Thursday, January 10, 2008
series of posts on Young Life and Non-Negotiables
I've been writing and thinking a bit about Young Life and some of the controversy stirred up over the issues of their Non-Negotiables and staff getting fired over on my other blog, but since this has a lot to do with youth ministry, theology, and emerging conversation, I thought I'd go ahead and post this stuff here too. I look forward to some great conversation!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Why such the uproar? When YL put into print the 'Non-negotiables', it wasn't like they were going in a totally different direction than YL has ever gone.
If you go to the YL leader page (you have to be a leader and have a password), you will find, as I have the last 3 years I have been in YL, the Talk Outline. This outline is how YL shares the Gospel. The first 5 talks are on the person of Jesus (showing the Love of God in compassion, forgiveness, friendship, etc...). It is not until you have that foundation that SIN is mentioned. After that - the GOOD NEWS that Jesus died on the Cross to take care of all the sin.
If you cannot agree with YL and how they share the Gospel of Christ, then you shouldn't be a part of the organization - that is why a whole area in NC has no YL, now. Those are the people who have done the disservice, not YL
I just want to clarify . . . the issue in NC is not about the YL order of talks. Rather a theological issue about when you can share the good news. I am from NC and though I do not currently serve as a leader in the area that has now left the YL community, (i am a leader nearby in NC) I have a number of close friends that served on staff in the Druham/Chapel Hill area. You are right that it is an unfortunate situation. However, the issue is ofver YL requiring a certain amount of time to lapse before sharing the good news. There is a fundamental theological difference in beliefs between the former area director and headquarters in CO. The former area director was assked for input in the re-writing of this particular "non-negotiable" and from the beginning of that process expressed an opinion that different from others. It seems, when you really get down to it, that YL never had any intention of trying to reconcile this issue and was content to just fire the area director. Much to their dismay, Im sure, all of the staff and committee followed the area director. Thankfully for the kids of that part of NC, another program very similar to YL based on building relationship with high school kids has been put into place and so the work of the Lord will continue.
Post a Comment