Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Foreword by Chap Clark
Chapter 1: Youth Ministry in One Word
Chapter 2: I Thought I Already Had Compassion
Looking at “the unchurched” through diff erent eyes
Chapter 3: In the Minds of Unchurched Students
Why they think what they think
Chapter 4: A Rude Awakening
How I fi nally realized that “sharing my faith” starts with MY faith
Chapter 5: Do They Run When They See You Coming?
How to NEVER reach students
Chapter 6: Reaching…Not Repelling
Developing a relational approach
Chapter 7: Finding Frames
Communicating in a language they understand
Chapter 8: Building Bridges
Moving beyond everyday conversations to sharing the gospel
Chapter 9: Door-Opening Questions
Nothing sparks interest better than well-placed questions
Chapter 10: Focus on Christ (It’s More Than a Tract)
Sharing Jesus’ story simply, clearly, and memorably
Chapter 11: The Key to Follow-Up
Getting them plugged in
Chapter 12: Outreach in Action: What It Looks Like
Read a Sample Chapter
Do They Run When They See You Coming? Reaching Out to Unchurched Teenagers
Copyright © 2004 by Youth Specialties
Youth Specialties Products, 300 South Pierce Street, El Cajon, CA 92020 are published by
Zondervan, 5300 Patterson Avenue Southeast, Grand Rapids, MI 49530.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McKee, Jonathan R. (Jonathan Ray), 1970-
Do they run when they see you coming? : reaching unchurched students
... without scaring them off! / by Jonathan McKee.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-310-25660-7 (softcover)
1. Church work with students. 2. Church work with teenagers. 3.
Non-church-affi liated people. I. Title.
BV4447.M237 2005
259’.23--dc22 2004016914
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible:
New International Version (North American Edition), copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by
International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Some of the anecdotal illustrations in this book are true to life and are included with the permission
of the persons involved. All other illustrations are composites of real situations, and
any resemblance to people living or dead is coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy,
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permission of the publisher.
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operational and replacement URLs if available.
Editorial direction by Dave Urbanski
Art direction by Jay Howver
Edited by Kevin Hendricks
Proofread by Laura Gross and Kristi Robison
Interior design by Holly Sharp
Cover design by Burnkit
Printed in the United States
04 05 06 07 08 09 /DC/ 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
0310256607_dotheyrun_int.indd 4 10/22/04 8:32:19 AM
Youth Ministry in One Word
I’m thinking we’re missing something here. I think we’re
missing the big picture. I don’t want ministry programming tips…
just tell me what you think youth ministry is all about. As a matter
of fact, just give me the one word you think youth ministry is all
about!
Th anks,
Bryan
~
Dear Bryan,
LOVE
Jonathan
~
Dear Jonathan,
Hey, thanks for getting back to me so soon.
Okay, you took me seriously. Now forget all that stuff
about one word. Love isn’t the answer I want. I mean—it’s cool
and all—it’s probably even right. But I just need you to expand
on it a little bit. How do we reach the kids outside our church
walls? How do we reach unchurched students?
Bryan
One Word
How do you sum up students reaching other students in one word? How
do you verbalize—in one word—youth leaders reaching out to youth?
Let’s go to the only place I know to go: the Word of God. Jesus
was asked basically the same question in Matthew 22, Mark 12, and Luke
10. Th e conversation went something like this: “Okay, Jesus—then what is
the most important thing? Don’t give me the long answer, just what is the
bottom line?”
Jesus answered, “Love God…love others.”
Th at’s what it comes down to. Love.
Bringing God to People
Our church has a missionary in Laos named Jim Gustufson. Jim told us
about a church he visited in Th ailand. It was a church founded by Westerners
from America, reaching Th ai people. Jim told us about a Sunday when he
arrived at the church early. Other than himself, the fi rst person to arrive
was a woman who walked in dancing, singing in Th ai, and praising God
for what he had done that week in her life. Two more people walked in
singing together and praising God. Th is happened more and more until
the audience was fi lled with people singing songs in Th ai and praising God
for what he had done.
Th en Jim told us about someone else who walked into the church.
Th is person didn’t dance or sing. With his head down, he walked in and
stepped onto the stage—and the Lord left! Th e place went silent as the
American pastor took his place on stage, opened the American hymn book
as stoically as possible, and announced, “Everyone turn to page 256 and
let’s begin worship this morning.” Ironically, that call to worship ended
any worship that was going on.
Many of us use the terminology “bring someone to Christ” or
“lead someone to Christ.” However, Jim made an important point. In the
Bible, the Gospel of John says that when Jesus came to earth, “the Word
became fl esh and dwelt among us.” Jesus left his seat next to God to be
with us—to come to us. Let’s not forget about the greatest act of love in
history—God brought Jesus to us! Th is American pastor simply brought
Western rituals and religion to an Eastern culture. He didn’t let the people
meet Jesus where they were. Instead he tried to bring them to Jesus via a
Western tradition they didn’t understand.
We don’t need to bring people to Christ; we need to bring Christ
to them.
A fast-food restaurant by my house just went out of business. Every
time I went in there, the people behind the counter were always rude and
preoccupied with their own business. Many times, as I was trying to order
my combo number three with no pickles, the cashier would start arguing
with the fry guy. Often customers would be waiting for service while the
manager was trying to resolve the most recent scheduling problems or
employee strife. Well, it wasn’t long before they were out of business.
I know why.
Th ey forgot what they were there to do.
Th ey forgot that a fast-food chain does not exist in order to
highlight the concerns of those who are working behind the counter. Th e
whole reason a fast-food chain exists is to provide food for the people out
there—on the other side of the counter.
Sadly, that can be true of us today. As believers we get so caught
up with what’s going on inside the church walls while we’re shepherding
our own people that we forget about the people out there. We forget one of
the main reasons we still exist on this planet is to “go and make disciples
of all nations.”
So how do we reach those who aren’t coming into the walls of the
church? How do we bring Christ to them? It starts with compassion.
Youth Ministry in One Word
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