Matt McGill | More Than Dodgeball

Matt McGillMore Posts (guest post) what I loved about the HSM team

Last weekend I got to help serve pancakes at saddleback HSM.

What a cool thing for them to do: a couple schools had prom on Saturday night, so they decided to offer free pancakes on Sunday morning. Simple. Cheap. Fun. Great idea.

(yea, I’m pessimistic to also think, “Why didn’t I ever think about that?”)

My job was to flip the flap jacks and it was a ton of fun. Some of the students even said thanks, which very nearly gave me a heart attack. As I drove home, all I could think about was the greatness of the HSM team.

….| I showed up a few minutes earlier than expected, thinking they’d need help with set up. Everything was in it’s place and ready go. Organization really does set volunteers up to win (read that sentence twice if you know that you need to).

….| We needed to start cooking early, of course, because once the students descended upon us, they would be devouring everything in sight. A few adults wandered by to get a pancake “before they were all gone.” Naturally this made me throw up in my mouth. I bit my tongue (you don’t EVEN know how hard that was.) I was impressed when one of the HSM team came by and politely shooed everyone away and said, “it’s for the students…” good stuff. Really good stuff. Why? Entitlement ruins lots of ministry.

….| I brought my two oldest boys, 8 and 7 years old, and they were playing dodgeball with some high school students. Naturally, my oldest wasn’t paying attention and got decimated by a ball. I turn away from the grill to hear the full story through the tears. Within minutes, one of the HSM team got him some ice and another a chair. Very cool. (although I normally tell Max to just pretend his hand is like ice and it’s pretty much the same thing.) Thanks for caring about my kids.

….| The five of us who were volunteering were thanked about 100 times by each of the HSM team members, also very cool. People need encouragement.

….| Doug Fields spoke that weekend, and as I was walking up I overheard one of the HSM team thanking him for being there. That one shocked me, because it highlighted a weakness in me: specifically not being thankful toward Fields very often. We’re very good friends, and it’s easy (for me) to slip in to ruts like this, and assume “he knows.”

And then, CRAZY ON TOP OF CRAZY: Fields even bought my lunch after church, and it took me 30 minutes to say thanks even though 40 minutes before I was thinking about how little I say thanks!

Yeesh. And I thought I was just going to serve pancakes.

Most of these are small things–a word or a moment’s worth of work–but life has a lot more small things than it has big things… Jesus said it like this:

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much.”

Excellent leadership from the HSM team! I’m gonna quit serving if I get convicted so much!!

2 View Comments June 7, 2010

Matt McGillMore Posts GUEST POST: Hazing/Roughhousing – How Far is Too Far?

Earlier this week, I answered a good question from a new youth worker:

“In the past at camp, the adults and youth directors either permitted or looked away from what I consider hazing. Do you have a list or a standard of what is and is not considered hazing?”

This is great! Through the years, I’ve wrestled with tons of guys . . . a handful of times things spun out of control (sorry @jakerutenbar), but most of the time it’s great ministry. We’ve never had any regular “hazing,” but there’s been plenty of horsing around.

We’ve never had a list or standard, this is something we’ve always handled verbally or “culturally” (new leaders learning through watching and experiencing). After thinking about some conversations I’ve had with some of our leaders (you know who you are), here are some questions that I’d consider to keep things from getting too wild:

1. When it’s all over, will the kid feel more accepted and belonging or rejected and humiliated?

2. When it’s all over, what would the kid’s parents say if they were standing there?

3. Is this something you’d do to your own kid, better yet, how would you feel if someone else did this?

These aren’t perfect questions; and it takes discernment to know the difference between good fun and too far. It’s more my style to outline boundaries and goals rather than come up with a detailed list of do’s and don’ts.

Anything can be circumvented and justified, and it takes leadership to make course corrections along the way. If “hazing”/rough housing is done with a good spirit, if things do get out of hand, it’s much easier to work through an apology and build restoration.

THANKS ADAM for the great question!

+mattmcgill

1 View Comments March 26, 2010

Matt McGillMore Posts GUEST POST: Doug Fields’ “Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry”

I walked into Fields’ pre conference session right as he was teaching about the purposes: evangelism, worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry. It was great and it never gets old. I’ve heard it a million times, and I still love it.

I first heard this teaching when I was a sophomore in college. I came down to hang out with Doug and a conference was happening at saddleback. Rick said something definitive like, “this is what the church must do.” I remember thinking in response, “Is that ALL that the church is supposed to do? There’s got to be something else.” I spent a year thinking a lot about the church. It was on my mind every time I read scripture or heard something in class or at church. At the end, I came to the conclusion that I liked his five words, I felt like they were a great way to explain God’s will for the church.

I like the words, but it’s not about the words themselves. Ministry is about doing God’s will, in the way that he’s called me to lead. I think every ministry needs two things

Every ministry ought to have a biblical foundation. (duh) It’s too easy to get caught up in results or flash or feelings or opinions or, worst of all, tradition and history. (ouch) A ministry doesn’t need to be “purpose driven” but it does need to reflect God’s will, and we need to be able to articulate that clearly. (oh yea)

Every ministry ought to have leaders to act out of their spiritual convictions. It’s not enough to have great programs and happy people. Ministry is personal, at least it ought to be. God work through people because he needs us, he’s not limited to our efforts. He’s working through us to transform us to become more like him. Transformation comes when we act from the convictions God has given us.

There’s nothing extra special about the words: evangelism, worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry.

There’s something extraordinary about the leader who loves God and others enough to do ministry God’s way according to personal conviction.

+mattmcgill
www.abnormalize.net

Add Comment February 27, 2010

Matt McGillMore Posts GUEST POST: getting ready for the simply youth ministry conference

I’ve been looking forward to this conference for a long time, so I wanted to make sure I was mentally ready. Here’s what I’ve prayed about last night and on the flight over here:

>that my heart would be soft…I don’t want to miss what God is doing in my life and with my ministry
>that Misha would have some rest (we’re here without kids!) >that we’d reconnect with friends we don’t get to see much
>that I’d connect with some new YM friends
>for doug, who has a deep burden for youth workers

I also prayed for the youth workers showing up…knowing that it’s like 2500 people (maybe it’s more, i have no idea), there will be many of us in all kinds of seasons:

>tired youth workers who have been running FULL BORE for too long
>hurting youth workers who’ve been criticized too much
>plateaued youth workers who have hit a wall in their ministry leadership
>young youth workers who are full energy and excitement
>young youth workers who are full of fear and hesitancy
>transitioning youth workers who might be looking at different horizons
>cocky, critical, and over-confident youth workers who have hard hearts and a showy self-righteousness
>secretly shamed youth workers, who are wrapped up in guilt, and may be on the path to some ministry ending decisions
>lonely youth workers who are disconnected and without community

This is going to be a great conference. The great ideas and leadership and people contribute to the greatness, but are secondary to the source: God will show up and change lives. I’m excited to see this story unfold.

mattmcgill
http://ruts.abnormalize.net