Giving up Gimmicks

Aaron Cabe

Dan Johnson

Missions

February 26, 2013

Giving Up Gimmicks (Chapter 1 Summary)

Cosby starts out the book by describing his interview with the youth at the Presbyterian Church he was going to be youth pastoring in. Even though most of the questions were random and didn't have anything to do with his abilities to lead the youth, one student asked him if he was willing to "challenge (them) as (their) youth pastor." This challenged him to actually "challenge" the youth in that church. He then spent the rest of the chapter explaining that the youth need to be challenged in the church. He says that they need to see that the Christian faith isn't shallow. They need to experience the meat of scripture and not just games and things that will entertain them. Cosby argues that in fact, the youth in the church desire and want to be challenged in their local youth groups. All they need is for their youth leaders to step up and provide that challenge to them. Stop making youth group social hour, and instead make it a time for everyone to come together to draw closer to God. Cosby ends by challenging the youth pastors to not focus on being a "successful" youth leader, instead he challenges them to be a faithful to the ministry, always remembering to put Christ and His glory first and foremost. Do this, and everything else will fall into place.