Seriously…. I am so sick and tired of answering this question in my youth ministry context:  Is Jesus the REALLY the only way to heaven?

Our students are having a very difficult time embracing the reality that Jesus is the only way, truth, and life without sounding like an

- non-educated idiot

- arrogant

- judgment

- know it all

Possible ways to answer:

How To Say it– 3 reasons why you need to be careful

1.  Dan Kimball argues in They Like Jesus But Not the Church, that our hearts and heads needs to be gentle, but firm when talking about the exclusive claims of Jesus (1 Peter 3.15)

2.  Dan suggests that we treat other who have different beliefs with respect while strongly claiming Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life

3.  Be ready because claiming absolute certainty in a pluralistic society is consider ludicrous.

What To Say- 9 reasons why Jesus is the only way.  ( I stole this from Stand to Reason: Jesus, the Only Way: 100 Verses Gregory Koukl)

Jesus makes some pretty clear statements about Him being the ONLY WAY. (John 14.6, Acts 4.11-12, Acts 16.30-31, 1 Tim 2.5, 1 John 2.23, 1 John 5.11-12, Luke 10.16, Luke 12.8-9, Luke 12.8-9, John 3.18, John 3.36, John 8.24, John 10.7-8b)

Reason #1: Jesus is the only source of salvation for the world (Mark 14.61-62, Acts 16.30-31, Titus 2.13)

Reason #2: Jesus is the father’s choice (Mark 9.7, Philippians 2.9-11, Hebrews 1.1-3)

Reason #3: Rejection of Jesus is rejection of the father (John 8.19, John 15.23 Luke 10.16)

Reason #4: Rejection of Jesus brings judgment and wrath; belief in Jesus rescues from wrath (Luke 12.8-9, John 5.24, John 3.18, John 3.36, Acts 3.22-23, 1 Thess 1.9-10, Rev 19.13-16)

Reason #5: Jesus is the one who provides forgiveness from sins (Luke 7.48, John 1.29, Acts 3.38, 40, 1 John 2.2, Romans 8.1)

Reason #6: Many impostors will claim to provide other ways of salvation (Gal 1.8-9, Matthew 7.13-14, John 10.7-8, 10, Matthew 7.15, Mark 13.5-6, Mark 13.22-23, Jude 1.4)

Reason #7: There are no other alternatives for salvation (John 18.37b, Romans 8.8-9, Matthew 26.39, Mark 14.36, Luke 22.41-42, Galatians 2.21, Rev 21.27)

Reason #8: All nations are to be given the gospel (Matthew 28.18-19, Luke 24.47)

Reason #9: Jesus will be man’s judge on the final day (Mark 8.38, Luke 9.26, 1 Peter 3.21b-22, John 5.26-27, Acts 17.30-31, Romans 2.16, 2 Timothy 4.1)

© 2010, Jeremy Zach. All rights reserved.

Question::  What about demons?

Answer::  4 Realities of Demons

1.  Angels that sinned long ago have been put away (2 Peter 2.4)

^NIV 2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment;

2.  Pagan religions sacrifice to demons (Deut. 32.17, Psalm 106.37, Mat 8.31)

3.  Christian has spiritual authority to drive out demons (Mat 10.1)

* Oppression- demonic power that has influence in places, spaces, people, organization

-  Christians can be tempted by demonic activity.

-  Christians should not dabble with demonic/dark stuff… horror movies, porn, wigi board, new age, occult stuff,

*  Possession- people can have demonic spirits living in them.  Spirits are invisible need stuff to show themselves.

-  Some spirits are more wicked than others (Mat 12.45, Mark 1.27, Luke 8.28)

Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation. (Mat 12:45)

4.  Jesus cast out demons or evil spirits (Mark 1.27, Luke 8.29)

-  Jesus drove out demons by the Spirit of God (Mat 12.28)

-  Demons know Jesus is the Son of God, unlike some people (Mark 3.11)

Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.”

