Can I be candid? Yeah I know it’s my blog but will you accept it? Regardless of what my job is (How I earn money), I will always be a Youth Pastor. Combine this with my parenthood and you can bet I have a critical eye toward the subject in general. When it involves the ministry my kids are in, it’s far more intense.
Several things concern me about youth ministry:
1. Apparent lack of biblical scholarship; maybe people know how to handle the word, maybe they don’t, but in it’s application I often find a spiral away from solid exegesis and homily, toward opinion and contextualization. Subjects that concern youth are given a consistent spin of today’s mores instead of letting God be God and His word unchanging: Morality, modesty, social activities, authority, the list is fairly large but these are some major topics.
2. An apparent lack of communication to, involvement and relationship with, or building up of: Parents, including their relationship with their students. How many parents are involved in your ministry? You do realize these are (parents) God’s first plan for your student’s spiritual growth? What are you doing to develop this? Are parents in general your ally or nemesis?
3. The apparent lack of understanding and preparation for an integrated approach to youth ministry. It starts with a constant flow of the word, His Spirit, and your obedience that should permeate your entire ministry, obvious right? It also means that from this platform all activities and teaching have a very focused purpose. Even the proverbial “hang time” needs forethought and though apparently spontaneous, it should be, because of your understanding of the word, relationship with God and knowledge of your students a time for focused, pointed ministry. Is yours? So many times I’ve seen this turn into the blind leading the blind, impact by proxy, and negative growth by lack of direction. Maybe some of it is your definition of ministry. Is getting a coke ministry? How about going to an amusement park? A service project? Maybe. Here’s my definition of ministry according to Eph. 4 and Galatians 6:10; Ministry is whatever it takes to move you toward maturity in Christ. Pretty broad isn’t it? So it would cover just about anything depending on my goal and ability to deliver. Now I hope I’m constantly sharpening my tools so I can be a major player in this process with my students. When I need help, I’m just as quick to find it! When however, I’m unprepared and coasting I’m in trouble.
So you’re a volunteer or A senior Pastor and your church can’t afford a paid staff person for this area. You have to work with what you have. SO?! Does the standard for ministry change simply because it’s not vocational? Since when? Find the help you need! There are some great resources at the side of this page. Need more help? Click Here
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