I remember taking my teens to their first youth conference. I was excited. I was pumped, and as I stepped off the luxurious motor coach, it was as if I was taken to a magical land that would make Dorothy jealous. I imagined a yellow brick road opening before me as my teens and I all skipped to the rhythm of a happy little tune to join this wonderful assembly of people.
There were all sorts of different groups, each with their own colorful t-shirt with a catchy Christian phrase. Some were frolicking about in the grass playing Ultimate Frisbee. Others, for some reason, were tapping on cups and passing them to the person seated next to them. And then, it happened. One group shouted at another, “We love Jesus, yes we do! We love Jesus, how about you?!?”
If you’ve ever taken your teens to a youth conference before, there’s no doubt you’ve heard the Jesus Cheer, and if you haven’t, well I might have to question your youth ministry credentials. What boggles my mind is how this “holy” cheer originated. In my opinion it probably started when one youth minister said something like this to his or her teens:
“Ok everyone. I’ve got a great way for us to show our love of God. Let’s yell about how much we love Him while suggesting that another group may in fact NOT love him. What do you think?”
Regardless of how it started, it appears that the Jesus Cheer is here to stay. With that said, here are three possible responses you can utilize at the next youth conference.
1. Shock and Awe
If you’ve never heard the Jesus Cheer before, this is no doubt your first response. I know the first time I heard it I was in awe. I was impressed by the boldness of a group to declare their love for Jesus while questioning another group’s love for Him. It was a little edgy, but I thought it had something to it.
But soon this awe turned to pure shock as the group that was initially targeted with the cheer fired back with . . . the same exact cheer! Yep. Try to wrap your head around that. My thought: “Did you not hear them the first time?”
2. Unbridled Enthusiasm
If you have a strong competitive fire that lies deep within your soul, this is your response. You live for the Jesus Cheer. You strategically plan when your group will use it, and more than likely, you even practice it with your teens on the bus ride. Your dedication is evident, and if someone in your group isn’t participating with their entire being, may God have mercy on their soul.
3. Head Shake and Eye Roll
Believe it or not, some youth ministers actually do not like the Jesus Cheer. In fact whenever it happens, you will recognize them by their ability to step away from the crowd and shake their heads in disgust.
This response may come off as a little holier than thou, but there’s a good chance that this same group of people once participated with unbridled enthusiasm. But now they have just gotten a little too cool for it and would rather stand back and roll their eyes as they sip on their lattes.
Regardless of the response, we all want the teens to get excited for any youth ministry event. Why? Because we want them to come to know the unconditional love of Christ that we know in our lives. I mean, after all, we love Jesus, yes we do. We love Jesus, and the teens should too.
Question: How do you get teens fired up at an event? (Share below)
Bonus Question: I love Jesus yes I do. I love Jesus, how about you?
let’s not forget, “God is good… All the time”…
Alison,
Seriously! Another classic!
As someone who is not entirely a youth minister, but has been party to ministry to the youth at a large number of events, I would like to give the side of those who often oppose this sort of cheer.
First, we are not too cool for it in some way. We are not trying to be prudish or puffed-up. And some of us still like our coffee black. We are trying to ask the question of what is important. Is it more vital that the youth are excited and yelling in competition or that they are truly, desperately, madly in love with the sacred heart of Jesus?
This is a cheer that I have grown up yelling at swim meets and sporting events. “We have spirit, yes we do!” It was never a declaration of the heart. It was a shouting match.
When a middle-schooler enters a room with a thousand other kids yelling at each other, questioning who loves Jesus more, I wager that they feel more of a surge of testosterone than they feel called to pray. I would also bet that this testosterone is not directed less toward a declaration that the gates of hell shall never prevail against us, the Church Militant, than it is to a declaration that our youth group can be louder than all the others.