You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that — and shudder. (James 2:19)

Youth Pastors Must REMIND Our Students There Is No Need To Be Scared…

Reminders When Talking about Demons

–>  Prayer Must Become A Significant Activity Of Our Lives. (Ephesians 6.10-18)

–>  Confront Satanic Influence Radically With The Truth Of God’s Word. (1 John 4.4)

–>  Battle has already been won.  (1 John 3.8)

–>  Saturation With The Scripture Is Essential. (Matthew 4.1-11)

John MacArthur captures this significant truth:

The only way you will know victory in the Christian life is by daily studying the principles of God’s Word. That way you’ll be ready to apply them whenever the world, the flesh, and the devil choose to attack. That means you must saturate your mind with God’s Word. The reason so many Christians fall to temptation is they just don’t know how Scripture deals with what’s troubling them.

© 2010, Jeremy Zach. All rights reserved.

How did we get the New Testament Canon?

Marcion//

The single most significant factor was Marcion (AD 85-160).  Marcion got brave and constructed what he felt was the right canon. Marcion didn’t like Paul and the Old Testament.  Marcion wanted Luke, Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and Galatians out of the Bible.

Marcion’s canon was the first canon but obviously it was problematic.

In 180AD church leaders wanted to put a stop to Marcion picking and choosing what texts were in and out of the canon.  The church leader formed a council.  In early 200s, Origen listed all twenty-seven New Testament books, but indicated 6 were still being questioned.  The council of Laodicea in AD 363 stated that the Old Testament, along with the apocrypha, and 27 books of the New Testament were to be read in Christian churches.  The council of Carthage in AD397 was the final decision that concluded the New Testament canon would consist of 27 books, which were both inspired and authoritative texts.

What were the Church’s fathers methods to picking the New Testament books?

Their basic guidelines were:  texts that appeared early, authored by apostle, edifying, and widely accepted.

1. We know that the Holy Spirit, who inspired the New Testament writings, made it possible to appropriately select what texts would appear in the New Testament canon.  We also have to believe in God’s providence and the preservation of the Bible throughout time.  We have evidence from archaeology, the 400+fulfilled prophecies, and of course changed lives throughout the centuries.
2. The texts needed to be adaptable and stable.
3. The New Testament texts needed to authored either by an apostle or be an apostolic associate.
4. The texts need to be edifying, valuable, and be consistent.
5. By 200AD at least 21 of the books had been accepted universally.  Basically all of the churches were in agreement that each book was essentially saying the same thing.
6. The letters were all written before 100AD, so basically 50 to 70 years after Jesus’ death.  THIS IS HUGE!!!!!  No other western literature text appeared so early on after it was written.  For example,  the Persian wars or the movement of Alexander the Great were given to us by only one source.  Plato’s writing appeared about 1,400 years later after he wrote them.  Historians have 14,000 copies of the New Testament and the writing appeared only 50-70 years after Jesus’ ministry and death.  For more on this point please visit here.

© 2010, Jeremy Zach. All rights reserved.

Teens’ question:  Is the New Testament reliable?

** question #7 is somewhat related to question #6.

Answers:

If we are trusting in the Bible so much, students need to be sure it is true.  Three ways to know it is true:  Internal evidence, Bibliographical test,  and Historical test.

Internal Test – Students need to read first hand what the Bible claims about scripture.  2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.  It is imperative students start to see Scripture is sufficient while they approach it  very humbly.  Scripture is the Word.

Bibliographical Test – I would like to simply compare the New Testament books with various other books that are widely read and accepted in Western literature.  Scholars have the earliest copies of Aristotle and Plato about 1,400 years after they were written.  We have 7 copies of Plato and 5 copies of Aristotle.  Here is the kicker:  We have copies of the New Testament about 100 years after the books were written and we still have over 14,000 copies of the New Testament.  The problem is no one is questioning the reliability of Aristotle or Plato.  I think the fact that we still have over 14,000 copies of the Greek New Testament implies the content is pretty important.

Historical Test – Josephus- best known ancient Jewish historian. He was born in 37 CE, only a few years after Jesus’ execution. Josephus was well educated in biblical law and history. In a section of Book 18 dealing with various actions of Pilate, the texts refer to Jesus and his ministry:

Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ, and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians so named from him are not extinct at this day.

