A question that every teacher of young people should begin with when they arrive at class on the first day is: What have you come to the group to do? Because the focus for both teachers and students is, although everyone knows it, that a class of young people in the church does not come to get a diploma that will help in their high school studies. Here it is a matter of enriching life with the Light that created all things. It is to contribute to the formation of citizen children of God, men and women capable of reasoning with their own heads in the shadow of the Almighty.
This clarification must always be made and considered because society makes them mistakenly understand that they are studying to achieve a diploma that is going to be used in the world of work. The tutor and supervisor, as well as the arts and sports instructor, must fight to have this broken down in the young believer’s mindset. The role of teaching in the church has a broader and more dignified meaning.
In the art of teaching and learning, what is important is not the goals of the content as such, but the experience that is had during the process. There is the experience that will make them better. So, the main ally of the teacher of young people is not the speed with which each content can be reached, but the time of enjoyment that is achieved in walking slowly to reach that content.
A great writer once delayed the prologue of his book by six years so that he could argue how important it is to take education in stride. His prologue itself was a plea, a praise for slowness. He said: “This prologue is too late[1] . What are five or six years after all? A book like this, a problem like this; He is not in any hurry. Besides, both I and my book are friends of the slow one. Not at all have I been a philologist, and perhaps I still am, this is a master of slow reading, in the end one ends up writing slowly as well. Philology is that venerable art that demands above all one thing from those who admire and respect it: to stand on the sidelines, to take time, to learn calm and slowness, as it is the art and knowledge of the goldsmith of the word, who has to carry out a delicate and careful work, and achieves nothing if it is not with slow time.»[2].
This paradigmatic idea of speed in education comes from the need to achieve personal success and economic solvency; that is, a society in which utilitarianism pushes us to go in a hurry. The only institution protected from this push and with more time to dedicate to others should be the church. However, how sad that this mentality has already been taking over her and her pedagogical institutions.
The church and its educational programs cannot be managed as corporations do because the purpose of the latter is their own benefit. But what is the purpose of the church if not the service of humanity? It is to train individuals, and this is only done by dedicating time to them.
So a class in the church, whatever it is, must have this same principle, which involves forming worshipers; men and women consecrated to God, who show the holiness of God, critical of themselves and of society with regard to sin and its bad habits, capable of transmitting values and hope to society, and who love with all their hearts that the Father’s will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.
The best way we find to illustrate the relationship that must be developed between teachers and young people, and vice versa, is that which emerges from one of the most famous works of modern literature: The Little Prince. Because it makes us reflect on what it means to develop a human relationship, where the excellence of the relationship is found in the reciprocity between the two. Why do we think it is useful for the teacher of young people, for the simple reason that the disciples are at an age where seeing results and usefulness of their person is important. The teacher who thinks he is going to a class of young people to give only will never reach the full effectiveness of his calling to them.
In the aforementioned work, the little prince arrives from another planet in the desert and meets a fox. He wants to play with the fox, but the fox refuses and tells him that she had not been “tamed“. This term in French is apprivoiser, which means a mixture between two meanings: ‘to domesticate’ and ‘to familiarize’. So here we find a paradox: ‘domesticating’ implies a relationship between an asset that tames, and a liability that allows itself to be domesticated. However, ‘getting acquainted’ involves an action between two assets where both will be ‘tamed’, which is what happens in the story:
“It was then that the fox appeared:
“Good morning,” said the fox.
“Good morning,” replied the little prince politely, who turned around, but saw no one.
“I am here,” said the voice, “under the apple tree—”
-Who are you? said the little prince. You are very pretty…
“I’m a slut,” said the slut.
“Come and play with me,” the little prince proposed. I’m so sad…
“I can’t play with you,” said the fox. I’m not domesticated.
-Ah! “Excuse me,” said the little prince.
But, after thinking about it, he added:
– What does it mean to “tame”?
“You’re not from here,” said the fox. What are you looking for?
“I am looking for men,” said the little prince. What does it mean to “domesticate”?
“Men,” said the fox, “have guns and hunt. It’s very annoying! They also raise chickens. It’s the only interesting thing. Looking for chickens?
“No,” said the little prince. I’m looking for friends. What does it mean to “domesticate”?
“It’s too forgotten,” said the fox. It means ‘to create ties…’.
– Create ties?
“Sure,” said the fox. To me, you are still nothing more than a child like a hundred thousand other children. And I don’t need you. And you don’t need me either. To you I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you domesticate me, we’ll need each other. You will be unique to me in the world. I will be unique in the world for you…
“I’m beginning to understand,” said the little prince. There is a flower… I think it has tamed me…
“Maybe,” said the fox. On Earth you see all kinds of things…
-Oh! it’s not on Earth,” said the little prince.
The fox looked very intrigued:
– On another planet?
-Yes.
– Are there hunters on that planet?
-No.
– Now that’s interesting! And chickens?
-No.
“There’s nothing perfect,” sighed the fox.
But the fox came back to her idea:
– My life is monotonous. I hunt chickens, men hunt me. All chickens look alike, and all men look alike. That’s why I get a little bored. But, if you domesticate me, it will be as if my life were bathed in sunshine. I will know a sound of footsteps that will be different from all the others. The other steps take me back underground. Yours will call me out of the burrow, like a musician. And besides, look: do you see the wheat fields there? I don’t eat bread. Wheat for me is useless. The wheat fields don’t remind me of anything. And that’s very sad! But you have golden hair. So, when you’ve domesticate me, it’ll be wonderful! The wheat, which is golden, will bring me your memory. And I will like the sound of the wind in the wheat…
The fox was silent and looked at the little prince for a long time:
-¡Please… domesticate me! he said.
