Chris Folmsbee presented in one of the “Super Seminars.” His was all about a narrative approach to youth ministry. As a youth pastor who has been deeply shaped by narrative theology and is in turn beginning to use narrative theology in youth ministry I was naturally drawn to his seminar. That and Chris brought his ministry SonLife to Kansas City and now works with my friend Mike King at YouthFront.

Chris really hit on a lot of the same ground Lauren Winter did in her chastity seminar on the foundational idea that we have to start with the story of God before we ever get to sexual ethics (or whatever).

In a similar vein Chris helped us to see that the foundation of youth ministry is the Story of God. On that foundation is built the next level, Theology, what we say about God based on His story. Then comes the Identity & Calling, or what we can say about ourselves based on the Story and who God is… and the implications of what that calls us to. Then that calling or implication moves towards a Rule of Life, how do we approach life in light of the Story, in light of who God is, in light of who we understand that calls us to be. Then… and only then, can we talk about behaviors and practices in a way that is truly rooted in the gospel.

Chris’s critique of youth ministry is a good one, we have for too long started with the behaviors and practices… what good kids should be like, etc. and then tried to get to the story of God from there. While it’s well intentioned, it gives no context to why of all those behaviors and practices might be important. This was the same point I believe that Lauren Winter was making in her seminar on chastity, we have to do the hard work of weaving the gospel in to the lives of kids before we can start talking about concrete practices of the Christian life.

We need to be honest enough to say that Christian living isn’t just about “common sense.” The stuff we do is weird and odd and while it might seem really wise and good to an older generation the younger generation needs to be brought along to find themselves in the Story of God before we can ask them to live like Christians.

That involves a risk on our part. It means we work harder at weaving the gospel into the lives of our students before we try to instill “Christian ethics” into them, because without the foundation of the Story of God those practices will be rooted in a very shallow soil and inevitably will wash away when they leave “youth ministry” behind.