Subscribe to the NetworkGUEST POST: How to Be a Great Youth Pastor
Matt Adams is the youth pastor at Trinity Bible Church in Lafayette, Louisiana. As an 11-year youth ministry veteran, he’s got some good reflective things to share today. Enjoy his guest post:
God has taught me many things through the years, a few of which I would like to pass on.
1. Be where you are at – Every youth pastor can relate to being at a church that they feel doesn’t get it. Either the leadership is not open to change, parents don’t want unbelievers at your events or your senior pastor wonders when you will want to grow up and work with adults. The temptation is to begin to pray that God will lead you to the church He wants you at. The church that will help you reach your maximum potential. The problem with praying this prayer is that you may be exactly where God wants you. Every church has issues. You will be disappointed if you leave one church looking for the ideal situation. Embrace your current ministry. Fully engage parents, staff and students. Love people and make an impact.
2. Know when to leave – There are times when God begins to close the doors on the current ministry you are at. You may love your church. You may think things are going great, but God wants to move you to a different environment. I was at a church that had struggled through a senior pastor transition that lasted five years, three senior pastors, two interim pastors and a lot of hurt feelings. Finances got really tight and there was not enough money to offer a senior pastor a decent salary to come and bring healing. The church wanted us to stay and try to help bring health and growth until we could afford a senior pastor. I had to initiate the conversation about us leaving. It was the best thing for the church and yet I had to eat some humble pie and move on so that God could prosper the ministry of the church. Wherever you serve you should serve wholeheartedly, but if God’s desire is for you to leave, then you should step aside graciously.
3. Embrace your weaknesses – You will be a much more effective leader as you discover and admit your weaknesses. You will limit the effectiveness of what God is doing in your arena if you continue to try to do things that you are not good at. There is someone around you that can do things better than you. Most of us are in touch with our weaknesses. We just respond to them by hiding them and working hard to not let them show. I have discovered that one of the most powerful things I can do for my ministry is to verbalize to other people what my weaknesses are. Just get it out there. Admit what you are not very good at. This takes away the pressure to perform and someone who hears your confession will probably step up and say “I’m pretty good at that. You want me to give it a crack?”
4. Love your God…Not your job – Don’t get me wrong, I love my job. I love my church. I love my senior pastor and elders. I love my wife. I love my kids. I even like my cat and I’m not really a cat person. I have to remember everyday that my motivation for ministry should flow out of a deep personal love for Jesus Christ. Falling in love with my job sometimes leads to doing events and programs that may not need to be done. I just do them because I love my job. When my love for Christ has first place, I say no to certain things because I want to be there for my family. Sometimes I may need to say no in order to give myself more time to think, reflect and grow. Resist the temptation to feel like your job is God’s calling on your life. God’ calling on your life is to know HIm.
JG
just want I needed
Your Viet Friend,
Anh Truong