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Should You Love Your Job?

Posted on September 19, 2012 · 2 Comments

Below is a casual conversation between 2 youth workers. I’m pretty sure my friend Duffy didn’t intend to get really deep with his post, he eventual does. As a Christian, what are your thoughts on your job? This little banter really got things churned in me about the “promise” we make as professionals. And yes, youth ministry is and should be a profession. -Nate

Duffy
My orthopedist reminds me of youth pastor who likes everything about youth ministry except for teenagers. Dude, if ur bored w ur job: Quit.

Kathy
I know you were just messing around, but not everyone has the luxury of loving their job… in fact, most people don’t

Duffy You’re right, Kath. But, like you and me, that guy is a professional, and at the heart of the word “professional” is the notion of a “promise” (ie,to profess). It implies a promise we make to our field and to those we serve regarding the way we will deal with them (Eugene Peterson has some great stuff on this in his book, The Contemplative Pastor). And stopping twice in the middle of the exam to answer the phone, and not bothering to check the patient’s file to see which is the injured leg (he started examining the wrong one!) is NOT professional. It’s okay to be bored, and you’re right; a lot of folks are bored with their jobs. That’s not dishonorable. But to be so bored with your job that you cease to keep your promise to your field (in his case, medicine) and your clients (in this case, me!, THAT IS DISHONORABLE. And, if it’s not possible for him to recalibrate his perspective toward his work and his patients, he should quit. That’s the honorable thing to do. Otherwise, it’s like a teacher that hates her students or a youthworker that hates kids. That teacher, that youthworker are breaking the profession that they make by taking on the title of “teacher” or “youthworker”. Nobody’s holding a gun to my orthopaedist’s head, although they may be holding the mortgage to his house. I don’t accept that he HAS to do that job. His obligation, my obligation is to keep promises. That’s all I was trying to say. I probably didn’t say it well.

Thoughts? Rebuttals?
Filed Under: Leadership, Youth Ministry · Tagged: , ,
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Dear Senior Pastor, would you please…

Posted on September 13, 2012 · 6 Comments

Whether you call them senior, lead, brother, apostle, bishop, El Jefe or prophet, the primary leader of your church can embrace or alienate the youth in a few small steps. Clearly the pastor is to care for the entire flock, and we sheep will never know the enormity of that calling.

Yet a busy pastor can make consistent small investments in the lives of students that will yield great fruit.

 

1. Come to a mission trip/retreat send off to pray for us and stay behind to tell our moms that it’s all gonna be ok.

2. Tell stories from your teenage years as you preach.

3.  Stop saying, “In the Hebrew this really means…” or “a better translation of this is…” When you do that from the pulpit, you take the Bible out of the hands of the teenager and add to the distrust of Scripture.

4. Come to four youth gatherings a year. Don’t just go and speak, but allow the students to ask you questions. This not only builds trust with students, but the youth ministry staff and volunteers as well.

5. Randomly pop in to a youth gathering. Interrupt the program quickly to bless the youth minister and volunteers in front of the kids.

6. Get on the bus! While going with the youth on a week long mission trip can be tough, I know a pastor who rides on the bus with the kids to camp and then flies back the next day. This builds incredible social capital.

7. Teenagers don’t want to hear just how you did it right. They want to know how you messed up and then they need to hear how you moved forward.

That said, I need to address my youth worker friends with two thoughts:

1) We have a great role in playing the “agent” in this necessary endeavor. As we look down the road at our calendars, let us find ways for our pastor to spend time with our young people so that the interaction builds trust and yields fruit.

2) At heart, lead pastors are either theologians, missionaries, evangelists or youth pastors. So we must be aware some pastors will be as nervous coming to youth group as home-schooled 6th grade girl. Teenagers intimidate people. We as youth workers can lessen the intimidation.

What have you seen pastors do to bridge the gap between them and the students of the church?

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Loss.

Posted on July 30, 2012 · 2 Comments

In the last  4 weeks:
-A beloved mentor and cheerleader, Cliff Anderson went to be with Jesus.
-As Cliff was dying, the fires in our community raged. Over 300 homes burned.
-Many were killed up the road in Aurora, CO as they waited to see Batman.
-A great friend and pastor left our church to teach at a seminary.
-Our HS mission group tried to save a man trapped under a car. He died.
-Friends of ours just lost their full-term unborn child. Her funeral is today.

