How to build assurance in young people

Bring assurance, joy and hope to young people by affirming the security of their faith.

One of my favourite element of youth ministry is question time. I love hearing the profound or wacky questions. Young people’s passion to understand the origins of dinosaurs is universal. My heart is warmed when teenagers refuse to accept simplistic answers or strawman arguments and push their leaders to explain how the Bible works and what Jesus is doing. There is also nothing better than hearing youth answer their friend’s questions using the Bible.  

Question time provides a window into the lives of young people. Their questions reveal the deeper topics and issues they are wrestling with. 20 years ago, question times were dominated by the reliability of the Bible. Those questions revealed a deep wrestle with the truthfulness of the Christian faith. Last week we enjoyed a youth conference with 330 youth. Each night we were encouraged and challenged by their questions as they wrestled with the gospel and life as a Christian. One night, after engaging in 20 public questions and countless conversations with young people, one of our speakers made an insightful comment, “Lack of assurance is the big issue these youth are dealing with”.   

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” - 1 John 3:1  

The Bible constantly affirms the security of our faith. We are the chosen, loved, adopted, redeemed, and forgiven children of God. This is true because of the great love the Father has lavished on us in Christ. Our identity as Christians does not rely on our good works or attendance at youth group. It rests in what Christ has done for us and in us. But many teenagers don’t feel it.  They struggle to trust that God’s Word about who they are is true.  Some bounce from recommitment to recommitment. Many buy into the secular worldview where feelings define your identity.

Lack of assurance is not a new issue. The New Testament regularly teaches early Christians about the security of their faith in a world that tempts us to doubt God’s good Word. However, as we listen to the questions modern youth are asking, they reveal a deep lack of assurance which is stalling their Christian joy and growth. How can our ministries strengthen the assurance of our youth? Here are 4 ideas you might like to consider.

1. Teach the gospel of grace

Jesus’ gospel gives wonderful assurance. Christians are saved by grace, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). The gospel of grace says no to boasting, and also to a lack of assurance. As we teach the gospel, we must also teach assurance. Our salvation and identity as Christians rest on God’s grace not our feelings. His grace deals with sin, is strong when we doubt and is defendable against any attack. 

2. Communicate guilt-free application

As we rightly seek to apply God’s word to young people’s lives, we must avoid using guilt to motivate change. Guilt destroys assurance in young people. Guilt compels young people to look within instead of towards Jesus. Instead, let us motivate people to live out their assured faith by walking in step with the Spirit. Let’s explain how godly sorrow leads to repentance and growth (2 Corinthians 7:10). Let’s share stories of lived out obedient faith that is motivated by grace, not law.

3. Avoid recommitments

Recommitment numbers are great for marketing but terrible for teenagers. Some young people will have a prodigal son experience and recommit to Jesus. Most young people who recommit are confused. They are not sure what they were before their recommitment or what they are now. This results in commitments that revolve around what young people want to do rather than trusting what Jesus has done for them.  When providing opportunities for recommitment, we should also create forums where committed long-term faith is celebrated. Not as a means of boasting, but as a model to young people that when God saves us, he does it forever (Romans 8:38-39); when we feel close, when we fail, on Christian camps and when we are alone.

4. Connect young people with long term Christians

The author of Hebrews calls us to actively remember historical men and women of faith as we run our race with perseverance (Hebrews 12:1). The witness of those who have lived by faith teaches young people what real assurance looks like. How many of your youth know 40-year-old Christians, 60-year-old Christians, 80-year-old Christians? Most of them have no model of long-term faith. A culture of assurance is built when young people genuinely engage with people who have been running the race significantly longer than them.

The Christian life is not a linear line of growth. It has ups and downs, seasons of strength and weakness. But it is not bouncing from non-Christian to Christian. This experience sucks the joy out of any person and especially young Christians. Let’s work to buttress the assurance of young people’s faith through our youth ministries. What do the questions your youth are asking reveal about their deeper battles?