calling to youth ministry | More Than Dodgeball

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: Manufacturing Ministry

Several years ago, as my wife and I were stepping into a new season of Ministry, one of my mentors asked me an incredible question. He said, “What are you consistently and deliberately praying for in your ministry?” At the time, I prayed for our ministry regularly, as I am sure you do as well, but I had never considered a consistent and deliberate prayer request.

In that season, I began to ask God to give me a clear prayer focus for the Student Ministry I led. In the first few years my requests were fairly normal… God help our ministry to do this… Help our kids to be that… I would wake up, and begin each day with prayer, making sure to include that request. In time, I watched God multiply the incredible things He was doing in our ministry (or at least increase my ability to see them).

As I sought this consistent and deliberate prayer focus at the beginning of last year God very clearly turned the attention of my prayer to my own heart. John Calvin once said, “The human heart is a factory of idols.” Powerfully true. You and I have the ability to turn basically anything into an idol. Now, we all know that some idols are easier to identify then others. I wasn’t bowing down in front of a golden calf, or anything, but God quickly revealed that I was beginning to make an idol out of my “ministry.”

Here’s the deal… I am a good Youth Pastor. I am not bragging, it’s just true. I am a good Youth Pastor, and I am sure you are too. In fact, you are probably much better at it then I am… But my concern is this: Some of us are probably better “Pastors” then we are followers of Jesus. As my friend Lance Witt accurately explains it; Jesus is the gift and ministry is simply the box by which we deliver the gift, yet some of us have switched the two.

It seems to me that some of us unintentionally slip into viewing what we get to do as our occupation rather than our calling. If I view my role as an occupation than I can do it, I can make it happen, I can figure it out on my own… If it is a calling, however, than I am in desperate need of the Holy Spirit to help me do what God has asked me to do. We forget that.

I had begun to try and “manufacture” ministry from my own spirit, in my own strength, and in my own direction. I was doing what I thought was best for our kids and our ministry… Some of us subtly believe that we can teach, preach, meet with families, recruit Ministry Partners, hang with kids, and host huge killer events with little to no reliance on the Holy Spirit. At least I did.
So my prayer became simply this: God, help me not try and manufacture ministry, but to be deliberately dependent on You. Praying this everyday of the year (sometimes several times a day) gave me life in ministry like I had never experienced before. It took the pressure off, because I was forced to remember that I am not the Holy Spirit (we all need that reminder sometimes). It restored my energy, and renewed my excitement to see what God was going to do next. It is teaching me to be more thankful. It is helping me to remain open and teachable. Most importantly, it is teaching me to stay out of the way of what God wants to do in and through our ministry.
This question has helped me, and maybe God will use it to help you: Am I trying to “manufacture” ministry, or am I being deliberately dependent on the Spirit of God for every step I take?

The reality is that God’s plans for our respective ministries are far greater than we could ever think or accomplish. The more we try to do in our own power the more we rob ourselves and our students of experiencing all that God has in store. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to miss out on anything God wants to do.

Consider seeking a consistent and deliberate prayer request for your ministry this year. You never know what God might want to teach you…

Ryan McDermott is the RP Director of Student Ministries at Christ Fellowship – Royal Palm, FL. Follow him @ryanmcdermott.

3 View Comments October 21, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: 4 Non-Negotiable Small Group Leader Expectations

We have pretty high expectations of the leaders in our student ministry as I have written about previously and it’s to the benefit of our students and the effectiveness of the small groups that we do it. We are beginning process of review and meeting with all our leaders from this year and asking them to consider whether or not they want to lead next year. Many will remain and a few will leave, but those returning will hear 4 criteria that we ask them to sign off on doing week in and week out for the next school year.

Commit: This is the foundation of all of it, asking leaders to be there every week, present and engaged with their students. It’s a big ask, but worth it when leaders honor it. We fully recognize that there are circumstances that might cause a leader to miss a week, but asking them to make mentoring high school students a priority means that they will be far more diligent about being there. Sporadic attendance from a leader can be the death of a small group, as momentum, trust and relationships are lost, not only that it can really be detrimental to other leaders as well, who have to pick up the slack or lead two groups.

Call: This might be the toughest thing to get leaders to do regularly, but calling their students is so important. That mid-week phone call tells a student they are wanted, memorable and worth the effort. It might be the best part of their week, even if the awkwardness of the conversation might indicate otherwise. Calling students is more important than leaders realize, the fruit of which is regular youth group attendance and a closer relationship with their leader. We ask our leaders to set aside an hour per week to call all the members of their small group.

Pray: We ask our leaders to pray for their students and when they call them, ask what they can pray for them about and let them know they do pray for them each week. Put yourself in the shoes of a high school student and someone you respect greatly, calls you each week to see how they can pray for you. That is powerful stuff!

Prepare: We give our leaders curriculum each and every week, but we ask that they read it, know it, study the word and come prepared to teach it. There are few things worse than an ill prepared small group leader stumbling through the questions and fumbling through their bible in front of their group as they are seeing it for the first time. Leaders need to lead their group and being prepared is a key part of that.

These are four non-negotiable expectations we have and you could add more but I chose to focus on these four because they have a tremendous impact on the student’s spiritual growth. Its important that we see ourselves as the advocates for our students needs, and what our students need are leaders who are willing do these things, and do them consistently well.

What are your non-negotiables?

Geoff Stewart is the Pastor of Jr & Sr High School for Journey Student Ministries at Peace Portal Alliance Church and regularly contributes GUEST POSTS to MTDB. Be sure to check out his Twitter stream for awesome ministry goodness. Want to get in on the fun and write up a guest post yourself? See how right here.