Metaphors of Children's & Youth Work: The Uniqueness of the Dominant Metaphor in The Salvation Army

THIS POST IS ONLY PARTIALLY COMPLETE. MORE TO FOLLOW SHORTLY

A while ago, I picked up the book, Children matter: Celebrating their place in the church, family, and community by Scottie May, Beth Posterski, Catherine Stonehouse and Linda Cannell. I picked it up because Beth Posterski was once one of my professors back when I attended Ontario Bible College (now Tyndale University). I have always enjoyed the experience and depth of wisdom which Dr. Posterski shared in class - and so I was anxious to read about her perspective on children's ministry. After reading through this book, I can say that I was not disappointed - in fact, I found myself viewing children's and youth work in a whole new light.

One of the most profound perspectives came early in the book in their first chapter, 'Metaphors Shape Ministry.' They state, "A metaphor is simply a literary device using analogy or comparison that affects our perception of reality." (p.4) They argue that within children's work, there are micro-metaphors which describe the role of the learner, the teacher and the curriculum; and that these are complimented with 'macrometaphors' - which are "the dominant metaphor [that] tend to become the ministry model." (p.10) 

The macrometaphors identified in their book include:

1. The School Model

2. The Gold Star/Win a Prize Model

3. The Carnival Model

4. The Pilgrim's Journey Model

5. The Dance With God Model

In contemplating these models of children's ministry, I found myself recognizing in my own ministry practice how I have found myself embracing several of these models - often for the strengths... but have recognized the accompanying weaknesses. I would like to share my perspective on each of these models while proposing a sixth model which is unique to The Salvation Army - The Junior Army Model.

1. The School Model

There have been times where I have approached children's and youth programs like a school. There are some benefits to this, such as investing in the development of a knowledge of who God is and what it means to serve him in this world. I believe that it is very easy to slip into an anti-intellectual form of children's work which says, "these are just kids - they don't have an ability to comprehend who God is or truth that can apply to their lives." I find that this opinion is both condescending and underestimates the cognitive ability of our kids.

From the earliest of days, Sharon and I committed to communicating theological truth to our girls - and they have been able to both understand and reinterpret these ideas - often in ways that I had never thought of as adults. I don't think it's coincidental that Jesus challenged adults to follow the lead of our children. As Paul iterates in 1 Corinthians 1 & 2, the most profound truth cannot be comprehended by those whom the world considers wise because it is perceived as foolish... Our children do have the ability to wrestle with such ideas - and we should never underestimate their ability to do so. I recently picked up a book called Conversations with Poppi about God written by Princeton theologian Robert Jenson and his granddaughter. It's an amazing testimony to the ability of our children to engage in deep theological dialogue.

With this being said, the metaphor of education can often mean that we apply negative models of education to our children's and youth work. The famous South American educator, Paulo Freire in his book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, discusses the difference between a 'banking method' of learning and 'critical pedagogy.' Often in children's and youth ministry, our education metaphor slips into a skill-and-drill mode - simply opening up kids brains and pouring in rote knowledge that we expect them to parrot back to us in robotic style. Often this isn't intended, but due to lack of time, lack of planning or a lack of creativity, we resort to such modes.

This ministry style - while it might appear effective (kids can quote scripture, doctrines, score high in 'Bible drills,' etc.), this can easily dampen the spirit of wonder that should be fanned into flame in our children and youth - something which it seems that most of us lose as we grow-up, yet is an essential quality that is required for spiritual growth. Often we give up the opportunity for our kids to learn how to think about what it means to be a Christian in order teach them what to think. Without a doubt, we do need to speak truth into our kids lives, but if all that we do rote Christian education, we are doing a great disservice to our kids. Today's market-driven culture is targeting and exploiting our kids at an unprecedented rate (for more on this, see Kinderculture, Cool Hunting,  The Great Tween Buying Machine). If we don't cultivate theologically- and ethically- critical thinking skills that are going to equip our kids with the ability to navigate their faith and ethics through the labyrinth of hyper-commercial culture, all the Bible lessons and memory verses will eventually succumb to the pressure to conform to the lure of the pied piper.  

My prayer is that we would deepen our kids ministries beyond simple fun environments that uncritically mimic whatever is the latest gimmick produced by Nickelodeon or Disney. That means, to some extent the educational model remains critical - as long as the curriculum and the teachers are driven by a Christocentric practical theology and a critical faith pedagogy that grounds our kids faith, but also prepares them for living our a vibrant missional lifestyle in today's kids' culture.

