Just Like Starting Over Part Dos

So today is my official 7th year anniversary as the youth dude at the church I serve at. It also means that I have officially been in full time work serving my Savior for over ten years. That is so crazy. And how did I mark the great seventh anny? How did I show the world that after ten plus years in ministry I am evolving into a great, wise and temperate youth minister?

I had to take down banners and posters and ticky tack off of the walls so the painters from Green Acres could come in and stare at the walls they need to paint. Who knew that ladder positioning and placement was something that had to be determined by committee? Not me. And apparently you can fuss and fidget with a drop cloth and still not get it close to the wall you are painting.

So, after seven years I have come to a couple of conclusions, some simple lessons I have learned as a youth minister:

1) Simplify, simplify, simplify. It is such a weird thing to say but less really is more almost all of the time in youth ministry. We bombard students with images, noises, events - it can truly be sensory overload. I used to cram all I could in a calendar. Now I realize that big events are nice but not how we live. Week to week must receive the lion's share of my focus. And I need to find simple but effective ways to help students walk with Christ.

2) Have a plan. Develop a simply strategy that walks people all the way from life without Christ to becoming active servants, involved in missions and ministry. Not vocational callings mind you. Lives that are obedient to Christ. Too many times in my ministry teenagers become devoted Christians almost by accident. We have no idea really how it happened. Develop your plan, the plan that suits your strengths, your organization, your ministry. It is not Willow Creek's plan. It is not Saddleback's Plan. It is not Life Church's plan. It is the one that works best with your people in your situation in your town. I will write more on this much later on, as I am JUST NOW starting to develop our plan. Seriously, how backwards is that? Seven years later we are scaling back and actually planning our strategy for our specific d-ship plan. At least we are starting now though, right?

3) Missions and relationships seem to make the most impact. Sure, there is the various big event high. But the most life change seems to come from simply developing friendships with people and from actually sticking people in places to minister and serve that is outside of their comfort zones. Camps or weekend retreats are nice. But actually seeing teenagers serve in a soup kitchen or a backyard Bible club or in a dental clinic in South America really pushes them and encourages more spiritual growth than another camp or hoopdedoo weekend.

4) Stop teaching Time Life's How to Fix Your Life in Six Easy Steps and start teaching the Bible. Most people do not have a working knowledge of scripture. While that is not necessarily our fault, we do share some of the blame; we have taken the need of having a Bible at church from their lives. From our big, cool screens to our handouts and message notes we have effectively taken the Bible OUT of the hands of the people we minister to. I only know of ONE GUY whose focus is to simply point people to Christ by unlocking the thread that flows through scripture. And even HE gets criticism for using another book on theology. Leading people deeper in scripture can be intimidating because it means that we have to dig some ourselves. But we are only going to lead people as far as we gone ourselves.

5) Hold firmly to your convictions but don't let them limit the scope of your ministry. What I mean is that I have some things that I believe. I believe them because I know God has taught me those things specifically. The question is can you believe something that is contrary to what I believe? Can I respect what you believe?

F. Scott Fitzgerald said that at 18 our convictions are hills we walk on. At 45 they are caves we hide in. Sometimes, as we get older, the lead-pipe lock we have on our convictions limits the mercy, love and compassion that we need as we look at people who live very different lives from our own. Can we still love, respect or at the very least understand what has informed and influenced their lives to bring them to that point? Or do our convictions simply lead us to discredit them and ultimately hate their lifestyle? Sometimes our rock-solid convictions become our refuge and justification for hate. How ridiculous is that?

6) It actually IS okay to ski once in a while. Who knew? Not every trip needs to be a mission trip. Sometimes the totally pointless trips can be healthy and serve as an open door to the church. You don't want a steady diet of fluff, but the occasional fun trip can actually prove that there is love, joy and liberating fun to be found in Christ. I would assume Jesus laughed a lot more than we do.

7) Ministry is like coaching. Everyone is convinced that they could do your job better than you can. Get used to it. Every mom or dad or grandpa or teenager is an armchair youth minister. And let them think that.

They are not the one who has to change planes mid-trip to come back from Arizona on their way to California to bury the boy who shot himself in the church parking lot. They are not the one who has to talk to the wild child who has just spent 40 days in juvie because he simply has no positive influence in his life, besides the big idiot youth minister. They don't have to sit through another endless staff meeting as the education minister reads you another committee meeting minutes recap that you could read yourself. Except you won't read it because it is mind-numbingly boring. And he knows that. So he reads it to you. They don't have to sit with another homeless person who needs a few bucks to eat (or drink, as is usually the case). They don't sweat and agonize over ANOTHER shirt logo, or ask the secretaries to re-print the handouts because they are not the way you wanted them. No, most people just know enough to minister to their student and maybe another one or two of their friends. And they are supposed to be that way. It's just life. Build a bridge and get over it. If it wasn't for people, ministry would be an easy job.

8) Eat lunch or dinner with at least one kid each week. This will do wonders for you and your ministry.

9) Read. A lot. Everything from fuzzy Lucado to challenging Lewis to inspiring Manning. Read it all.

10) Everything they teach you in school about being in ministry is good information. You probably just won't use it. But don't worry. Just start working. Be faithful. Learn from your mistakes, of which there will be many (the good news is they expect a certain amount of moronic moments from their youth dude). And hold unswervingly to the straight way the Savior is leading you on, lighting your way with the Holy Scriptures and nudging you along by the breath of the Spirit, who lightens the load on those dark nights of the soul when life and ministry seem to be leaning a bit too heavily on you.