Even the question sounds crazy right? I mean, of course we are teaching students to love Jesus. We are after all Youth Workers. We serve Jesus all the time. We do all sorts of crazy things for teens so they will “love Jesus,” …right? Well, maybe not.

While we all hope and sincerely desire to raise up students who genuinely love Jesus, I am afraid many times what we actually teach them is to “love the idea of Jesus.” You see, the danger is that you can serve in church, teach in church, share the gospel, go on mission trips, go to church camps, feed the homeless, lead from the stage, and actually do it out of a love for the “idea of Jesus” rather than really a love for Jesus.

The real scary thing is that even you as a Youth Pastor or Youth Worker may be driven out of a love for the idea of Jesus rather than a genuine love for Jesus.

What is the difference? How can we tell?

A genuine love for Jesus does four things:

Love for Jesus removes limitations and boundaries

Loving the idea of Jesus means I will serve Him, but on my terms. Having a love for Jesus means I place no boundaries or limitations on what I will do for Him.

Love for Jesus results in obedience

Loving the idea of Jesus means I will be obedient when I want to and most likely when it makes me look good. This in and of itself, is not true obedience at all. A love for Jesus means I will obey even when I am not seen. I will obey even when no other person will know.

Love for Jesus reveals itself in daily life

Loving the idea of Jesus means I will look good on Sunday or when it is “game time.” Loving Jesus means that my relationship with Jesus spills over into every aspect of my life daily. The overflow of my life will center on the gospel and it will be evident to those I come in contact with.

Love for Jesus reaches the lost

Loving the idea of Jesus means I might share my faith when it is easy. Loving Jesus means I will be broken over the lost. It will cause me to pray for them, serve them, and share the gospel with them. It will cause me to see my neighborhood and community as my mission field. It will cause your students to see their schools as their mission field. Loving the idea of Jesus will lead me to share out of arrogance. Loving Jesus leads me to pursue the lost out of compassion.

There is a BIG difference between loving the idea of Jesus and having a real love for Jesus. As we lead our students we must be aware of this in our own lives as well as our ministries.

Do you feel you are teaching your students to love the idea of Jesus or a real love for Jesus? In what ways are you doing this? In your own heart, where does you affection lie? Leave a comment and share!

Photo credit: seyed mostafa zamani / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)