NEW ORLEANS -- Understanding youth culture is a key step in helping teen-agers become mature, thinking Christians, said Walt Mueller, founder and president of the Center for Youth/Parent Understanding (CPYU) in Elizabethtown, Pa.

"We don't need to think for youth, but think with them, so when they are adults they can think as mature Christians," he said. "(Teens) are at the point of making faith their own."

Mueller was one of the featured speakers at Youth Ministry Institute sessions in early January at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, according to the Baptist Press. Mueller, who has been studying youth culture for more than 25 years, is author "Understanding Today's Youth Culture."

Mueller encourages parents and youth ministers to interact with teens and help them process decisions in light of biblical revelation. Before this type of dialogue can happen, he said adults must research and develop an understanding of youth culture. Discovering culture can be quite shocking to the average Christian parent or youth minister, he said, but it is a needed step in reaching out to teens.

He pointed to the apostle Paul's Mars Hill sermon as a biblical precedent for interacting with culture. Recorded in Acts 17:16-34, Paul showed that he understood the culture by framing the gospel in a way that spoke directly to his listeners, but he did not change the message.

Youth ministers and parents should begin by studying mass media, Mueller said, noting that it must be done carefully, prayerfully and only with the Holy Spirit's guidance.

"Don't cross the line and go to a place that will cause you to sin," Mueller warned. The goal, he said, is "knowing" the culture and not "becoming" the culture.

Today's teens are especially impacted by magazines, music, movies and the Internet. Each is sending a message to youth, Mueller said, and discovering these cultural messages will help adults build effective dialog with teens.

Mueller's Web site includes many articles and resources to facilitate cultural research. CPYU also publishes a quarterly newsletter, youthculture@today, which includes articles about music, media, the Internet and current issues in youth culture.