Loss sucks. Literally. It takes something away from us and we often scramble to deal with
that which is no longer with us.

I’m not the greatest griever in the world. I generally keep really busy to numb the emotions. And then in a few months, like it always happens, I break down. This is generally the time when I begin to see the heart of God. I see the same Jesus that Mary and Martha saw. The one who sobbed over the loss of his friend Lazarus. Jesus thinks loss sucks as well, but..

I’m beginning to realize that Jesus sees loss as gain as well. In the midst of tragedy, I have noticed new blooms popping up here and there in our community. I have processed all of the tragedies above with those in my community, and we see sprouts of life after death. These sprouts of life do not cover up the very real pain of loss, they just offer you and I hope in the middle of loss.

 

 

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If You Can Do Anything Else…DO IT!

Posted on June 8, 2012 · 1 Comment

When people ask my dad about becoming a pastor he always says,
“if you can do something else, do it.“

I hear this advice as protection for both the person inquiring and the church or youth ministry. I also know that my dad would say that being a nurse, bus driver or politician are all ministries, but being a pastor will bring damage upon you and others if a profound calling is not there. Often we in youth ministry have mistaken capability for calling.

I remember a really dry season where I found myself at a Burger King inhaling Whoppers, shakes and onion rings. I looked up at the poster above me and it was an advertisement for a management position at BK that paid $20,ooo more than what I was making as a youth minister. That job started to sound so good. No lock-ins. People probably didn’t call you on your day off needing to talk about chicken nuggets. This fantasy lasted for a couple of days until I realized how morbidly obese I would become and the idea of smelling onion rings everyday would get old.

Calling has fascinated me both in scripture and in our daily lives. Since I generally think in bullet points, here are some thoughts I have gleaned over the years in terms of being called to full-time ministry.

1. Do you feel a continual nudging of the Spirit? I know the Holy Spirit has been described in many ways, but I love the analogy of a cat who continually rubs against your legs, constantly staying near and present. (Funny I like this analogy when I hate cats)

2. Do others affirm your gifts and calling for the specific ministry? This point always reminds me of week 1 on American Idol. While some of the vocalists feel called to sing, nobody else does. When community doesn’t speak, maybe that is a profound message.

3. Do you have a burden for the people you want to serve? Ministry can’t be a 9 to 5′er. If God instills a burden in you for young people or specific ministry, you will rejoice when they rejoice. You will weep when they weep and this might happen on your day off.

4. God Calls “From” and “To”. I have always been focused on what God is calling me to and not what he is calling me from. Do you think God calls us to a specific body for life or for seasons? (I’ve heard compelling arguments on either side)

5. It’s Hard to Love the Teenagers (well)  if You Don’t Love the Church. I’ve been asked several times if someone can volunteer with the youth at our church if they go to another church. I’ve become pretty blunt in response to this question, I say “no.” If you see our church as your church family, then I believe you will love and serve the students and the entire body in a more profound way. This post speaks more to this conversation “Manny” .

Finally, I know that my calling has often been railroaded by me feelings. I’ve had to put on my big boy pants some days and realize that angry parents, low numbers and boring meetings don’t define calling.

 

What have you learned about calling?

 

Filed Under: Calling, Leadership · Tagged:
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Caine’s Arcade and the Kingdom of God

Posted on May 10, 2012 · Leave a Comment

I’m a sucker for videos like this one.
As I saw this powerful story for the first time I wept like a baby. You will receive a powerful lesson from a young boy who is a faithful dreamer, a dad who sells used auto parts and a random film maker. Watch this short video and see how your church in its unique context can learn from Caine’s Arcade.

What insight have you gained about the church and young people?

I remember hearing Dr. Chap Clark say many years ago, “every kid dreams about having their name written in the sky.” Is it possible for the church to help young people have a “Caine Experience” in the current model of youth ministry? I don’t think so. I think Clark, Mark DeVries and Kara Powell are all on the same track as they talk about having 5 adults for every student, or stacking the stands with the entire body of Christ for teenagers. Kara Powell encourages the church to embrace the ministry of noticing as it pertains to youth. Isn’t this simply a story of noticing? One man noticed a powerful story and he dared to tell it to millions through film. I’m glad he did. We as the body of Christ can learn much.

What have you learned?

(Props to Collin Grant for teaching leading our youth staff with this film)

Filed Under: Leadership, The Church, Youth Ministry · Tagged: , , ,