Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry: From a Strategy of Influence to a Theology of Incarnation
by Andrew Root
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Book Summary Information
Author: Andrew RootEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-10-08
ISBN: 0830834885
Number of pages: 221
Publisher: IVP Books
Book Reviews of Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry: From a Strategy of Influence to a Theology of Incarnation
Book Review: Do you have a heart for young people? Read this; wrestle with it; reread it;
Summary: 5 Stars
Please, read this book! This fascinating work represents the cutting edge of thinking theologically about ministry with children and youth (and, really, ministry with all people). Andrew Root's penetrating assessment of popular conceptions of youth ministry speaks with a critical voice that, at the same time it exposes the underlying & unspoken assumptions that have been brought to YM, it also brings freedom, new possibility, & great hope - both to our precious children and to the many weary, burned-out, and guilt-laden youth workers who question the difference they are really making.
What Root essentially accomplishes is to re-center youth ministry on Jesus Christ, the God who is with us, not off waiting for us somewhere else. Root's argument leads us away from a "relational ministry" that leverages relationships to get kids to sign onto a "third thing" and reframes ministry as "participation in God's presence" here and now, in this human relationship. He is critical of how the incarnation of Christ has so often been reduced to a pattern or strategy that is "goal-oriented" instead of "companionship-oriented". This agenda ends up being more about ideology than incarnation. Instead, resting on the theological foundation of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ Jesus, he recasts youth ministry as "place-sharing".
What does this mean? Root derives this term from Lutheran Theologian/Martyr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who wrote of Christ's strellvertretung, or "vicarious-representative-action". This is a more relationally-conceived & dynamic understanding of Christ as our "substitute". What does it mean for a youth worker to be in real, authentic, human relationship with an adolescent? What does it mean to be in solidarity with young people, to share their place in the midst of their suffering and pain and sin? Root recognizes that transformation comes from this deep relationship in the presence of God; transformation is not something "over there" we sign up for. It is not abstract; as we "share the place" of another, we honor their broken humanity and in this relationship we can know that Christ is incarnate and present with us, and we are transformed. [If I were to put my Lutheran spin on this, I would say that instead of always talking ABOUT the Gospel and what we SHOULD do, in authentic relationship we can actually GO AHEAD and speak Gospel to each other here and now, we can point to the reality and presence of Christ among us]
So, how does Root unfold his argument? In Part One, he takes us on an interesting journey through the "historical ascent of relational ministry", tracing the emergence in the 20th century of the "teenager", the "high school", "modern evangelicalism", and the new frontier of age-specific ministry to kids living in the developing cultural reality of the "self-chosen relationship". This journey through history comprises the first two chapters & chapter three examines our relational motivations through the lenses of sociology. Root argues that relational youth ministry took its shape not from theological reflection on the incarnation and its implications for ministry, but rather has been formed as a "strategy of engagement within a pluralistic culture."
In Part Two, Root turns to Bonhoeffer's theology as a guide to asking three key questions: Who is Jesus Christ? Where is Jesus Christ? What then shall we do? He unpacks the concepts I've mentioned and much more. He develops a couple of conceptual diagrams that greatly help communicate his argument. These diagrams help us see that there is no such thing as two isolated, autonomous human beings in relationship. We each come to relationship with our own histories, our own cultural location and toolkit for engaging with culture, our own ideologies. We are constantly shaping and being shaped by our social environment and circumstances. It is naïve and dehumanizing to look at adolescents as free-willing, independent consumers who just need the right information about God (or the hippest youth leader) in order to sign up for the Jesus thing. Every kid, every human being is located in a unique and specific place.
Have you ever beat your head against a wall, because as much as you influence some kid to follow Jesus, they have to go home to a hostile family environment, or they are trapped in debilitating social circumstances, or something else, and you begin to feel like you're "getting nowhere" with that kid? What if - Root challenges us - youth ministry was not about success or failure, but about faithfulness? What if the best we can offer kids is to be "present with them in their personal hells", and in sharing their place, proclaim that Christ is alive and present with us?
The final chapters flesh out what this would look like and suggest some "rules of art for place-sharing in community." Root offers the narrative of a female youth worker who "shares the place" of a neighbor girl, as well as looks at (my favorite movie) Good Will Hunting in light of incarnational-relational theology. Very, very powerful.
This is the kind of book to reread and to wrestle with. It ought to generate ongoing conversations among adults who care deeply for children and the church's response to the dehumanization of young people in our culture.
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Summary of Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry: From a Strategy of Influence to a Theology of Incarnation
Relational youth ministry, also known as incarnational ministry, can feel like a vicious cycle of guilt: "I should be spending time with kids, but I just don't want to." The burden becomes heavy to bear because it is never over; adolescents always seem to need more relational bonds, and once one group graduates there is a new group of adolescents who need relational contact. It may be that the reason these relationships have become burdensome is that they have become something youth workers do, rather than something that youth workers enter into. In Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry, Andrew Root explores the origins of a dominant ministry model for evangelicals, showing how American culture has influenced our understanding of the incarnation. Drawing from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, whose work with German youth in troubled times shaped his own understanding of how Jesus intersects our relationships, Root recasts relational ministry as an opportunity not to influence the influencers but to stand with and for those in need. True relational youth ministry shaped by the incarnation is a commitment to enter into the suffering of all, to offer all those in high school or junior high the solidarity of the church.Youth Ministry Books
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