What’s your Role?

The last blog was about a book about the role of the shepherd of the church. In youth ministry your role may seem a bit different but is it? Whether you are a youth pastor from a small church or from a large church the role should be the same, shepherding the flock. There may be different tasks that each one does but the goal should be the same. You may not be the senior pastor but you play a vital role in the church.

Role for the youth

Your job as a youth pastor should be to show Christ to the youth of the church. This is a great responsibility as you get opportunities to share Christ with the youth as well as guide them in the way of Christ. This is hands on work where confrontation, accountability, and growth can take place. It is easy to overlook the brevity of the task at hand as you do only get the youth for a short amount of time.

Beating Repetition

When I went to Cambodia some years ago, we saw many ruts that would develop in the road due to the rain water that would collect. Our missionary friend who road a dirt bike to the local villages would say, sometimes you would get stuck in these rain ruts and would have to ride them out. Sometimes when you would stand in these ruts you would even sink down to being waist high with the rest of the ground!

How do you view ministry? Are you stuck in a rut? I do think it can be easy to feel like ministry can be a rut if your eyes are off of Jesus Christ. Ministry is with people but the focus should always be Christ. A book that we have been going over with our leaders in the ministry is, “On Being a Servant” by Warren Wiersbe. He defines ministry as this, “Ministry takes place when divine resources meets human needs through loving channels to the glory of God.” In this book, he talks about how we are not manufacturers of ministry but we are distributors.

If you are finding yourself in the rut of ministry and having a pity party than I suggest making sure your perspective aligns with the cross. It is easy when certain things may not go as planned or feeling unappreciative for all the hard work but you must ask yourself why do you do ministry? It is because of the work of Jesus Christ that I go in and out everyday. That is why Paul tells us in Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men.” What a great opportunity we have to work with such a crucial age group. As Ephesians 5:16 tells us, “make the best use of our time, because the days are evil.”

On a more practical note with being stuck in a rut, not only making sure your focus is right, make sure you have a strong godly leader that you can go to that may understand the task of ministry. This person can pray for you and encourage you as this is battle ground.

Defeat, Distress, and Overlooked

Youth Ministry can be a fun and exciting blessing but it also comes with its battles sprinkled throughout those moments of blessings. I don’t know about you but its hard not to take certain things personally such as the size of the group, what kids may say, how parents respond. You can give 110% and an event can flop. You can strive to reach the culture and work so hard on a message and only get blank stares as a response. Sometimes, it feels as if you need to throw in the towel. I would like to just encourage the youth workers out there that I know that there are spiritual battle and sometimes it seems like it is more personal where we can feel defeated, distressed and overlooked in all the hard work.

As I have these personal battles that develop every now and then I need to do a couple of things. First, I run to the Lord. He knows all things and I trust Him in his leading. As I go to the Lord it changes my focus on the situation and onto him. When I am looking to Christ I see the proper focus and what really matters. Defeat, the distress and even the feeling of being overlooked can fade away when I run to the Lord. Sometimes we overcomplicate ministry with events and other stuff when the reality is we can forget the simplicity of the Gospel.

The second thing I try to do is evaluate the purpose of what am I doing. I have been doing youth ministry for 10 plus years now and I do see a change in youth culture. This culture now is not a “let’s be active together as a large group” instead they are more involved with social media and just talk more than do stuff with each other. It is a culture that is more resistant towards church. It is easy to think, a few years ago we did this and that and it was a big success but what now, what am I doing that is different, it can look like I’m killing the ministry instead of it growing. Maybe the answer is, “That is why, you are doing the same thing.” The youth culture is different and we can’t keep doing things that we did 5 years ago.  As I refocus on the Lord and the simplicity of the Gospel I think how can I reach the youth where they are at. It means more thought, getting out of the rut and reaching the youth. Honestly it does not matter about numbers God cares about hearts. I think that mindset of change is good because Jesus reached the culture in different ways. The Gospel is the same just presented differently to different people. I am learning and growing in this area. I am being stretched and it is hard and not pretty at times.

The third thing is I make sure and surround myself with strong Christians that are and are not involved in youth ministry but offer encouragement in these battles. My wife and friends as well as other pastoral staff can help. I also know I am not alone. We  are in a battle that is all across the world for the youth. Paul ended one of his letters to the Corinthians church by saying, “Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” I am praying for the fellow youth workers out there. As I grow and learn I pray we can help one another and learn from one another.