2. Gold Star/Win a Prize Model

The second model that is presented is the 'Gold Star/Win a Prize Model. We all know about this methodology... and I have to admit, this approach motivated me as a kid - and even as an adult Sunday School teacher... For some reason, those cheap, little gold stars seem to get all the competitive juices flowing. Even recently, I have joined Weight Watchers that gives little stars for every 5 pounds lost. For some reason, I find myself suckered into working for those stars - even when I could simply go down to the store and buy them myself! 

It seems that when an incentive is put before us like a carrot dangling from a string, this creates a motivation that fuels commitment, efficacy and hard work. So why not utilize this in children's ministry? A couple of years ago, I watched a documentary from Pastor Bill Wilson of Metro Ministries who says that he will do anything that is morally alright to bring a child under the influence of the gospel. During the documentary, we watched kids entering into a glass box filled with $1.00 bills who would have thirty seconds to grab as much money as they could. As I watched this documentary, I reacted with a mixture of both horror and curiosity. Was this ethically right? Can you buy kids into the kingdom? Is this sustainable? All of these are questions which are amplified and accelerated when looking at a mega-model of children's ministry as represented with Metro Ministries, but are the same types of questions which should be asked when we hand out lollipops, stickers and less glamorous prizes.

In one of the introductory psychology classes I took in college, I learned about the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. As parents, my professor said, we often use rewards to motivate positive behavior in our kids - so a kid at a grocery store might get a candy bar for behaving or a trip to Chuck-E-Cheese for scoring well on their report card. The problem, he mentioned, that as a child becomes conditioned to receiving these types of rewards, they become what motivates the child to succeed. Suddenly a Hershey bar or a pizza party won't produce the same desired result, which requires a more significant form of motivation. By high school, parents are buying cars and promising trips to Mexico for a teen to study. What he was saying was that short-term solutions create long-term problems. An increase in external stimuli naturally decreases internal motivation.

What are the implications for children's ministry? Does this mean that we have to produce bigger events? Larger prizes? Greater spectacles? At what point does this cross the line? At what point does this become counter-productive? At what point does this hold a child back from internalizing their faith?

I must clarify at this point, that at Railton School we have continued to visit Metro Ministries annually - for a Friday afternoon sidewalk Sunday School and their Saturday extravaganzas in Brooklyn. I deeply respect their commitment to sharing the gospel to kids at risk - and they are making a significant impact in the greater New York community. Along with this, their methodology is far more complex than candy bars and big events - this does not do justice to their overarching missional strategy - which is far more complex. I have learned so much from their ministry and am blessed by my brothers and sisters do for the kingdom of God  - and I pray that God continues to use them in mighty ways.

I do believe that the 'gold stars' methodology does have merit, but should be utilized carefully and strategically. It cannot be the dominant strategy. In the earliest days of Salvation Army children's work, they wrestled with this same issue. They would give out books to award kids for coming to Sunday School/Company meetings. Their Life-Saving (now Adventure Corps, Girl Guards) programs award badges for different merits earned. I think these types of strategies have their place and can be used to help to stimulate motivation to develop their faith, life skills, etc. I liken it to adding spice to food - it's about the balance. A little bit enhances a dish, but too much spoils what's been made. External rewards have their place, but this cannot be the main course of what we serve in ministry.

3. The Carnival Model

When reading Children Matter, this model hit me square between the eyes... because I know that I have uncritically embraced this approach without thinking through the extent of the consequence of this being the dominant metaphor in ministry. 

As I have mentioned already, we live in such a commercial culture. A trip to your local shopping mall's kids toy store, a half-an-hour viewing kids TV or a surf through kid-centric websites like Club Penguin and Webkinz will illustrate that kids eternally live in a candy-coated world. I once heard a comedian discussing how when they were a kid, playgrounds were metal (that heated up to searing temperatures in summertime!) and cement (that weren't fun at all to come crashing down on!). Today, playgrounds have been 'nerf-proofed' - where everything is plasticized, cushioned and theme-driven. If a kid falls down, they simply bounce right back up! I know that this is obviously hyperbole, but the romanticized, garden-like, protected, sanitized world we have constructed for kids has been taken to a whole new level - it's Jean-Jacques Rousseau on speed! 

French sociologist, Jean Baudrillard would call this a 'hyperreality' - a world that is more real than the world that really is real (think about it...). Think about Disneyworld, "the happiest place on earth." Think about McDonald's, wherever an individual goes in the world, they never need to conform to a different culture because a "happy meal" can be accessed for a minimal price. How does this relate to the concept of the kingdom of God? 

