By Tim Branch
You may have noticed it before…
The round table your cabin sat around as you ate a meal at camp.
That perfectly hospital-cornered bed you nestled into after the carnival and square dance.
The slow song during club that calmed everybody down and got kids thinking…right before you got up there to talk.
Young Life does all these “little things” on purpose. Why? Because we don’t want to waste a single opportunity to pull back the curtain on the Gospel.
How often has there been a time where we just wish Jesus could be a little clearer to a hurting high school kid?
How often have we told ourselves that we’d do whatever it takes, if that’d only help them to get it?
Everything matters. And as leaders, we want to do everything we can to give kids a clearer view of Jesus.
So here’s a question we have to ask ourselves:
Are we giving kids a clearer picture of Jesus by intentionally choosing the songs we sing at club?
The sad truth is we can unwisely choose songs that may fog that picture.
But EVEN if a questionable song doesn’t take away from the message of Young Life club… the question remains, are we still missing that chance to bolster the talk?
I know how annoying it is to have the perfect song in mind but then have someone come tell you that you “shouldn’t play it.”
And I’m really not trying to tell you what to do. All I’d like to do today is suggest 3 quick guidelines to help you choose songs that might give your kids the chance to see the gospel just a tiny bit clearer.
Here are three questions to ask before picking awesome songs to help kids catch a glimpse of the gospel during club:
Did I Avoid Suggestive Lyrics?
Let’s steer away from using music that will encourage kids to do things that will just lead them into more brokenness. Chances are a number of kids in your club are struggling with sexual sin. So let’s instead point those kids to the place where they’ll finally be made whole—even in the nooks and crannies of Young Life club.
Does This Sound Like A Message From Jesus?
Most of us have gotten an “A-ha!” moment from hearing a song. We can help our kids experience these types of moments with God by carefully crafting the songs they hear at club. It doesn’t always work, but sometimes we can pick a popular song that could even be reframed to sound as a message from Jesus?
Does This Song Mirror The Message Of The Talk?
If the talk is about salvation, why don’t you bring ‘em in to a little Hero by Enrique? If you’re talking about love, how about Unconditionally by Katy Perry? It doesn’t have to be super serious. You can get creative with it.
Honestly, It’s much harder to choose songs this way. It’s SO much easier to just pick the popular song you want and use that. Especially if it freaking rocks. And everyone knows the words. And it always starts a crazy dance party.
But even so, it’s worth it to consider selecting a song that would help the message of Young Life club. Choosing one song intentionally could be the nudge that finally pushes that lonely, broken kid over the edge and into the moment where they finally choose to embrace God’s endless love forever.
