Social Commitment and Jesus Youth (BJEP024)

 The Journey of Social Commitment in Jesus Youth

(By Dr. Edward Edezhath - article published in Kairos Magazine in 2015)

Sometime in 1982, during one of our monthly weekends together, the First Line group stumbled into a conversation that refused to end. I don't remember exactly who started it — someone raised the question of what it meant for Jesus Youth to be leaven in society, and then the room simply took off. These were the kinds of conversations that made the First Line what it was: a circle of leaders from across Kerala who gathered on the third weekend of each month, sat together without formal classes or prepared syllabi, and talked. Shared. Prayed. Argued, sometimes. Then went back home to act in their living situations.

What made it remarkable was precisely the absence of control. No one was managing the conclusions. In most groups, a certain direction of thought is set in advance, and participants are quietly guided toward it. The First Line had none of that, and the freedom it created produced something that formal sessions rarely do: genuine inquiry. Many of the movement's later styles and instincts took shape in that room over those years. One of the most important was a growing, urgent vision of social commitment.

The Leaven and the Servant

By the early 1980s, Jesus Youth was taking visible shape — and other youth movements of the time were beginning to notice. In several places, a degree of friction arose. Movements saw in us a hint of competition and responded accordingly. The question before our discussions was: what do we do with that?

The answer that emerged was clear enough, though it took some courage to live out. Competition is simply not what we are for. We are not trying to grow at another movement's expense. We are trying to become witnesses — as individuals and as a community — who introduce Jesus. The best way to overcome the friction that comes from perceived competition is through servanthood: becoming an inseparable part of the very communities that might see us as rivals. In our context, this is what the New Testament means when it speaks of leaven. Not a leaven that expands visibly and takes over, but one that works quietly, from within, transforming the whole.

The practical expression of this thinking was surprising in its generosity. In many regions, Jesus Youth members took the initiative to build up and provide leadership to organizations like KCYM and CLC — movements that could theoretically have been seen as competing with us. We had always taught that service is an inseparable part of Christian life. But the idea of becoming servants to those who might potentially compete with you — that gave servanthood a different quality entirely. Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil would later describe the non-threatening style of Jesus Youth evangelization as one of its distinctive features. This is where that instinct came from.

The Convention and the Poor

But it was a different question — the question of the poor — that pressed on us most deeply during those years, and it came to a head at the 1982 national Charismatic Renewal convention at Thevara College, Ernakulam.

This was the first time a national Renewal convention had been held in Kerala, and the theme chosen was Commitment to the Poor — Option for the Poor. What the theme required in preparation was unlike anything the movement had attempted before. A thousand volunteers had to be trained for it. That responsibility, along with others, fell to me. The self-awareness-centered leadership training at Manjummel in January of that year, the leaders' gathering at Thevara in July, the First Line sessions that ran through all of it — all of this was aimed at preparing the most well-formed group of servants we could assemble.

The convention itself was historic. Over twenty thousand people attended and stayed. I remember walking through the grounds and feeling something that I can only describe as the weight of a vision made visible. As Fr. Pallivathukkal and Alicekutty traveled across the country, awakening the broader Renewal movement to what commitment to the poor actually meant; as Sr. Cleopatra, VT George, Jose Jacob, James Abraham, and a large contingent worked together to build everything that needed building — alongside all of that, something was forming in the hearts of the young community. A vision of who the poor are. A vision of what Jesus teaches about the attitude that society — and that we — should hold toward those who suffer.

The clarity that emerged was simple enough to state, though demanding to live. We must begin by visiting the poor in our own lives — occasions to rise from our comfortable sleep and see firsthand the condition of those who suffer. Some among us must commit themselves to reaching out and serving. And clear programs must develop as the need becomes visible.

A question hovered over all of this, though, and we never fully resolved it: should Jesus Youth develop large-scale social service projects? The answer we kept returning to was no — not primarily. This movement is not, at its core, a social service organization. But vibrant life in Jesus and genuine evangelization can only happen while standing alongside the destitute. Humble service and commitment to the poor must become the lifestyle of every member — not a project that some specialized team handles. Looking back, individuals and some communities have made real progress. But Jesus Youth still has much further to go.

The Public Square

Closely related to all of this is a dimension that has received thoughtful attention in the movement's discussions but less consistent follow-through in practice: participation in the public platforms of society. Social organizations, mechanisms of civic participation, cultural and artistic arenas, political engagement — these are the spaces where the visible leadership of civil society operates. The Church has always been clear that the laity must not abandon these spaces. On the contrary, believers are called to be an active presence there, a corrective force, a witness.

How honestly the Jesus Youth movement has lived up to that calling is something that deserves serious self-examination. And as the Church's summons to become guardians of the environment grows more urgent — Pope Francis's Laudato Si' has made this inescapable — presence in the wider public space becomes as necessary as personal conversion in this area.

The Workplace

The last dimension of social commitment that has received sustained attention in Jesus Youth is the workplace itself. In the prevailing culture, a career is generally seen as little more than a means of earning a livelihood. The Church's teaching stands this on its head: we are called to receive our work as a gift from God, as something that makes us who we are, gives life meaning and depth, and becomes an important arena for fulfilling God's will.

Jesus Youth has always brought together students, ordinary workers, and highly qualified professionals without distinction — and this mixing is itself a form of formation. But there have also been many occasions when people from similar careers gathered specifically to explore what their particular calling and responsibility look like. The importance of this for both evangelization and the building of society needs no argument.

In an age when young people are leaping into corporate jobs in pursuit of salaries and benefits, serious questions are beginning to arise within the movement about choosing careers oriented toward the Kingdom of God. And as government service grows less attractive to ambitious young people, the need for committed, service-minded individuals to be present in those roles is itself becoming a subject of discussion. Both conversations matter. Both are part of what it means to be Jesus Youth in the world.

By its fruits the tree is known. The effectiveness of a movement is ultimately measured by the lasting transformation it brings about in the broader community. That, after all, is what true evangelization is. Jesus Youth has taken real steps in this direction. And yet — joyfully, honestly — there is still so much further to go.

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For further reflection:

1. The First Line group's power came from its freedom — no set conclusions, no managed direction, just genuine inquiry together. Do you have spaces in your life where that kind of free conversation about faith and mission is possible? If not, what would it take to create one?

2. The decision to serve other youth movements — even potential competitors — gave Jesus Youth's approach to evangelization a distinctive quality. Is there a person, group, or institution in your life that you treat as a competitor when you could instead become a servant to them?

3. The 1982 convention theme was Commitment to the Poor. In your own life, what does it mean practically to "visit the poor" — to rise from comfortable sleep and see firsthand the condition of those who suffer?

4. The Church calls the laity to be an active presence in the public square — civic, cultural, political. In what concrete ways are you living that calling? Where might you need to lean in further?