The Power of an Invitation
"Pastor Lee! I want you to meet Doug," Eldon said as he introduced me to a friend he'd brought to youth group.
"Good to meet you, man!" I said as I stuck out my hand to greet Doug. "We're glad you're here."
We shook hands as Doug nervously replied, "Thanks... I just met Eldon this week."
Seeing Doug's nervousness, Eldon filled in some of the gaps, "Doug just moved into the area from Washington state, and this is his first week at school. We've been hanging out at school and I told him he would love it here at youth group."
Doug did love it at youth group. It wasn't long before he put his faith in God. In fact, he came back week after week and quickly became a part of the group. He started attending on Sundays and became part of the youth worship team.
Disciple-Making: More Than a Clergy Role
I wasn't surprised that Eldon had been so quick to invite a new friend to church-he invited friends to church all the time. He was a Campus Missionary, a student committed to sharing Jesus at school and beyond. Even though he was far from perfect, he was bold with his faith and in challenging his friends to be disciples of Jesus.
Not only did Eldon lead his friends to Jesus, he also started a movement for the Gospel in his school. Each week, he led a movement of 60 students in a Bible Club.
Although we were not a huge youth group, we had students sharing the Gospel as Campus Missionaries in nine schools, and leading Gospel-sharing clubs in five schools. Two guiding principles shaped this vision and direction.
Principle #1: Disciples Who Make Disciples
Scripture calls us to engage a movement of disciples who will make disciples (2 Timothy 2:2). Disciple-making cannot be the job of professional clergy or ministry workers alone; the Gospel will not advance in this way. Instead, every disciple must also be involved in sharing the Gospel with the lost and making disciples of new believers. This is how the Gospel grows and advances beyond its current limits in our culture.
Principle #2: Students Can Lead Now
We believed that students could share the Gospel and be missionaries to their friends now, whether they had reached full spiritual maturity or not. Key to this understanding is Luke 9:1-6, where Jesus sends out the twelve disciples to proclaim the Kingdom of God.
We don't know the full state of their spiritual maturity by this time, but we do know they had not yet arrived as fully-formed disciples. Among the twelve who were sent out to proclaim the Kingdom was Peter, who would later cut off someone's ear with a sword in a moment of passion and deny Jesus three times. Jesus also sent out Thomas, who later doubted His resurrection. And, of course, Jesus sent out Judas, who would betray Him.
Yet these same twelve proclaimed the Kingdom, healed the sick, and cast out demons. Later, Jesus sent out an additional 72 disciples, commissioning them in the same way. Those disciples reported back that even demons obeyed them when they used Jesus' name!
Your Challenge
Are you willing to commission the students in your youth group to proclaim the Gospel and bring healing to their generation? If so, you too can have a thriving youth ministry of disciples who will make disciples.
The work starts now. Empower your students. Trust the Holy Spirit to guide them. And watch as the Gospel transforms your schools, communities, and beyond.
Some of the content of this article is from the book Disciple Maker, coming in 2025 from Gospel Publishing House. A version of this post first appeared on NNYM long-time partner interlinc's platform. Check out their hundreds of youth ministry resources.