Dean Helton
Book Review
Engaging the Soul of Youth Culture by Walt Mueller
YOUT 350
Professor Nix
I don’t know about you, but I deal with teenagers regularly, whether that be at work or
my own siblings. I can agree with the statement that dealing with teenagers can be difficult or
even intimidating to some, but why is that? Is it because they are so different from us as adults,
or is it that we view that as incompetent and selfish? There are many excuses that can be throw
out there to why the teenagers in our country are not being reached by us. How would you grade
your experience with reaching students, or better yet, how would your church in impacting the
young generation for God’s glory? Is the gospel being accurately presented to these teens so that
they can understand it? All of these questions can be answered by divine words from God, and I
think the book Engaging the Soul of Youth Culture: Bridging Teen Worldviews And Christian
Truth by Walt Mueller is just that. The church has lost site of the ministry opportunity within our
own nation. There is a great enfaces on mission, but we are not equipping our youth to go and
fulfill the great commission. Walt sees the need to reach this unique culture as a mission
opportunity and uses this book as a calling to all Christians to think of themselves as cross-
cultural missionaries in America. This book is an excellent tool in helping leaders in the church
and parents as they effectively carry the gospel to a lost generation.
The purpose of this book is to give us as adults the upper hand when dealing with teens.
Mueller backs ups his points with biblical principles and helps us understand the culture in which
these teens are wrapped up in. I think we all can agree that today’s culture is quite different than
how we all grew up, but we have to be able to understand the culture in order to better
understand what our kids are dealing with. Walt believes that one of the biggest mistakes we are
making is not listening to our youth. They are actively searching for answers and understanding,
but we are too quick to cast judgment and scold them and not really hear or see the true need.
“We aren’t listening, and we don’t even know it!”
Most adults do not have a clue as to what is going on in the life of most teens. Mueller
calls out the older generation saying that we must start listening to the young generation if we are
committed to advancing the kingdom and reaching them with the truth of the gospel. Mueller
writes, “If we try to talk to our young people before listening to their reality, we will only beat
the air.”
So what is the solution? I agree with Mueller in the fact that the most successful tool to
reach the teens is by transformational discipleship, or as I would like to call it relational
discipleship. It is obvious that there is an interest in spirituality amongst the teens, but they are
looking in the wrong places. We cannot equate the interest of spirituality with true Christianity,
but what we can do is take advantage of the sparked interest and be there for counseling
purposes. We must listen to why they are searching for spiritual answers and explain to them the
gospel of Jesus Christ. “Once we know the reality of the young people, we can communicate the
gospel in ways that can be heard and understood.” We must begin to build relationships with
these young teens so that when those questions do come up we are the source of their answers.
In many situations we do not realize that teens are searching for answers due to us not
being a part of their lives and so they look to social media for guidance. Mueller states that “pop
culture gives the teens purpose.” They are finding their purpose in the stuff furthest from Christ.
There are even studies that show that teens are finding their “religious interests, dreams, fears,
hopes, and desires through popular culture.” That is sickening to me. We are letting culture
infiltrate our homes and churches and have a greater impact on our teens than us. But the first
step to resolving the issue is to be aware that it is happening and Walt does an excellent job of
putting that issue on blast.
I love the fact that the purpose of this book is not to make us aware of these issues so that
we can bring these teens to a profession of faith, but rather it is focused on making us aware of
the issues that we as adults are causing, and challenges us to infiltrate the new culture to bring
these teens to a radical life transformation that flows from true, God-wrought salvation.
I highly recommend this book to all Christians. The book gets straight to the point and
the author does not hide behind his words. He is very upfront and his opinions are what make the
book uncomfortable and yet perfect. It helped me tremendously with understanding the post-
modern culture that teens are growing up in. One of Walt’s quotes sums up the book perfectly,
“The church faces a moment of unprecedented opportunity. The youth culture is calling. If we
fail to listen and faithfully respond, we’re effectively telling them we don’t care or we have
nothing to say.” We are challenged by this book to effectively reach these lost teens by using the
tools given to us through God’s divine word via Engaging the Soul of Youth Culture: Bridging
Teen Worldviews And Christian Truth by Walt Mueller
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