The Strength of Youth, Walking With the Wise

I sometimes catch myself being overly critical when people describe their ministry as "outside the box." Too often, I hear it as code for: "I'm just doing whatever I want."

Or I'll watch someone with little experience and a lot of zeal try to start something without the blessing of the leaders around them, and I can feel the inner commentator kick in: Why can't they just work with good mentors? Why can't they get some reps first?

But then I remember: I started TLI at 29. I had never been overseas. I wasn't even a member of Bethlehem Baptist Church yet. I can still picture the missions committee looking at me like, "Who is this guy? Who knows this guy? And why are we letting him start a missions organization here?" And I can still hear John Piper in an elders' meeting saying something like, "Why don't we just let this happen and see what happens?"

That memory does two things at once: it humbles me—and it softens me.

Don't discount younger people in your church

God loves to begin things that look premature to us.

• Jonathan Edwards was 19 when he wrote his Resolutions.
• Charles Spurgeon began preaching at 19.
• The Haystack Prayer Meeting that helped spark modern missions was started by guys who hadn't even graduated college.
• Hudson Taylor moved to China at 21, learning language, medicine, and theology.
• Jim Elliot went to Ecuador at 25.
• Amy Carmichael went to India at 27.

And when I remember that, I can only laugh a little—and let go of my criticism.

"Don't discount" isn't the same as "don't disciple"

Proverbs gives us a wiser posture than either cynicism or naïve enthusiasm.

It's true that youth often brings speed, courage, and strength: "The glory of young men is their strength" (Proverbs 20:29). That's not a liability—it's a gift.

But Proverbs also warns that strength without wisdom can become self-directed zeal:

"Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise" (Proverbs 13:20).

"Hear counsel and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future" (Proverbs 19:20).

So the goal isn't to slow young people down until they're "safe." The goal is to aim their strength by surrounding them with wise counsel, shared accountability, and patient mentoring.

Which means when a younger believer says, "I think God is calling me to start something," a Proverbs-shaped church doesn't respond with either (1) "Absolutely not," or (2) "Go for it, no questions asked."

We respond with: "We're with you. Let's submit it to counsel. Let's build it in the light—with leaders, not around them."

So yes—be careful about "outside the box" language. And yes—teach young leaders to honor authority, seek counsel, and build with the church.

But don't forget: God has always loved using younger people to do the kind of work that makes committees uneasy at first. And sometimes the most faithful thing an older leader can say is exactly what I heard years ago:

"Let's let this happen... and see what God does."