Unless God does something to call this generation of teenagers to himself, the vast majority of them will spend eternity separated from him. That thought is chilling to me. I believe this it us to two endeavors. First, we need to pray diligently for God to move among young people. If God chooses to send revival, I believe it will most likely begin with teenagers. Second, we need to commit ourselves to slipping teenagers out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light by telling them the Good News of Jesus Christ: his resurrection power to forgive sins and change the eternal destiny of all who repent of sin and place their faith in him. As we seek to tell the story of Christ, I think there are a few things we need to keep in mind about lost youth.

First, they are lost. Big surprise, huh? Lost people act like lost people. They may drink, have sex, use bad language, get into fights. It is unhealthy as well as unchristian, but it may make perfect sense to a lost teenager. If we are going to reach lost kids, we can’t expect them to act right before we talk to them, invite them to church, or love them. Remember that Jesus was willing to spend time with sinners. He didn’t condone their behavior, but he showed them genuine love.

Second, the greatest need of everyone you meet is Jesus. They may need food or disciple or love from a human, but those things are secondary to their greatest need. No one who gives his or her life to Christ will be worse off because of it. True, being a Christian may be a challenge at times, but the knowledge of Christ is so sweet that nothing can replace it. We don’t need to be shy in talking about Jesus.

Third, lost kids don’t want to be singled out. They don’t want to be put on the spot or embarrassed. In short, they are not so much different from the rest of us. Some of our approaches to evangelism may make kids feel talked down to or condemned. Smile. Laugh. Have conversations. Show interest in what interests them. And, when the Holy Spirit opens an opportunity, ask a question like: Has anyone ever showed you what the Bible says it takes to go to heaven?