“As you wish,” replied the little prince, “but I have not much time.” I have to find friends and learn a lot of things.
“Only things that are tamed are known,” said the fox. Men no longer have time to know anything. They buy ready-made things from vendors. But since there are no salesmen of friends, men no longer have friends. If you want a friend, domesticate me!
– What should be done? said the little prince.
“You have to be very patient,” replied the fox. You’ll start sitting a little bit away from me, like this, on the grass. I’ll look at you out of the corner of my eye and you won’t say anything. Language is a source of misunderstandings. But every day you can sit a little closer…”[3]
After painting in your mind with this story how the relationship between teachers and young people should be, and vice versa, let’s look at some tips.
Tips for youth tutors and supervisors:
- As we said before, teachers cannot be in a hurry and must look for activities that achieve friction between young people and with them. It is here that you will also be able to get to know them better and also create bonds that develop “domestication”.
- Teachers of young people should set goals for their disciples. Today’s world is transforming this area by making things easier, because they want to graduate more students to then have more financing. Thus, a society of people who want things with the minimum of effort because they do not know how to face barriers, is created. Imagine that in the church not even the minimum barriers or goals confront them, they go from age to age, from program to program, receiving what “touches” them. In some congregations, funds are even created for fun activities if they are happy and stay, not realizing that this way they will leave much faster because when they have to face the barriers of life and they cannot, frustration will take them out of the Christian life. However, it is not to eliminate fun, but to take advantage of it for educational purposes.
- Teachers at any level should invest time in preparing for classes. Not only in terms of mastering the content to be able to use it in any way, but also in terms of getting to know your pupils.
- They must also dedicate time to activities outside the syllabus presented here, such as adventure outings, excursions to places of interest, prayer vigils, entertainment, etc.
- One of the mistakes that has been made in history and that today is fought so much in the church against it without being able to do it effectively, is to stop trying to create Christian “chickens”. Yes, as in a skirt, it is intended that each young person “gains the same weight” because they all eat the same “feed”. Young people are rebellious and critical by nature, they will always be against that format. He wants a space to reach conclusions on his own and to debate his concerns in an environment where he is not dismissed for his opinions. As one of the Reformers said, “the church should form heretics who love the truth.”[4] If the truth is from God, which is the essence of the thought of the author of this manual, everyone who sincerely seeks it will find it[5], for it is a gift from God that man has lost.
- Undoubtedly, the use of technology among young people is useful resource for their teachers. However, it should be considered that it develops so quickly that investing in it is more disastrous than beneficial. So, it must be used with some care, without a rigid format, but flexible, as one more tool and not as the main one. That is why a teacher who loves what he does and, at the same time, is well trained, will always be the one who can best make free and unenslaved use of it.
- The teacher must convince his young people that they have to work, that they must reap the effort they put into what they do. They will follow Him because they will understand that what happens in the class will be for a higher purpose: To be formed as the new generation of God who must continue the challenge of strengthening and extending His kingdom.
- The teacher is charged with making each young person love not only the holiness of God but must succeed in stimulating the desire to concentrate on an area of service within the Kingdom. It is necessary to convey to today’s generation that the victory of life is not to be found in the secular success that each one achieves, but in being useful for the kingdom of God. It is impossible for anyone to say, after having grown up in the church, that he has not been called by God to serve Him. The reality is that you have not listened or have not been taught to listen, because God calls all His children to serve Him. The youth teacher must discover the potentials in them and encourage or motivate them to consecrate their lives to the service of God. This does not mean being full-time workers, although you can be part of it as well, but rather showing them that service to God is not a job, it is consecration and priority to His affairs. One can be an engineer in a factory and at the same time, a servant of God consecrated to His work in a specific area, such as visiting the sick, praying for them and giving them encouragement.
- Young people often find themselves at crossroads (What study? How do I have fun? What do I do with this friend? Will I find a partner? Will I be attractive?). The problem is when teachers devalue these questions or want to give them their own opinion on the matter. A youth teacher should teach how to make decisions under God’s will, even as he or she gives his or her own perspective on the matter. Nothing like learning to be free and, much more, when in that freedom you can seek God’s will to be pleasing and perfect[6].
- The youth teacher should make them look at the Bible with passion, to desire to search it because it is sweet as honey, refreshes as water, and nourishes as manna. How sad to see today so many adult people who grew up in the church who only know the Bible stories they heard in childhood, they get excited and proud of it, but it’s as if their driving force to get closer to the Scriptures has been turned off. Some say: I just don’t like to read! I just don’t like to study! The reality is not that they don’t like it, it’s that they weren’t taught the “passion” for the Bible.
- The greatest secret to achieve among young people, and at any level, is to arouse curiosity. Because this is innate in any human being. It’s like a sponge inside a water reservoir, absorbing water is not an option, it’s your natural way of existing. The teacher should not motivate curiosity but discover it. Once this is done, he will be able to provide for it in order to feed it and the young person will go on his own to capture solutions and administer them according to each case.
- It is highly suggested here to form a youth ministry parallel to the classes so that they can gain their experience in Christian leadership[7].
[1] Localism used in the region of La Manchuela, specifically Albacete and Cuenca, which means generous or good person, a thing that is good or an expression of conformity and affirmation.
[2] Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, Complete Works. Diego Sánchez Meca, vol. III, TECNOS.
[3]The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Mariner Books (ISBN: 978-0156013925).
[4] Here this word is not used in its daily misuse of someone rebellious to what is formally established by a religious dogma, but ironically in its etymological use. That is: the particular or specific thought or opinion on a certain point.
[5] Jr 5:1; Mt 7:7-8.
[6] Rom 12.2.
[7] Appendix I provides a model for this ministry.