But let us assume that I am wrong and these thousand kids are yelling with pure hearts, truly calling each other to love, holding their brothers and sisters accountable, warning them that “Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love”. Understand me, I am not being sarcastic. I truly wish that this be fully realized in every heart. But I ask how the new kid, 6th grade, maybe 9th, will feel when seeing this for the first time. Like me, he doesn’t know Jesus then. Even if all the yelling kids do, he does’t understand that there is a desire in his heart which will be filled only by the blood and water flowing from the side of Christ. They are yelling about Jesus just like the kids at school all yell about the Tecumseh Tigers or the Scottsville High Sparrows. He desires acceptance, belonging, recognition, and if yelling the name of Jesus is what it takes, then by gum, that’s what I’m gonna do!
My heart goes out to this boy. I was this boy as much as any other. It took me years to learn that Christ was in the Eucharist in the monstrance, that the Spirit dwelt within me by virtue of my baptism, not by virtue of that giant room of pumped-up kids. Christ is in my singing without the leadership of a worship band.
Christ is a banner, but must also be the flame within us. We should make the sign of the cross, but sometimes clapping it in rhythm relegates the great tool of salvation to a dance step (especially when people are using it interchangeably with other secular dance steps – I’ve been to my share of conferences, I’ve seen it over and over). We should cry out his Most Sacred Name in ejaculations of praise, but the yelling and the volume should never become the point. And it should not be a competition. Should brothers compete for their father’s attention?
After all, his is the “at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth.”
Are we sure that no youth are being led to take the Lord’s name in vain for the sake of excitement?
Are we sure that no boy or girl is being led to see Jesus as a mascot for the awesome Lifeteen conference every year? After all, there is a stylized picture of him up on the wall. It can be confusing when you’re 14. I know from experience.
@ Daniel B. Really??? The Holy Spirit can even use a cheer to touch the heart of a person! Let the seeds fall when and where they may.
Daniel,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Stuff Youth Ministers Like is meant to be satire to poke fun at some of the things that happen in youth ministry. Thank you for reading, and we hope you continue to do so.
Eric,
Sorry, bro… I couldn’t disagree with you more. I hate the “Jesus cheer” and I know I’m not the only one. I would invite you to read my blog on “Enthusiasm vs Conversion.” I think this kind of manufactured enthusisam plays into our youth culture’s superficial tendencies and it invites teens to stay on the surface of their false realities rather than diving deeper into the mystery of Christ. I mean seriously – how many of these thousands of teens really love Jesus? Mother Theresa loved Jesus, St. Francis of Assisi loved Jesus, and all of the saints and angels in Heaven love Jesus. I don’t doubt their love and devotion. I do in fact doubt the teenage girl who finds her identity more in being used by a boy than in her baptismal grace as a daughter of the Almighty King. I find trouble in believing a teenage boy who degrades girls with his speech and character instead of living up to the image of St. Joseph. I’ve been at youth conferences with many teens who fit this description and they always love participating in these silly chants. While sainthood takes a lifetime to develop, conversion can happen in an instant. When a teenager declares their love for Jesus, I always challenge my youth group to mean it. A declaration of love for Jesus should be about a decision in the intellect and will, not simply lived in the emotions. Otherwise, it’s just a silly thing done at youth conferences and it degrades the experience of the person who really does convert and declare their love and acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord.
Thank you for writing the blog and I am not trying to be confrontational. But youth ministry that stays on the surface without diving into the mystery of Christ is a pet peeve of mine.
Everett,
Thank you for your comment. The Stuff Youth Ministers Like series is written as satire, intended to poke fun, laugh, and find humor in some of the things that happen in youth ministry. With that said, there’s really nothing to agree or disagree with, as I’m not really taking a position. Although, between you and me, I’ve never been a fan of it either, tending to go with response #3. Thanks for reading. Hope all is well.
Even though I am only a teen not a youth minister I like God is good all the time/ all the time good is good and Jesus Christ now and forever/ now and forever Jesus Christ. ( I also like P-H-A-T X-huh but that’s just a camper call from PHAT camp)
Alyssa,
Thanks you for sharing. May God continue to bless you as you seek Him out in your daily life.
I usually have them do the Ave Chant!!!!
Me: AVE!
Teens: AVE!
Me: AVE!
Teens: AVE!
ALL: MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRIA!