If you’re a youth pastor, you have to wonder, “How do we disciple young people like Jesus did in today’s society?” The answer is, you can’t; our culture is set up to fight you tooth and nail for time and it militates against risk and radical behavior, so youth pastors find themselves constantly hemmed in trying to teach students faith.

However, some churches have done a great job of making the main thing the main thing. With the time that they’ve been given, they pursue disciplemaking with a passion. And their fruit speaks for itself. Here are three of the best that I’ve seen.

Small: The J-Unit

You don’t have to be big to make disciples. Justin Mitchell takes the AIM approach of listening prayer and applies it continually as he points young people to do what Jesus did.

Medium: True North

Their six week Peruvian mission trip is the best youth group mission I’ve ever seen. And they back it up with a relentless focus on disciple making.

Large: The Cause

Great emphasis on small groups and periodic weekend retreats that promote healing and a deeper walk.

If you’ve got some other candidates, please let me know. We need to share the wealth.