As [Jesus] walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people." Immediately they left their nets and followed him (Matthew 4:18-20, NRSV).

Some youth may have never heard of Jesus Christ (except as an expletive); other youth may attend worship, Sunday school, and youth group every Sunday, without ever having developed a relationship with God in Christ. Youth are separated from Christ for a variety of reasons.

The question is, How do we as youth leaders help these youth connect with Christ?
The short answer: We don’t; God does. The long answer: Our job is (a) to provide opportunities for youth to establish a relationship with Christ and (b) to set a positive example by reflecting God’s love and grace. God will do the rest. We cannot force youth to connect with Christ, but we can create an environment that will enable these connections to be made. Jesus called us to fish for people, so I would like to recommend a three-step process that I call “Hook, Line, and Sinker.”

Step 1: The Hook
The best way to hook a youth is by planning a large social or outreach event. A successful hook event will attract and excite youth from various backgrounds who are at various stages in their spiritual journeys. The main purpose of a hook is to give you an opportunity to get to know these youth who might not otherwise participate in your ministry.

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35, NRSV).

By getting to know these youth, you can get a sense of their wants, needs, and questions. This will enable you to seek them out individually at a later date.

• Always provide a sign-in sheet so that new youth can leave their names, phone numbers, and other useful information that will help you establish a connection. (You might ask an adult volunteer to collect this information as youth arrive.) In addition, keep a record of which regulars are in attendance.
  
• Keep in touch with your visitors (or regulars who only come to big events). I like to follow up hook events by calling new attendees the next evening and telling these youth how much we enjoyed having them. During these phone calls, I ask the youth for their addresses (if I don’t have them already). The next morning, I mail them a card affirming that we were glad to have them and would like for them to return.
• Once you’ve established these connections, try to meet with each of these youth individually to get a sense of their wants and needs. Show each of these youth that you are personally interested in him or her.

Step 2: The Line
By line, I mean a straight line into each youth’s heart. Get to know their names, interests, and backgrounds. Learn where each youth is on his or her spiritual journey as well as where he or she would like to go. You cannot build a strong relationship with a youth until you have this knowledge.

This is important: Youth want to know how much you care before they want to hear what you know. Getting to know each youth as a complex person requires time and patience, especially when you’re working with youth who aren’t terribly interested in what your ministry has to offer. But when you take the time and make the effort to get to know each youth on a personal level, youth will see God’s great love reflected in you.

Step 3: The Sinker
Once you have established a relationship with a youth, you can begin the process of evangelism and start him or her on the road to discipleship. This is the sinker; it takes you deep into a youth’s spiritual life and helps him or her to better understand God’s great love and desire to have an intimate relationship with him or her.

For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light—for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:8-10, NRSV).

We have a number of names for this process of bringing youth to Christ: discipleship, mentoring, coaching, and so forth. Regardless of what we call it, bringing youth to Christ requires trust, open communication, interaction, sharing, and friendship. When you reach out to a youth on this level, you can take him or her to new depths of spiritual fulfillment.

Of course, carrying out each of these steps will vary from youth to youth. Different youth will respond to different approaches. Some youth will inevitably require more time and patience than others, but the end result is worth the effort. So I challenge you to use this “hook, line, and sinker” method to bring youth to your ministry and to help them grow as faithful disciples.