Give 'Em The Mic!


Jeff Martin - March 7, 2022

There is something deep in the heart of every human that wants to be a part of something epic. After all, we are made in the image of God who is the highest expression of epic.  Youth in particular have a deep desire to be part of something bigger than themselves.

One of the best ways to keep this from happening is to marginalize youth to the role of a spectator or involve them at the lowest, risk-averse level of leadership. For decades, youth leaders operated under the principle that you must have "a hook" to effectively gather students and keep their attention. This referred to an adult expert and/or some sort of entertainment. When I first got involved in student ministry, I thought this was an added commandment etched into Moses' stone tablets, "Thou Must Have A Hook!"

When I first contemplated the idea of starting Fields of Faith, I sought out advice from some trusted advisors I knew in youth ministry. The majority opinion is that it would never work. Without a hook, youth wouldn't gather together. And if they somehow did, they certainly wouldn't pay attention to an untrained, ordinary speaker. I leaned into the story of Josiah in 2 Chronicles 34 and moved forward, placing a large portion of the success or failure of the event on the student leaders. This was a radical thought and definitely a faith proposition!

The results have been astounding. Sixteen years later, we have seen over 2 million youth flock to their local stadiums, large and small, to be spiritually impacted primarily by their peers.  Churches, schools and campus organizations gather at one of the last bastions left where communities are comfortable uniting each week: a sports stadium.

The following are four principles I've discovered that pulse through the veins of Fields of Faith. I believe they can be helpful whether it's a small ministry program in a church or a global movement like Fields of Faith:

  1. Value - Give the influencers the microphone in a high challenge situation. Heroes always face overwhelming odds. Set the conditions for heroes of the faith to emerge and they will. The biggest challenge here is normally for us as ministers.  We want to minimize risk and control every event and program. This lessens the chance of failure which would make us look bad. There is indeed value in this strategy, the value is only in us. Flip the script at times - and see what happens. 
     
  2. Simple - Determine your center of gravity and stick to it. We naturally drift to complexity. We must drive to simplicity. Complexity kills a major movement; simplicity ignites it. Our center of gravity for Fields of Faith was/is to have students challenge their peers to read the Word of God and come to faith in Christ. 
     
  3. Common - Identify and swarm your common enemy. A common goal is different than a common enemy.  A common goal is about tasks and achievement. Countering a common enemy is about unity and survival. We focused on the fact that we were being overrun in our culture, we were losing, and Satan was our common enemy (1 Peter 5:8). 
     
  4. Own - Stop attending the concert; be the concert. This will be the result of value, simple and common. They will each own their part. You will not need "a hook," or beg them to "get involved."

God has ordained His pastoral leadership structure in the church to shepherd and lead the flock. This is a holy and high calling and must be done with excellence. 

But we must be vigilant to not let a satanic lullaby lure us to sleep when it comes to engaging, equipping and empowering the saints. We are not called to make spectators. We are called to make disciples.  

Jeff Martin serves as the Executive Director of Campus Sport Ministry for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Jeff has been serving with FCA for 25 years. Before joining the Support Center staff, he was the SW Oklahoma FCA Area Director in Lawton, Okla., for 14 years. During that time, he founded Fields of Faith, which has become an annual national outreach event for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.  Martin earned his Master of Divinity with Biblical Languages from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Tx. Upon graduation he served 4 years as the Sr. High Youth Pastor at First Southern Baptist Church in Del City, OK before joining FCA staff.

 

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