Subscribe to the NetworkGUEST POST: The Compass of a Great Question
One of my favourite things to discover is a great question. Sometimes there’s nothing better to cut through life and challenge me, remind me, or encourage me.
In the midst of a busy year of student ministry, however, I often don’t make much time for great questions. I get wrapped up and in the day-to-day questions like: Did someone book those buses? Am I going to have any leaders for the grade 9 boys at the end of tonight? Should I really eat at a Macho Burrito for a third time this week?
If I’m not careful, day-to-day I can end up paddling really hard in the wrong direction without even realizing it. Over the years I’ve started to collect some questions that I ask myself regularly to help me make sure I don’t get lost for too long without realizing it.
Am I serving in my “sweet spot”?
As the student ministry year gets rolling and the pressure is on, we can have the tendency to work outside of our “sweet spot”. We find ourselves taking on things we just aren’t good at and then we wonder why we’re so tired. I’ve made it a regular habit to ask two questions of my coworkers and my volunteer leaders; what do you think I’m good at and what do you think I’m not good at? I’m often surprised at their answers. They can identify not only what I should or shouldn’t be doing but also who could help me in areas that drain me. Q. Am I doing the things that energize me or things that drain me?What’s driving my decisions?
The church God loves is an incredible collision of humanity, divinity, and community, and it can get messy. So many of us can find ourselves making decisions because of what makes others happy, what gives us more political currency, or what’s easiest. What’s motivating your decisions, relationships, and time? Q. If God’s passion for students and not the pressure of people were your motivation, what decision would you be making right now?Who am I giving my best?
A lot of my hair turned grey before I had the guts to ask myself this one. If you’re in student ministry for the long haul, you’ve got to wrestle with this one regularly. Is your family getting their fair share of your best time. Not your ‘exhausted on the couch time’, but your best time. As one veteran youth worker said to me, “at the end of the day, there are lots of youth groups in the world, but you only get one wife and kids.” Q. Would the key people in my life say I’m giving them my best?How’s my heart?
Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. (Proverbs 4:23) I think this is one of those verses that carries a lot of freight for people who do what we do. We aspire to be like those we know who have grasped this principle, and weep for those we know who have stumbled over it. We all need to pause and look through the window to our own soul to see what God is saying. Do you need some time with God, some time to just laugh with some JHs, time with a mentor, time to get things right with your spouse, time to call up an old friend, time to watch ‘Lost’ ? Q. If God doesn’t look at the outward appearance, but focuses on the heart, what would he say about how you’re caring for yours?
Jeff Brodie (@jeffbrodie) lives in Barrie, ON Canada and is the Director of Student Ministry at Connexus Community Church; a strategic partner of North Point Ministries.
