Youth Ministry: Entertainment vs. Discipleship

As I write this I am sitting in the airport soon to board a plane for Chicago. I am on my way to take part in Simply Youth Ministry/Group's National Youth Leaders Conference. It will be a busy time of workshops and other sessions where we hope to be trained and receive information on how to ministry to this culture's youth. This is has caused me to consider the state of youth ministry as a whole and the group I lead specifically.
One question I keep coming back to is "What is the purpose of a church's youth ministry?". With my seminary training and my own experiences as a teenager guiding me, I have always felt that youth ministry's purpose is discipleship; and yet, it seems that the idea among many church members is a purpose of entertainment. Let's face it, most churches see youth ministry as a baby sitter who will keep the kids entertained while the adults do church stuff. The attitude is that we have to keep them happy and excited about being there or else the parents will have to fight with their kids to go to church.
May I suggest that we actually read the Bible to see what was important to Jesus? He said bring the little children to him, acknowledging that we need their kind of faith. We then see him teaching and preparing the disciples for ministry. I dare say Jesus was not concerned with how many were there and if they were having a good time or not. He had a kingdom focus and he was too busy instilling that vision in his disciples.
Perhaps our youth would be better served by instilling a kingdom focus in them and preparing them for ministry; perhaps then we would not lose them when they graduate? Perhaps the reason churches have a hard time keeping 2o-somethings is that we have taught them to be takers instead of givers, consumers instead of servers? The youth of our day are looking to make a difference, are our youth ministries preparing them to do so? I am afraid that the answer is no.
It is time for our churches to take youth ministry seriously, to make it a priority that we prepare them to be a part of God's kingdom plan. It is time for parents to demand more than just a baby sitting club at their church. It is time for church leadership to hold its youth ministry leaders accountable for the souls of youth. It is time for youth ministry leaders to be fully committed to the serious business of disciplining the youth of our churches. It is time to do something different.
There are choices to be made about the nature of youth ministry; I hope that others will come along side me on this. I hope for the sake of the gospel that things change, or else God will raise up someone else.