- Jewish Antiquities 18.3.3

My point:  other 1st century non-Christian historians claimed that Jesus existed.

I think getting students to see first hand that the New Testament in the scholarly world does have some street cred.  I love watching students see the evidence first hand and are floored because now they can take ownership of their faith.  They have seen some of the many facts of this ancient faith which was called THE WAY.

© 2010, Jeremy Zach. All rights reserved.

Why do I(the student) have to attend church?

Answer:

1. Students think they can follow Jesus without attending church.

Somewhere along the line students bought into the idea that I can be a devoted follower of Christ and skip out on church.  If our students don’t attend church now, they never will!  This is problematic at both the spiritual development and theological level.

2. Students going to church has a lot of Biblical support–kind of a major point.

One may think this is not a theological question, but a practical question.  Students do not want to go to church because it is “boring” or not “relevant”.  I disagree this question is entirely theological and should not consider how students feel towards church.  This question strictly deals with how youth ministries address ecclesiological matters.  Jesus tells Peter He will build His Church on this rock (Matthew 16.18).  Basically Jesus thinks the Church is a big deal because He directly gives Peter the Church’s construction plans. Also students really matter to Jesus.  For some reason, Jesus deeply cares about children and teenagers (Mark 10).  So it would make sense Jesus loves having students involved and participating in church.

3. Students need to value  being in “big church”.

Youth pastors need to encourage students to attend “big church”.  Big church is intimating for students.  It mainly consists of adults who do not give a rip about some punk teenager.  Big church gathers regularly for preaching/teaching and worship, observe the biblical sacraments of baptism and communion, are unified by the Spirit, are disciplined for holiness, and are empowered to be missionaries to their town and to the world for God’s glory and redemption.  Our students need to learn how to love each aspect of what the church is.  I think the problem is…. many youth pastors underplay these marks of the church because we don’t think they work.  Or we don’t think they are fun or students will not like them.  In Nehemiah 8 Ezra preaches from daybreak to noon (Nehemiah 8.3).  Nehemiah does not record any of the teenagers complaining to their parents that Ezra is boring and preached for too long.

The sooner students  assimulate into the church body the better off they will be.

4. Some students may like Church, but don’t like your church.

I think it is perfectly okay to let other students attend other churches.  It is difficult as their youth pastor to encourage them to attend a bigger and better church down the street.  More youth pastors need to be Kingdom-minded.  Trust me, if a student enjoys another church, do Jesus a favor and let him/her attend.  I think it is our job as youth pastors to get students plugged into church, which may mean suggesting other churches that are a better fit for your student.  Plus, our students will most likely not be in the same church setting they grew up in, especially when they enter their college or adulthood years.

5. Some students may need a church time out.

If a student does not desire to attend church, they may need a break.  Granted, use some discernment and don’t be giving students a hall pass every time a student complains about church.  It can be very healthy allowing students to take a break so they can re-evaluate why they attend church.  Give permission for students to skip a few weeks of church if they are angry, bitter, or frustrated with church.  We don’t want church to be a chore and painful.  Give students clear boundaries when giving them a leave.  Make sure to have a follow up plan, if they do decide to take a break.  I found that if you give students a little room of freedom, it can have great benefits to their spiritual development process. Make sure you talk to their parents before dismissing them from church.

6. Always refer to the parent.

Parents have the final answer to the question of:  Mom or dad do I have to go to church?  Some parents make church mandatory and others make it optional.  Personally I think church should be mandatory for students who are in 6th-10th grade.  When a student enters 11th grade, he/she should start making their own decisions while they have a support system already in place.  If the student decides not to attend church, he/she needs to articulate why this is the best decision.  By the way “sleeping in” does not count.

7. Praying, corporately and privately, for our teens’ church attendance.

It is a constant battle raising up our students according to God’s way.  It is tough following Jesus as a jr high and high school student.  Getting teens to church is tough.  By fearlessly praying for our teens church involvement will empower and protect our students and families as they live out the Christian life in and out of the church context.  Essentially as youth pastors we need to be praying Ephesians 6.1-4 and 6.10-13 over our students and families every Sunday.

© 2010, Jeremy Zach. All rights reserved.