This blog post is part of a series reflecting on the Asbury Outpouring/Revival that happened in Wilmore, Kentucky in 2023. Each post is seeking to answer the question “What Next?” in hopes of seeing the movement of God continue to bear fruit. If you’d like to visit past blog posts, here are the links:

What Next?
“Now is the Right Time”
When Preferences Get in the Way
“Good” Worship

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It’s been a while since my last blog post about the Asbury Outpouring. Apparently, moving, beginning a new job, and welcoming a baby means that you have less time on your hands… who knew?

In one of the beginning paragraphs of my blog post “When Preferences Get in the Way,” I confessed the following:

“If I were designing an Outpouring… I wouldn’t choose for Gen Z to be the leaders of an Outpouring. They don’t have enough experience with spiritual things like this… plus, the Boomers don’t trust them. And I certainly wouldn’t choose for it to begin at an institution… Gen Z wouldn’t show up.”

As I watched the Gen Z students at Asbury University (and many other universities) flood Hughes Auditorium of a 130+ year-old institution, it felt ironic: young adults being drawn to a place that was founded before some of their great-great-great-grandparents were born. Not only was the juxtaposition of the ages of the students and the institution ironic, but the fact that Gen Z was flocking to an institution rather than away from an institution was quite the anomaly.

But as I sat there in worship, looking at the back of young adults’ heads, I couldn’t help but wonder: Where do they go from here? When the last chord is strummed, the last prayer prayed, the door to Hughes Auditorium finally closed and locked… what then?

I imagined that they would load up their college vans, their jam-packed cars, and even hop on planes. They would go back to their dorms and their classes, telling friends about what had happened. Some would get invited to churches to share their stories and the love they experienced from God. But then what? What would happen when they graduated from college and went into the “real world”?

These young adults had experienced something they had never experienced before. How would the Church respond?

The Harvest is Plentiful

As I’ve written about before (link here), unfortunately, many churches have their doors closed to young people. Oh sure, they say they want their church to grow and they want young people to fill the pews. But they want young people to be seen, not heard. They want young people who won’t threaten their way of worship. They want young people who think the same way as them. They want young people who are willing to be led, but not lead. They want young people who sound, think, and act like them.

There are plenty of churches that aren’t like this, mind you. I’m grateful to be pastoring one such church. But there are plenty of churches who do have their doors closed to young people.

Some of Jesus’ words haunted me as I watched what He did during the outpouring:
“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” (Matthew 9:37)

As I looked around Hughes Auditorium, I couldn’t help but think: The harvest is plentiful. Young people from every corner of the nation and many corners of the world were experiencing God in profound ways. What next?

What I pray is next is discipleship.

The Workers are Few

In the American church, we’ve tried to mass-produce disciples. We’ve thought that if we bring people to church for one hour a week, have them sing a few songs, pray a prayer, and listen to a sermon, then they have everything they need to live as Christ-followers in the world.

It seems that we’ve forgotten that these Christ-followers live every other hour in a week in a world that often resists the way of Christ.

We live in a world where cancer diagnoses exist. We live in a world where bosses ask employees to make questionable choices. We live in a world where everything under the sun is at our fingertips on a pocket-sized computer.

How do we live out our faith in such a world?

It’s hard to answer that question from a platform or behind a pulpit.

I’ve now had the privilege to preach to my congregation a half-dozen times. One of the hardest things about preaching to your own people is preaching in a way that speaks to each person’s particular situation. What the person crippled by workaholism needs to hear is often very different than the person crippled by slothfulness.

So how do we help others—particularly the many young people who are experiencing profound moves of God—answer the questions that living out our faith in the 21st century bring up?

What we need is discipleship.

The Best Ministers

Earlier this week, on January 16, I thought back to one of the most significant days of my life.

Fourteen years before, on January 16, 2010, I was sitting on the front porch of a cabin at Camp Timpoochee in Niceville, Florida. It had been a long, exhausting, and—to be quite honest—discouraging day at my church’s Youth Leadership Team Retreat.

Late into the night, I chatted with my youth director. At one point, he asked my ninth-grade self: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

When I confidently told him that I wanted to be a lawyer or sports agent, he said: “That’s great. Some of the best ministers I know never step foot behind a pulpit.”

And deep within my heart, in a way I had never experienced before, God said to me: “Wayne’s right. But that’s not what I’ve called you to.”

For many years, I focused on the last part of that statement: “that’s not what I’ve called you to.” But in recent years, I began focusing on the first part of the statement: “Wayne’s right.” Some of the best ministers never step foot behind a pulpit.

