This week I’m blogging about the dumbest stuff I’ve done in student ministry. It’s my sly way of talking about what really matters. I’ve broken down my big mistakes into three categories: burning out, becoming ineffective and disqualifying yourself. Yesterday, I posted about the dangers of becoming a student ministry rock star. Here’s my #9 dumbest mistake…
Burned Out
9. Amazing at Everything
I’ve always been a bit of a control freak, and I love the spotlight. Because of this, in my early days of student ministry, I did everything. I was the teacher, worship leader, volunteer coordinator, keeper of the budget, leader, event planner, strategist, counselor and basically everything else. I guess I just thought that a youth pastor should do all these things. Maybe you’ve been there. Maybe you’re still there.
It took me a while to learn, but eventually, I discovered that I’m not awesome that all of these things. Shocker. I’m a little slow, I guess. Let’s just say, I was one of the last to learn what was obvious to everyone else.
Honestly, no one is amazing at all of these roles. I discovered that I’m only an A+ at one or two. In some of them, I’m a solid B and a few I’m an F–I mean just turrible. The trouble is that because I was trying to be amazing at everything, I was amazing at nothing. My Fs were Fs, my Bs became Cs and my A+s became Bs. In other words, the student ministry wasn’t as strong as it should have been because I was trying to do too much.
Where were the volunteers you ask? Good question. They were there, patiently waiting for me to give them something meaningful to do. I kept the volunteers, and many of the students on the sidelines for too long. When I finally woke up and began handing off meaningful roles, our student ministry became stronger, and my A+ strengths reemerged. I admit it. I was dumb.
Sometimes, the most important leadership lessons are hiding in plain sight, right in the Bible.
“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up…” (Ephesians 4:11, 12)
Student ministry, or any ministry for that matter, will always be better when leaders equip others to do the work. Also, when we focus on our A+ skill areas and empower gifted people to do the roles that we are weak in, everyone wins!
Why is it so difficult for many of us to learn this lesson? I think there are two main reasons. First, we too often find our identity and worth in our work. When the spotlight is on us, we feel that the credit is clearly ours. When our work defines us, we aren’t free to delegate and empower because to do so would mean that we are less valuable.
Secondly, we aren’t inviting feedback. Many of us simply don’t know what we’re terrible at because we haven’t been told. Honest feedback always makes us and our ministries better. Who is giving you honest feedback?
If I could do it all over again, I wouldn’t be dumb. I would focus on my two A+ roles, and empower others to do the work I struggle with. The ministry would have been better and healthier much sooner.
