Speaking Their Language

Churches often ask how they can keep young people engaged with faith. A better question is: How can we help them encounter Jesus, understand the gospel, and follow him wholeheartedly in everyday life? Engagement is valuable, but discipleship is the goal—not simply attracting young people to church activities, but equipping them to become mature, active followers of Christ.

J. B. Phillips offers a compelling example. During the Second World War, while serving as a young Anglican minister in southeast London, Phillips worked with members of his youth club who struggled to connect with the language of the Authorized Version of the Bible. Rather than assuming they were uninterested in Scripture, he recognised that unfamiliar language had become a barrier. He began translating the New Testament epistles into vivid, contemporary English so that young readers could grasp their meaning. This work eventually appeared as Letters to Young Churches in 1947 and contributed to his influential translation, The New Testament in Modern English.

Phillips did not dilute the message to make it fashionable. He made its meaning accessible. His example challenges churches to distinguish between the unchanging truth of the gospel and the forms of language, worship, teaching, and community through which that truth is communicated.

Young people should not be treated merely as an audience to attract or a problem to solve. They are members of the body of Christ whose questions, gifts, experiences, and insights matter. Churches can listen through informal conversations, youth forums, mentoring relationships, and genuine participation in leadership discussions.
Listening also reveals the barriers young people face: doubt, loneliness, family pressures, anxiety, online comparison, concerns about identity, and uncertainty about the future. A church that takes these realities seriously can show how the gospel speaks to life as it is actually lived.

Following Phillips’s example, churches should help young people engage Scripture without assuming prior biblical knowledge. Teaching can explain unfamiliar words, historical context, and the larger story of God’s redemption. Questions should be welcomed rather than feared.

Accessibility does not require shallowness. Young people are capable of serious theological thought when teaching is clear, relevant, and honest. Churches might use contemporary translations alongside older ones, practise interactive Bible study, encourage journaling, and connect biblical texts with ethical choices, relationships, vocation, suffering, justice, and hope. The aim is not merely to transfer information but to cultivate habits of hearing and obeying God’s Word.

Programmes can create opportunities, but relationships sustain discipleship. Every young person should ideally know mature Christians who remember their name, listen without rushing to judge, pray for them, and model a faithful life.

Intergenerational mentoring is especially valuable. Older believers can share how faith has endured through work, parenting, illness, disappointment, and change, while younger believers can contribute creativity, energy, cultural awareness, and fresh questions. Such relationships help young people see that discipleship is a lifelong journey rather than a temporary stage of youth ministry.

Young people are more likely to recognise that they belong when the church trusts them to contribute. They can read Scripture, lead prayers, serve in outreach, participate in worship, welcome newcomers, assist with children’s ministry, support digital communication, and help shape projects addressing local needs.

Responsibility should be accompanied by training, encouragement, safeguarding, and patient feedback. Churches should avoid using young people merely to make services appear youthful. Their participation must be genuine, and their gifts should be recognised as part of the Spirit’s work in the whole church.

Jesus calls disciples not only to believe but also to follow, serve, and make disciples. Young people need opportunities to put faith into practice: feeding people in need, visiting isolated neighbours, caring for creation, supporting refugees, addressing injustice, sharing their testimony, and inviting friends into Christian community.

Mission helps faith become concrete. It shows that Christianity is not confined to Sunday worship but shapes how believers use their time, money, abilities, relationships, and influence. Reflection after service is equally important: Where did we see God at work? What did Scripture teach us? How might this experience change us?

Many young people wrestle with science, sexuality, suffering, hypocrisy, other religions, unanswered prayer, and the credibility of the Bible. If churches offer only quick answers—or react defensively—young people may conclude that doubt must be hidden.

A discipling church distinguishes doubt from indifference and treats honest questions as opportunities for deeper faith. Leaders can say, “I do not know, but let us explore this together.” They can provide thoughtful resources, invite knowledgeable speakers, and model the humility of Christians who trust God while continuing to learn.

Belonging matters, but young people should also be invited clearly to respond to Christ. Churches can explain repentance, faith, baptism, communion, holiness, and the cost and joy of discipleship. Invitations should be gracious rather than manipulative, allowing space for reflection and conversation.

Young believers also need practical rhythms: prayer, Scripture reading, worship, Christian friendship, service, generosity, confession, and rest. A simple discipleship pathway—supported by mentors and small groups—can help turn occasional enthusiasm into enduring practice.

Attendance figures can be useful, but they do not reveal the whole picture. Churches should also ask whether young people are praying, understanding Scripture, developing Christlike character, serving others, forming healthy relationships, sharing faith, and discerning their vocation.

This requires patience. Discipleship is often slow and uneven, and its fruit may emerge over many years. A faithful church plants, waters, accompanies, and trusts God for growth.

J. B. Phillips saw that young people were not necessarily rejecting the Bible; they needed help hearing it in language they could understand. Churches today face a similar calling. They must communicate ancient truth in ways that are clear within contemporary culture—without reducing the gospel to entertainment or changing its essential message.

The most effective question may therefore be: What barriers are preventing young people from encountering Christ, and what can we faithfully do to remove them? When churches listen deeply, teach clearly, welcome questions, share responsibility, nurture relationships, and invite courageous obedience, young people are not merely kept interested. They are given room to become disciples who know Christ, serve their neighbours, and help lead the church into the future.