It’s true in my life. Some of the best ministers I know haven’t stood behind pulpits. The best ministers I know have been real estate agents and homemakers who raised me. Insurance agents-turned-youth directors. Lawyers who met me weekly for breakfast. Lieutenant colonels in the Army Reserves and colonels in the Air Force who taught me about life and family. Business, communication, and seminary professors that taught me about faith in the “real world.” Retired YMCA directors who invited me into church leadership.

Sure, there were plenty of pastors who discipled me. But most of their discipleship happened over breakfast sandwiches and Starbucks coffee, on car rides and in offices, not sitting in a pew on Sunday mornings.

Can I just put it bluntly?

If we want the work of the Asbury Outpouring to continue beyond Wilmore, Kentucky, beyond 2023 into 2024, 2025, and 2045, then we need to take up the work of discipleship.

And that’s not just for pastors and “professional Christians.” It’s for all of us.

Jesus told a group of fishermen and a tax collector to go reap the harvest of God.

He says the same to us.

Okay, but How?

I recognize that the overwhelming majority of people reading this post weren’t a part of the Asbury Outpouring. And I recognize that the overwhelming majority of young people in the world weren’t at the Asbury Outpouring. But I believe that God is moving among young people in this nation and in the world.

There is a deep hunger among Gen Z for meaning and significance. There is a rise in spirituality in the United States even amidst a decline in Christianity. Loneliness is now an epidemic in the nation.

People are looking for something. Dare I say that people are looking for Someone. The Spirit is guiding them to the Father. Will we partner with the Spirit of the Living God?

So what do we do?

To the Young Folks

Right, wrong, or indifferent, in an American Christianity that seems to be a bit reticent to one-on-one or one-on-a-few discipleship, there’s a responsibility placed on young people to reach out to be discipled.

If that brings up feelings of disappointment or hurt because you’ve tried this before and have been let down or ghosted by older Christians, I just want to say that I am so sorry. I’ve sat with friends who have desperately desired discipleship and it seems like each time they’ve reached out, the hand of an elder hasn’t reached back out to them. Jesus sits and grieves with you.

For those who are waiting for someone to reach out to them, though, maybe God is inviting you to reach out to someone. You don’t have to be awkward or uncomfortable about it. You don’t have to approach someone and ask them to mentor or disciple you. You can ask them to lunch or coffee. You can offer to help them at their job or in their home. You can ask if you can call them with a question.

Then show up with a few good questions for them. As I’ve thought about the people who have mentored and discipled me, many of those relationships began with a question: How do I say goodbye well to friends who are moving away? How do you lead vision planning? How did you balance family and work? (Real questions I’ve asked those who have mentored and discipled me… I wouldn’t suggest these questions as a template.)

Show curiosity. Approach with interest. Take notes.

And then follow up with gratitude. A note of thanks for their time. A text saying how much you appreciated lunch. Another offer to help out again because you learned a lot from them.

And leave it to God to form that relationship between you.

To the Not-So-Young Folks

(Hear me out. I’m 28 years old, but now that I have a decade of life experience more than some legal adults, I’m including myself in this category as well.)

There is a harvest around you waiting to be reaped. Young people in your church or workplace. Students in your class. Your kids. Your grandkids.

If these people feel like strangers to you, begin by simply getting to know them. “Hey, I know I’ve seen you around before. I’m [insert name.]” Then speak to them by name the next time you see them. Ask them where they’re from. How long they’ve been coming around. If they have a spouse or children.

Once you get to know them, bring them alongside you in whatever way feels appropriate. “I’ve got a meeting with a client this afternoon. Would you like to join?” “Would you like to carpool together?” “Could I take you out to coffee or lunch?”

Then approach them with curiosity. Don’t use this as an opportunity to train them to be like you or to instill your values in them. And please, for the love of all things holy, don’t try to convince them to vote for your political candidate.

Ask them questions. “How are you?” “What’s been the hardest part of your job?” “How did you choose that career?” Learn from them. In doing so, you’ll gain their trust. I’ve found that eventually asking the question: “Do you have any questions for me?” is a really vulnerable, honest, and inviting question.

If you think you can’t do the work of discipleship, I promise you can. You don’t have to have all the answers. You’re commissioned by God Himself and given the guidance of the Holy Spirit to sustain you.

Oh, and by the way, lean on God for all of this. I’ve been praying the last few months about who God is inviting me to disciple. A couple names have come to mind but the courage to reach out hasn’t come with those names. So I’ve been praying for the bravery to reach out even when I’m scared.

The harvest is plentiful. The workers are few.

Let’s get to work.