Why Youth Ministry Rocks

Sometimes youth ministry is hard, some times it is thankless, and it is often exhausting. There are days when you wonder if it is worth it to keep going. I could probably think of 100 reasons, but here are ten off the top of my head:

• It's fun. Where else can you do cool and crazy things without people thinking you are a complete moron? Ok, they might think you are a moron for doing youth ministry, but at least you have some kind of excuse.
• You can sleep in. This may not be the case for everyone, but a lot of youth pastors get to sleep in a little when they are working at night.
• You get to answer ridiculous questions like, "When are you going to become a real pastor?"
• You get the privilege of doing announcements on Sunday Morning.
• You can take students skiing, have the church pay for it, and call it work.
• You get paid to study scripture, that rocks.
• You get to travel for mission trips, conferences, and continuing ed. Again the church picks up the tab. Those things are work, but it is still fun.
• You have the privelege of telling your wife you need two wardrobes. One for working with the kids and one for working with the parents and pastoral team.
• You get to officiate weddings for students whom God has impacted through your efforts. (Way to go!)
• You get to brag about the students who were once in your ministry and are now serving God in ministry.

I probably missed a bunch, but these are some pretty good ones. Keep up the good fight.

Reading the Dead Guys

The older I get, the older the books I read get. I am going to do something rare and recommend a book, but before I do I want to suggest something else. Read the dead guys!!

So much of the time we are flooded with books to read. If I read every book recommended to me I would have to read a book every day for the rest of my life. That doesn't even count the books I see in the book store that I would like to pick up. The problem is you never know what you are going to get. So here is my suggestion, read the dead guys!!

The thing about reading the dead guys is this, they have been tested. There is a reason the names Spurgeon, Calvin, Boice, Luther, Augustine, Tozer, C. S. Lewis, and so on have so much meaning. Their writing has stood the test of time. They will say something significant in their writings. Besides the test of time, you sound so much smarter when you quote dead guys as apposed to quoting the latest author on a particular topic. I have been amazed at how culturally relevant these guys are. It almost seems like human nature doesn't change...hmmmm

Alright, here is the book recommendation. Spurgeon wrote this little book called Come Ye Children aka Spiritual Parenting. This book is a small treasure!! It is excelent for children's workers and youth workers alike. As a parent it contains some excelent advice. Pick this book up for under ten bucks and read it. After you are done reading that book, pick up the book I contributed to Youth Ministry Lemonade @ www.pjs-web.net. (can you say shameless plug?)

Something New is Something Old With a New Paint Job

When I was 11 or 12 my step dad had a 1968 Camaro SS RS. It had hidden head lights, leather interior and an amazing stereo system. To this day it is my favorite car. It was really loud too. I love loud pipes!! We only took the car out on special occasions and my mom was barely aloud to drive it.

The funny thing is that car was old. Sure it was in perfect condition. It had a new paint job and everything was pristine. Today Chevy is still making Camaros and they are amazing cars. In the end they are still just cars. They are completely new yet they still accomplish the same old purpose of getting you from one place to the next. What does this have to do with youth ministry?

Remember that book in the Old Testament, that one written by Solomon. He said there is nothing new (paraphrase). In ministry we would do well to remember this. It is amazing how relevant the Bible is in todays world. Some of the "new" things are just old things with new paint jobs. I am not against giving old things new paint jobs, especially if it is a Camaro. Some things, however, are not Camaros. My first car was a Ford Fairmont. It was baby blue and went 0-60 in 4.5 hours. The good news is tickets were hard to come by, I still managed. That car didn't need a new paint job, it needed to be driven to the junk yard.

When something new comes along in ministry or anywhere else the first thing we should ask is, "where have I seen this before?" Many of today's churches have been distracted by old things with new paint jobs. Many of those old things might look cool, they might even have flames painted on the side, but in reality they need to be driven straight to the junk yard.

New theology is usually just old, bad theology with a new paint job. The latest trends in ministry are trends, they will fade away. Recently I heard a sermon by a pastor who openly downplayed theology from the pulpit. He was attempting to make the Bible look attractive to a young and hip crowd of mostly college age people (we felt old with our two kids). I must admit I was disappointed. Clearly he had no idea what he was doing. The Bible isn't a book meant for entertainment, although it can be entertaining at times. The Bible is not a reference book with short and simple answers to all of life's little problems either. We should not present it to students in that manner. Instead it is a book filled with life changing truth (theology) about God, man, and how God saves man. It isn't trivial, it isn't an encyclopedia, and it isn't to be taken lightly. It is the WORD OF GOD. I wonder if that is the impression we give to students when we read from it, study it, and communicate it to them?

I left church that day thinking, "if the pastor would just teach the life changing message of scripture he wouldn't have to try so hard to make it sound interesting!"

Growing The Church

What do you do with kids who are coming to your ministry programs, but do not go to church anywhere on Sunday?

This can be a difficult question. In the past I had been happy with the fact that they were attending one of my programs. I thought that was my job. Over the past few years I have become less satisfied with that. There are several reasons:

• Students that do not become involved in the church on a deeper level usually are the ones who leave the church completely once they leave high school.
• Students who have parents that are committed to Christ are more likely to continue there own commitment.
• One student may give us an opportunity to minister to an entire family.
• God is a jealous God, and we should be jealous as well. God wants all to be saved not just students.

Getting this done may require creativity and more work, but it seems irresponsible to ignore this opportunity. Working with other staff or having different kinds of events that include the whole family are a couple of ideas to accomplish this.

Grow the kingdom and your own church at the same time.

Authority and Youth Ministry

Have you ever been told to do something you didn't want to do? How about something you didn't believe would work? I sat down with a friend recently who has been asked not only to do something they didn't want to, but something they had significant doubts about. In youth ministry this happens often. How should we respond to this kind of request?

There is not one right response or one set of rules that will help you determine how to work your way through this kind of situation. The advice I gave my friend was specific to that situation and would likely not help you. Instead of offering some kind of broad advice I would like to ask some questions that might help you when you face this kind of a situation yourself. I hope these questions will help you work through the difficulty you face.

• If you were to do what you are being asked would you have a clear conscience? Is it morally acceptable to God? I would hope the answer to this question would always be yes, but perhaps it is too much to assume.
• Has the program or action been thought through well?
• Does this fit with the mission and values of the church?
• Is this something you knew you would have to do when you signed on?
• Is there a way to change the program or action so that it would work better for all involved?
• Most importantly have you been honest and respectful in communicating your opposition?
• Is it worth losing your job over?