Raising New Timothies

By Jad Tabet

April 17, 2025

In 2022, I wrote an article on the importance of youth empowerment and engagement in church ministry and how that could help our kids find meaning for their lives in Christlike ways, both inside and outside the Church. Growing up in the Lebanese Church, I was constantly disappointed to see young people (of whom I am one) relegated to passive attendance in pews rather than active participation in the church. I was also saddened to see many of my friends leave the church due to this lack of engagement and find meaning in sin. The solution to me then was to give young people more of an active role within the church so that the church can be a place of formation and engagement for them, and I set out to do just that with the teens in my church. 

Three years later, amid conversations on leadership, risk-averse ministry, the ongoing emigration of our youth, and Thimar’s commitment to equip a new generation of local Christian leaders, it is worth revisiting the topic. 

I was 25 when I wrote that article. I was full of energy and ideas, but I had not yet experienced the weight of leadership nor known the impact of purposeful formation on young people. Since then, God has blessed me with opportunities to experience those two things firsthand: First, through my discipler, who has graciously invested so much time and effort into my life. Second, through my role as an instructor at the American University of Beirut, where I’ve seen my students grow and change over the course of their journeys as undergrads. And third, through my experience in ministry with my church, with Beirut Baptist School, and with Thimar’s Salt and Light ministry. 

Out of this experience, I’ve learned three key lessons that are worth considering as Thimar and the local church in Lebanon move forward with training a new generation of Christian leaders. In this essay, I will reflect on them and explore practical ways that we might apply them so that the seeds we plant might bloom into a church that is not only filled with young people – but led by them. 

Lesson 1. Youth leadership is purposeful sacrifice 

It sounds like a cliché – and it is – but only because it is a universal truth that Christlike leadership is equivocal with purposeful sacrifice. We need only look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, to know that true leadership is sacrificial. And it must be purposeful because it is easy for us to sacrifice effort and time to things (and people) without bringing it back to the gospel.  

This is reflected in our Salt and Light ministry, which over the past year has worked to help sustain the Lebanese Church through training workshops for young adults and youth ministry leaders. Team members sacrifice weekends, holidays, evenings, and days off to spend meaningful time with these young people, supporting them with resources and helping them learn more about ministry and the gospel.  

For a generation often labeled the anxious generation, providing the space and resources for them to take ownership over their talents and apply them without fear of criticism affords a sense of meaning and purpose. It also gives them a sense of belonging to the ministries they have for so long been the beneficiaries of.  

Psalm 126 captures this idea perfectly when it says, “Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.” We must tend to the young people that the Lord entrusts us with just like we would tend to a garden, with effort, care, and patience, trusting that the time and effort we put in will one day produce fruit in their lives. 

Lesson 2. Activity is not the same as formation 

I am thankful that, as a ministry leader in my church, I have the space – and have been entrusted with the responsibility – to give roles to youths in every ministry I am part of. Over years of serving these youths, I have come to see how easy it is for them to say, “I am doing things in ministry; therefore, I must be spiritually well” while neglecting their personal, spiritual walks with Christ.  

But this confusion between busyness and spiritual health isn’t their fault. It’s the air we all breathe. Hustle culture is everywhere—from academic pressure to social media mindsets, our youth are constantly told that their worth is measured by their output. Rest looks like laziness. Slowness is shameful. And in the Church, this mindset sneaks in dressed as service. But God doesn’t call us to perform for Him—He invites us to abide in Him. 

As Christian leaders, our role is not merely to empower young people to take on roles within the Church—it is to guide them into a life rooted in Christ. We must remind them, and ourselves, that spiritual formation is not a checklist or a performance review. It is a relationship. It is formation, not function, that produces lasting faith. 

I see the impact of this in my students — bright, passionate young adults who come to me stressed and anxious, overwhelmed by their grades, their futures, their perceived inadequacies. Many of them feel as though their value rises and falls with their GPA, internship status, or how “together” they appear to be. And while I affirm their drive and celebrate their achievements, I also gently remind them: your identity is not found in your performance. Your worth is not contingent on your output. Christ didn’t die for your resume — He died for you. 

We need to build spaces where it is safe to slow down, to be seen, to be vulnerable. Spaces where youth learn to be still and know God, not just serve Him. This can be as simple as getting a cup of matcha or a Spanish latte with a youth ministry member (that’s the trend these days) or taking time to have a good conversation with someone. That’s the kind of holistic growth we are called to foster; not ministry machines, but mature disciples who know how to love God deeply, love others well, and live from a place of grace rather than grind.  

Lesson 3. Discipleship is a two-way street 

Probably the hardest lesson I’ve learned in ministry is that, sometimes, the people we are serving just don’t want to be served. Whether because of pain, disinterest, or simply a different season in their life, not everyone is ready to receive. And yet, the calling remains: to be faithful, not necessarily fruitful. Discipleship isn’t a transaction. It’s a relationship—a long walk together in the same direction. 

I’ve seen this at BBS, where mentoring a student doesn’t always yield immediate results. Sometimes months go by without seeing growth in students. But then all it takes is one student asking for help, one student opening up about challenges, for us to see how God works in His time, not ours. 

And just as we disciple youth, they also shape us. Their questions stretch our faith. Their doubts refine our convictions. Their growth reignites our passion. If we allow it, discipleship humbles us just as much as it transforms them. Leadership in youth ministry isn’t flashy. It’s made of years of sacrifices, slow conversations, and silent prayers. But it is in the buildup of these ordinary moments that God does extraordinary things. 

I remember watching our BBS principal discipline a student in her office a few months ago. As a kid, I was always afraid of being sent to the principal’s office, so, when I learned what I was about to witness, I got anxious for both the kid and myself! But what I saw in that office that day healed me a little. Our principal disciplined firmly, but with grace and in a Christlike manner. She reprimanded the student without putting blame or shame on them. She corrected without menace. When she was done, her love for the student brought the kid to tears at having disappointed her. I imagine that is how it is with Christ; we fail Him, and we become upset, not because He reprimands us, but because His love for us shows us that we could do better, that we could be better. That changes us. 

The Harvest to Come 

The church will not be transformed by programs, but by people who are willing to sow with tears. So let us plant. Let us water. And let us wait. Let us walk beside the wandering, not with haste, but with hope, offering not perfection, but presence. Let us speak when the moment calls and stay silent when listening is the holier thing. Let us model faith not as performance, but as practice — messy, honest, enduring. Let us be the ones who create the space for our youths to bear fruit, recalling the words of Galatians 6:9 to “not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”