I think that it is important for us to recognize that our faith and theology both exists and develops in context. With that being said, our contextualized theologies do require an engagement with Scripture, historical tradition, reason and the experiences of other believers from around the world.  Such dialogue will help to highlight blind-spots in our contemporary missio-ecclessial expression and identify ways in which we must choose differently to those around us. Without such dialogue, we enter into the very dangerous ground.

It is my fear that those of us living in modern North American culture have sought to build our churches and ministries upon the shaky ground of what has been called the 'society of the spectacle.' As the biblical story goes, this foolish decision can ultimately compromise the integrity of what is being built... My fear is that too often our children's ministries are so enamored with being relevant, fun and enticing that we find ourselves simply amusing kids on their way to Hell.

Dick Staub in The Culturally Saavy Christian says that, "The word amusement means 'to entertain or occupy in a manner; to stir with pleasing or mirthful emotions,' but if you read the word amuse as a ('not') and muse ('to think'), you could define it as 'to be absent in mind' " (p.7f). Neil Postman in the early 1980s warned that we were 'Amusing Ourselves to Death.' 

Does this mean that I need to pack away my Batman costume (don't even ask...) and embrace an 18th century puritanical posture in which we suck every ounce of joy, laughter, wonder and culture from our ministry to children and youth? Of course not! I believe that eating blue cotton candy at kids carnivals and running through big inflatables (inducing heart attacks!) are at the heart of kingdom life. A solution to carnival-centric children's work is not to circle the wagons and beat off SpongeBob and Patrick. It's not striking to ban High School Musical from our churches (though part of me wishes it was!), but about ensuring that we are not simply enjoying the culture of childhood, but that we cultivate the spiritual pallet of our kids so that they will be able to "taste and see that the Lord is good."

I think that this is why it is important to integrate these models - there is almost a tension between the educational model and the carnival model which requires balance. Maybe this is the answer to this challenge... To clarify, this isn't a bid for faith-based 'edutainment,' but I would argue that learning and growing in the faith is fun and should demand our ultimate creativity and commitment.

I think the challenge of creating a stimulating learning environment that draws kids into the experience of learning takes a lot of time, effort and imagination. Imaginative learning is modeled most profoundly by Jesus - think about it: storms and fish, seeds and trees, captivating stories, shared experiences... all of these formed the canvas upon which he taught his followers what it meant to be His disciple. However, we think that sitting around a circle, in a cold room with an adult speaking in the vernacular of another generation to be a stimulating environment? As Paul says in Romans, "By no means!" 

A couple of years ago, my father-in-law, who is the Territorial Commander for The Salvation Army in the Southern African Territory, visited Mozambique for a Youth Councils. Mozambique is one of the most impoverished nations in Africa and the ministry of The Salvation Army began recently within the past couple of decades. They don't have the opportunity to download creative ideas from the internet, they can't go and buy a program-in-a-can from the local Christian bookstore, but utilizing the resources available to them (mud, wood, paint, etc.), they built one of the most amazing backdrops and sets for this event and attracted hundreds of youth to come out to this event! Now that's commitment, that's imagination... that's what I'm talking about. How committed are we to communicating the gospel and discipling our children and youth? How much effort are we willing to put in? Is it possible that we have stunted our imaginations by simply purchasing our plans? 

Let's recognize the dangers of the carnival model, but let's also seriously commit to creating an creative environment conducive to effective gospel transformation.

4. The Pilgrim Model

In our world, we love stories of sojourners on a mission. Whether this be classic stories like Pilgrim's Progress, The Wizard of Oz, The Chronicles of Narnia or The Lord of the Rings, we are interested in the journey - the process of becoming or discovering something more... The image of the Emmaus Road has become an image or metaphor of discipleship - of Jesus traveling on a road with two believers wrestling with the possibility of the resurrection - only to discover that He has been traveling with them. 

In many ways, our children are on a journey - a faith journey. As they traverse through stages of cognitive, moral, emotional, physical development, so too does their understanding of who God is, what He does, how He engages with this world... In the gospels, we often read of Jesus invitation to discipleship as an invitation to follow Him. I think similarly, this metaphor or model seeks to define children's and youth work as a path discovering more about knowing God and His redemptive plan. The image of 'guide' or 'fellow traveller' replaces that of teacher. While on the path of discipleship, the child learns how to navigate through the treacherous paths, climbs mountains, crosses valleys, they come to forks-in-the-road where they have to make decisions... All of these help to train our children how to read their spiritual compass and map, how to make wise decisions, how to survive in the wild, etc.

I think that this is an important metaphor to think about. For those living in more urban settings, it might be better to think of this journey like learning to navigate a subway route!

More to follow shortly...