Recently, I heard from a youth worker I haven’t seen in a long time. They were carrying on about how busy their summer was. They were bragging of the 17 trips and events that they are bringing their junior high ministry kids on this summer. After this conversation, I really felt called to take a nap. I was tired.
After i thought about it, it began to make me sad that this veteran of youth ministry was still under the notion that having a flurry of activity was critical to making disciples. Maybe I am just getting old, but I tend to disagree. Those of us in youth ministry have tended to replace discipleship with events.
Don’t get me wrong, I think some events are helpful and even help with kids becoming more like Jesus. But, I also believe that it’s time that we slow down and make more progress towards conforming kids to the image of Christ. Our goal in youth ministry is just that, that the kids God has called us to reach, become more like him. Over the years, there have been some helpful thoughts and questions that need to be considered before we fill up our schedules.
1. Make sure the event builds the mission. Instead of just planning an event, make sure you have the relational element. Instead of just taking kids to an amusement park, make sure kids are experiencing this event in small groups with a godly adult mentoring and building relationships along the way.
2. Give parents tools to use to disciple. Many times we feel like we can do better than parents (unfortunately we are correct in some cases), but we God has given a powerful responsibility to disciple our own kids. By building into parents we can free up the youth ministry schedule and equip them to spend time with their kids in a redemptive way.
3. Less is often more. I like to be busy. It feeds our egos, makes us feel irreplaceable and even keeps us from focusing on our own spiritual walk, but we must change our paradigm. A few quality experiences seems to have so much greater value than taking our kids in multiple directions.
I would suggest that we take a hard look at the craziness our schedules have produced and evaluate the fruit of our ministry calendars. I can’t help but think of John 15:2 that says “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” Maybe its time to get out the pruning shears and see more fruit and less motion.
Dan Kregel has served as the Executive Director of GRMYFC since 2007. Dan previously served as the Pastor of Student Ministries for about18 years at Calvary Church in Grand Rapids, MI. Dan serves on the Board of Trustees for Youth Ministry International (which trains Youth Workers all over the world) and the S-Factor (A local ministry that teaches kids about sexual purity). Dan has also written many articles on Youth Ministry including for Youthworker Journal. Dan studied at Moody Bible Institute, Grace Bible College and Cornerstone University. He is currently working on a Masters degree in ministry leadership. Dan lives in Grand Rapids and is married with four Children where he serves at his church in the student ministries department. You can read his blog here.
