before we know it, we’ve overloaded them and cut short chances for future communication.

But we were just trying to give them all the answers they didn’t actually ask for…

Lucky for us, there is a better way.

Ministry is more about asking the right questions than having all the right answers. How can I say this? Because this is the way that Jesus did ministry. “In the New Testament, Jesus asked 183 questions, gave 3 answers, and answered 307 questions with a question.” This is Jesus we’re talking about. He’s the guy with all the answers, and yet, He only gave 3. I think there’s something we can learn from here...

God is love and life and truth. Then we just have to lead our young people to Him. We do that by asking questions, helping our youth think about their lives and where God is at work in them, how He is seeking to love them in everyday moments. This awareness is one of the greatest gifts we could ever give them.

Here are a couple of starter questions to get your conversations going –

• Where do you experience love in your life?

• In the midst of this situation, where is God?

• Do you think that’s true?

• What things in your life help you be more faithful? Why?

• What things in your life lead you away from God? Why?

• What brings you joy? Peace? Anxiety? How can you bring God into that?

Our young people are wanting to be listened to. They are also desperate to hear God’s voice. By being present to our youth and inviting them to open up about their lives, their joys and their sorrows, we create a space for communion, a space for them to encounter the love of God. If we show them that we care and that we want to listen, we are offering them the love of God. We provide a witness that God cares as well, and that He wants to be present to them too.

Don’t settle for just telling them about who Jesus is, show them. Be Jesus to them. How do we do that? Operate from a place of love and then ask the right questions.