Just about all shoot’em up games offer a story mode in their menu. In Story Mode you get to sit a while, play through the story, and find potential easter eggs (special hidden features within the game) as you go. The other option is for kids to jump right into the actions and just start blasting way online or with some friends. Which mode are your kids in when they share their story about Jesus?
One of the youth pastors I was under only new one mode of evangelism: the in your face mode. I am all for the bold proclamation of the gospel, but there is a reason the Bible is the referred to as The Greatest STORY Ever Told and not The Loudest and Rudest Rant Ever Spewed. I am disheartened when I see teenagers out on a street just yelling at people about God. I also have compassion because 1) I was that kid at one point in my life and 2) I know someone taught them that that was how they should share their story about Jesus.
Although that kind of passion is admirable, I want my students to be able to share their story within the context of God’s bigger story and not just be able to yell a bunch of facts and cliches. So, I am challenging our students about the way we should talk about our faith by getting them into story mode.
I found a tool called Story Cubes I am using with my Sunday School class as I teach the W (Witnessing) of my S.W.E.A.T small group curriculum. Here is a video where I explain how to use the Story Cubes
What methods are you using to help kids tell their stories of encountering Jesus?