Six Types of Teens In Every Youth Group:

I have been working with teenagers in various capacities for about 10 years. I have worked at a couple of different churches along the East Coast and even worked for a season with teenagers in Ghana, Africa. While each group of teenagers have their own unique challenges and blessings I have noticed that there are usually about 6 types of teenagers in each youth group. They are the rebels, those playing the game, those on the family plan, some who struggle with doubt, are brand new and those who are growing strong. Allow me to take a few minutes to highlight each unique group found within every youth group I have worked with.

Rebel: Rebels learn about God and reject Him. Some of them grow up in Christian homes and they want no part of it. Most of them wouldn’t be caught dead in Sunday School or Wednesday night. Rebels need to ask themselves: what am I rebelling against? Parents? Church? Hypocritical Christians on TV? Rebels need to remember that Jesus was a rebel too. He hated hypocrisy. Maybe rebels could talk to Jesus about their rebellion. He might agree.

Playing the Game: There are those who are just playing the game. Their parents bring them to church, and they don’t want to upset them too much, so they act like a good Christian-until they don’t. Different time, different crowd, they’re a different person. Let me just say that they can fool their parents, and they can fool me, but they can’t fool God. He knows exactly who they are, and he wants to know them better, if they just stop playing around.

Family Plan: There are those in every group who assume they are Christians because their parents are Christian. I like to call them osmosis Christians. They need to have a heart-to-heart, DTR talk with Jesus, where they say yes to him, where they give them their heart.

Struggling with Doubt: Some in every group are struggling with doubt and maybe feel guilty about it. They worry that they’re not a very good Christian. They don’t want to be a hypocrite, but there are all these questions. They need to be told to relax. Relax! It’s natural to have doubts. Some of the great heroes of the Bible had doubts at various times. It doesn’t disqualify you. They need to be encouraged to talk to God about their doubts and search out the answer from Scripture.

Brand New: Some are brand new in the faith, and have an amazing spiritual energy right now. That’s great and to be honest these are my favorite types of people in the group. They need to remember, it’s not all about how they feel, but it’s a relationship with God that makes you happy. They should be encouraged to enjoy their new found freedom in Christ.

Growing Strong: Some have been Christians for a while and are growing strong. They need to be encouraged. There are some temptations which are especially dangerous at this point, so they must watch out for pride, for complacency, for legalism and must keep connecting with God each day.

In conclusion, I have discovered that there are usually six types of people in every youth group. There are the rebels, those playing the game, those on the family plan, those struggling with doubt, brand new Christians and those growing strong. Each of these people need to be taught the Gospel and should find a community who loves them where they are and encourages them to grown in their walk with the Lord.