Where's the (spiritual) beef?

It is easy to fall into the trap of being the "cruise director" for the church youth. They want to have fun; that's not bad or dangerous as part of the overall program. Too often, though, we find it easier to increase the entertainment than to keep it balanced with all the necessary parts of the ministry. Hey, the teens respond don't they? Numbers increase and that's good, right?

I know I have to weigh the cost of such thinking. Am I only helping to raise a generation of spiritual couch potatoes? Where is the Holy Spirit in what I'm doing?

It still comes back to why I am in ministry. I want to help the church grow by fostering Christian relationships between people and help the individual grow in their relationship to God. The seemingly "all fun" activity may have just as much of the Spirit as a Bible study, but it may not, too. Hey, just because it's a Bible study doesn't mean that the Spirit is there.

Tomorrow my youth group is meeting with a group from another congregation. I'm Methodist; we're supposed to be connectional, although we don't practice it often enough. I believe that God's Spirit will bless our game of water balloon volleyball, just as He will bless our work to collect canned food for a local food pantry ministry. Will we talk about God directly? Some, but probably not as much as we usually do on a Sunday evening. Is that bad? Nope.