Youth Ministry And Asking Questions

What If the Questions of Students Are Worth Discussing?

This is a question that is in my mind often as a Youth Pastor. I and an amazing team of Adult Leaders and Staff see to the discipleship and care of a decent-sized group of Middle School and High School students. One of our goals is to create an environment where questions can be asked, doubts can be wrestled with, and students know that no question will be judged as unworthy of asking or discussing. To foster this environment, we ask our students during Small Group if they have any questions about the lesson, Jesus, or Christianity as a whole. These questions will often foster answers like “No, not really”, “I’m good”, or even “Nope. Everything makes sense.” But other times, we get questions! If a question cannot be answered with 95% confidence and a whole bunch of humility, we ask them to put the question in the jar for further reflection and research. Some are of small theological discussion, and others of large heaping topics that could take hours to explain. Yet we commit ourselves to giving small overviews to help push in the right direction.

If You Want to Know What this Generation of High School and Middle School Students is Thinking, Ask Them

This year, we have received about 45 questions. Some of them overlapped and so we brought the official number down to 39. Not every single one was discussed. But most of them were. So without further ado, here are the questions that our students asked:

Questions of 2023

Where did Jesus go after he died on the cross and before he rose again?
When does the name “Jesus” appear in the Bible?
Did Jesus have to try not to sin or did it come naturally?
How does science explain the Nephilim?
If Noah had 2 of each kind of animal on the ark, how did the carnivores eat?
Why would God appear to people in the past but never appear to people in the future?
Can Unreached people groups go to heaven even though they never had the chance to learn about Jesus?
What does it mean to speak in “tongues” and does our church believe it?
Why are some Christians inhumane to the Lgbtq+ community?
Is identifying as LGBTQ+ sinful?
Where did God come from?
How do you make yourself less prideful like Jesus?
Why don’t we have prophets like in the past?
How can I grow in my faith?
How can I endure [in my faith] when people around me pressure me not to?

We Still Have More to Go

How can I trust what’s in the Bible?
Why do we need to have faith?
Is God’s forgiveness conditional?
What do we do if someone is being rude about our faith?
What do you do after baptism?
How do you deal with guilt even though you know Jesus forgives your sins?
How do you deal with Drama?
What is Modalism?
Are heaven and hell real?
Why did Jesus wait 3 days to come back?
How come we hear about people possessed by demons in the Bible but not right now?
What happens to people who die but have never heard the Gospel?
How is it Just that people who never hear the Gospel go to hell?
How do we know that the resurrection is real or that he rose into heaven?
Is God’s timing based on when our request/prayer fits into His plan, or when he feels like answering to humble us?
Is every single moment planned out, even the seemingly insignificant ones?
Why did God allow us to have sins in the first place?
Did God create anything before the 7 days?
When was Jesus born in heaven?
What were the names of the 2 other fallen angels besides Satan?
Did Jesus go to hell when he died to pay for our sins?
What is the difference between Joy and Happiness?
Why can’t I get baptized?
What is my next step after baptism?