What the church can learn from Eminem

I have always been a fan of hip-hop music. One artist in particular has fascinated me since he hit the mainstream in 1999. That artist is Eminem.


Eminem has been a very controversial figure in hip-hop. That could be due to the fact that he is a Caucasian in a predominantly African-American genre of music or because most of his music is filled with foul language and intense emotional anger. But I firmly believe that the church can learn something from this hip-hop artist about how to reach young people who are struggling with their own personal demons.


Eminem grew up in Detroit, Michigan on the border of a very difficult part of town called "the 8 mile." In a recent interview on CBS's 60 minutes he described how difficult his childhood was, moving from home to home, growing up very poor and and surviving a very difficult home life where he never had a father figure and where his mother was somewhat neglectful. Eminem dropped out of high school and repeated the ninth grade two or three times. He fathered a child out of wedlock at an early age and struggled with addiction to cope with this popularity.


Despite those adversities, Eminem eventually hit it big, and has become one of the most popular hip-hop artists since the late 90s. His largest following of fans are youth and young adults and I believe that is because his music resonated with young people in a real way. I mention all of this because Eminem's music has touched the lives of youth and young adults in a way that the mainline church has failed to do. Do not misunderstand me. I am not lifting up Eminem as a saint, however his ability to connect with the emotional feelings of disenfranchised youth and young adults is something the church should sit up and take notice of. Maybe as those who work with young people we need to pay attention to the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of young people today that are hurting. We need to do less moralizing (condemning their behavior) and more grace giving.


In his latest album titled "Recovery" one of the tracks is entitled "I'm Not Afraid" where he shares his struggles throughout his life in a heartfelt way and offers to others who might have experienced the similar things a away out. Here's the chorus of that track:

I’m not afraid to take a stand
Everybody come take my hand
We’ll walk this road together, through the storm
Whatever weather, cold or warm
Just let you know that, you’re not alone
Holla if you feel like you’ve been down the same road

if only we in the church that offered the same promise.

Showing Extraordinary Love

My experience in youth ministry as a youth was foundational to my call to ministry. Had it not been for the unconditional love that I felt from my church's youth program and from the conferenc's youth program, I might not have ever heard God's voice calling me into the ordained ministry.

I have recently been listening to a song called Extraordinary Love by the Wayne Kerr band, a contemporary Christian band that I first heard at a large youth gathering in New York. The chorus for this song goes:

All Glory Praise and honor

All Glory Praise and honor

Is Due You

I'm Taken by Surprise, by an Extraordinary Love

Our job as adult youth workers is to bestow upon all of our youth that "extraordinary love" that the band sings about. I vowed when I became a pastor that I would do all in my power to make every youth that attended my youth ministry feel special and accepted just as they were. Youth culture often times isolates youth who don't fit into the mainstream and the end result is that it makes him feel worthless and unloved. If there is only one thing that we could do as adult youth workers it is to express this unconditional extraordinary love on to every single one of our youth. I am fully aware that this is easier with some students than others.

Towards the end of the song Wayne Kerr quotes a piece of Scripture from Ephesians 2:10 which says, "God has created us a new in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." This week I would encourage every youth worker to share that passage with every youth you are in ministry with.

Ministry Idea: Trunk or Treat

As Halloween  draws closer, here's a ministry idea that your youth can lead for the children of your community. It's called "trunk or treat" and this is how it works:

Instead of having families go door to door in your community "trick-or-treating", you have them trick-or-treat from a specific location (the parking lot of your local church) and have them "trick-or-treat" from the trunks of people's car: thus "trunk or treat". This program is especially effective in rural areas where the space between homes is further away and safety is concerned having kids walk on busy country roads. That being said, this program can be done at most any church.

Have the youth put this program together inviting members of the congregation to provide a "trunk." The more you get the better, but you can have a successful program with a half dozen trunks. Even the youth could provide a trunk or two that they run. Encourage the members of the congregation who volunteered to provide a trunk to decorate their trunk in various themes. To makes the experience all the more exciting you can also couple this program with the festival of some sort providing games, costume contests, etc.Be sure to have one of the trunks be a welcome center and handout literature about your church's ministries. This is a great opportunity to share information about the church's mission and ministry and to evangelize to people who may not have a church home.

This is an easy missions outreach program that  the youth of your church can coordinate and lead. It might also get other people in your church excited about doing out reach in your community. Good luck and have fun!

Youth Ministry Space

Everybody likes having their own space. Youth specifically like knowing that there is a place in the church that they can call their own. This can be difficult in a church that has limited space and uses most of their space for multiple tasks. But if it is possible, carving out one room in your church that is specifically for the youth is a great investment.

Once you have set aside that special place for youth, you should encourage the youth to truly make it their own by having them paint it in colors that they appreciate and allowing them to decorate it with posters, pictures or other things that are meaningful to them. Be sure inform other groups within the church that this is sacred space for the youth of the church and should be respected as such. As you think of that sacred space, encourage the youth to come up with a way to tell the history of the youth program at their church. Having one wall in this space where each youth member gets to put their handprint and name on the wall with the years that they participated in the youth program is one way. Another way is designating one youth or youth worker to take pictures during youth events throughout the year and then make a collage that can be posted in this space from year-to-year, highlighting the many accomplishments and experiences that each group had.

The reason it is so important for youth to have their own definable space in the church is to make them feel valued and important to the life of the church. It may seem like a little thing, but it goes a long way to encouraging the youth to continue to explore their faith even after they graduate from the youth program.