Cultural Apologetics in Youth Ministry
This article is the introduction to a monthlong series about cultural apologetics in youth ministry. Make sure to subscribe to the blog to get the rest of the series in your inbox each week.
Every youth worker wants to reach students with the gospel. We want students to know Christ, to follow Him, and to help others to do the same. We also want that faith to endure, as we often say here at YPT, “that they would become adult disciples whose faith took root in their teen years.” And for every generation, the process of how to do this well looks a little different.
Even though the gospel remains the same, the world in which the gospel is proclaimed does not. For youth workers, the challenge is often: “How do I effectively share the gospel with students in a way that is relevant?” How do we, as youth workers, maintain our firm stance on the truths of God’s Word while adopting an evangelistic approach that meets teenagers where they are?
The culture that today’s teenagers inhabit is not the same one we ourselves experienced. The gospel analogies and presentations that were helpful for us as teenagers may not connect as well with them. Teenagers depend much more on technology to find answers to their problems than previous generations. They also look to different authorities for their view of morality, no longer trusting many established institutions or traditional views on most subjects. Additionally, their moral values are no longer instilled primarily in the home, but are found elsewhere in the rise of the activist/influencer generation. Beyond that, what this generation finds beautiful and the stories they care about have changed, as art has become both streamlined and easily replicated with the rise of AI, TikTok, and streaming. For today’s students, the world they inhabit is one that is crowded with distraction, deception, and disillusionment.
The Need for Cultural Apologetics
These factors have had a substantial effect on their view of Christianity as a whole. The air today’s teenagers breathe is one that Dr. Paul Gould in his book Cultural Apologetics calls, “disenchanted, sensate, and hedonistic” (27). In short, our students have been told that everything in their world is ordinary, mundane, purely physical, and for them to be happy, they need to chase the simple pleasures that will provide a sense of happiness, however short-lived or detrimental to their soul it may be. This framework with which they see the world is one that is less likely to give the gospel a fair hearing.
At the same time, the church’s response to this shift has been insufficient. The rise of postmodern thought encouraged students to doubt what is true (or even what truth means), yet most Christians were not adequately prepared to defend the rationality of their faith in the face of modern objections. When student activism became normalized, Christians were not equipped to speak into the ethical issues of the day. As the rise of technology streamlined student’s ability to create and consume entertainment, Christians were not trained to find avenues to inject the gospel into the stories society was telling. Yesterday’s approach to sharing the gospel isn’t working in today’s world. For many youth workers, not only do they not feel like they struggle to reach this new generation, but they aren’t even sure where to start.
So what do we do? How do we, as youth workers seeking to share the gospel with the upcoming generations, become more effective in having what Gould (echoing Lesslie Newbigin) calls, “genuine missionary encounters” with students (19-20)? I believe, as Gould argues in his book, that youth workers must begin to see their evangelistic task as cultural apologetics: finding ways to “establish the Christian voice, conscience, and imagination within their culture so that it (the gospel) can be seen as true and satisfying,” (21).
The Foundation of Cultural Apologetics: Imago Dei
What grounds cultural apologetics is that all people are made in God’s image with the same purpose: to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Part of what this means is that there is something hard-wired in the human heart that needs God in order to flourish. Calvin called it the sensus divinitatis, Lewis called it the sehnsuct, and Solomon called it “eternity in man’s heart”: the fundamental longing for wholeness in God that all humanity shares. Peter Kreeft identifies three fundamental human longings for truth, goodness, and beauty, with three corresponding faculties: reason, conscience, and imagination. God has imbued humans with longings that can only be satisfied in Him, and faculties that can help guide them toward Himself.
But this isn’t the only thing they share: they have what the Bible calls a “sin nature.” All humans are now marred by sin, which affects not only their status before God, but those same faculties of reason, conscience, and imagination. They believe falsehoods, they act immorally, and they desire depravity. Their view of the world can be shaped by sin to the point that Christianity is not given a fair hearing. Their reception of it is colored by their muted conscience or faulty reasoning, those faculties given by God that lie dormant.
Cultural apologetics, then, is trying to find ways to awaken those dormant longings and connect them to the gospel: using what they value to find ways of introducing them to how their ultimate fulfillment is in Christ alone. By understanding what their audience cares about, exposing them to the futility of finding satisfaction elsewhere, and building a bridge to the hope that the gospel offers, Christians can have genuine missionary encounters again, clearly presenting Christ as true, good, and beautiful.
Example of Cultural Apologetics: Paul in Acts 17
The Apostle Paul’s evangelistic ministry in Acts 17 is a good example of what these genuine missionary encounters can look like.
Finding a Starting Point
Paul begins his address to the men of the Aeropagus by finding common ground: something they shared in common with which he could begin his conversation. In their case, it was their religious impulse. He recognized the number of idols in their city, and used that as the starting point: “You have many gods; let me tell you about the greatest one.”
Using their Own Concepts
Paul not only quotes some poets from their own culture, but he navigates this discussion of God by using concepts they clearly understood: talking about gods living in temples, being served by humans, etc. These were things he had observed in their religious practices that became useful on-ramps for the gospel.
Correcting their Misunderstandings
Although Paul finds points of connection between himself and the men of Athens, he also makes sure to correct their flawed views of God: He is not one who lives in temples, nor does He need anything from humans. He is the foundation of all life, sustaining and ruling over everything in existence.
Presenting the Gospel
As Paul begins his conclusion, he makes sure to connect it to the gospel: this same God who made them and rules over them is the God they are accountable to: the man Jesus Christ. This same Jesus who came to the world to save believers will return again in judgment on those who are not. And they can know this to be true because He also rose from the dead, just as He said He would. Their response is to repent and place their trust in Him.
How Cultural Apologetics Can Benefit Student Ministry
Cultural apologetics could transform how we share the gospel with students today. Not because the gospel itself has changed, but because students may need help to see how that same gospel that transformed our lives can do the same for them. We should strive to present the love of God clearly and effectively, laying the groundwork so that students will give the gospel a fair hearing, then calling them to place their faith in Christ. This isn’t guaranteeing that they come to faith, as conviction is the role of the Holy Spirit, but it does help to alleviate unnecessary distractions or obstacles to their hearing of the gospel. Second, to present the gospel in such a way that it is seen for what it is: the ultimate expression of truth, goodness, and beauty. Genuine missionary encounters find a balance of conviction and contextualization that we as youth ministry leaders need to take seriously.
The story of the gospel is the greatest story ever told. Not only does it speak to the needs of every human heart, but it is essential to the flourishing of our students. As youth workers, we must avoid the impulse to only focus on “the narrow gospel”: the death and resurrection of Jesus. That is where every gospel conversation should end, but not where it needs to begin. Find what your students care about. Lean into it. Identify what desires those things are trying to meet. Expose how they are insufficient to give them what they need most. Then point them to Christ. May our students (and us) spend the rest of our lives seeking the One our hearts long for: the source of all truth, goodness, and beauty, until we see Him face to face.