Tag: longevity

  • I play for keeps

    I keeps it real. And I play for keeps.

    It’s easy to be in ministry and lose sight of the big and obvious stuff. Such as, “Why the heck do I even do all of this anyway?”

    So much of the actual task in youth ministry feels like that of a cruise director. When you lose sight of the bigger picture you start to evaluate by the evidence… Are people having a good time when they are around me? Are they showing up? Do they leave satisfied? Do they like being around me? Do they laugh at my jokes?

    I’ve found those to be shallow evaluation tools. Those are like eating a Twinkie when your body is craving protein. It leaves you feeling temporarily full but hungry and unsatisfied quickly.

    That’s why I say that I play for keeps. Youth ministry is meaningless without evangelism and discipleship at its core. Those two things are ultimately what I’m about in youth ministry. And as much as I like silly games, worship music, and road trips… I don’t do it for that.

    This ain’t the Love Boat, friends. This stuff is for real.

    (more…)

  • Reward yourself

    The reality is that no one is going to give you the rewards you deserve. You do so much for others that goes unnoticed. You sacrifice so many things that only Jesus knows about. And in doing so you grow weary. And if you don’t take care of yourself there is a 100% chance you’ll give up, morally fail, or just plain quit.

    So sometimes you need to reward yourself.

    Celebrate your own victories.

    Give yourself a day off.

    Buy yourself the book you are wanting to read.

    Take a class to learn something new.

    Give yourself a month from paying down your debt to go on vacation.

    And leave the guilt at home.

    You aren’t being selfish by rewarding yourself. In a way, it’s selfish to not reward yourself.

    Jesus was the suffering servant. (Isaiah 53) You aren’t. If your life’s pace has you constantly feeling like you give, give, give and you never take some time to take care of yourself… you might just be addicted to serving.

    Even Jesus took time to rest, reflect, and relax along the way.

    Your work is important. It’s so important that you need to pace yourself for life’s marathon.

    So, if it’s been a long time and you haven’t been rewarded for your faithful service. Take 5 minutes and think about a way to reward yourself.

    “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ Matthew 25:23

  • Youth Ministry as Life Ministry

    Photo by bipolarbear via Flickr (creative commons)

    A few years ago I was talking to a senior pastor about youth ministry. In a moment of honesty he said something like this.

    “I don’t get it. Tell me why you want to work with high school students your whole life. You’re qualified to be a senior pastor. You have all the qualities people look for in a senior pastor. And your teaching style moves high school students to a type of faith that most churches would love. Plus, you could be the boss and you’d make a lot more money. What don’t I see?”

    The truth was that it took me by surprise because I’d never been asked that question. I’ve only been asked it’s annoying cousin, “When are you going to be a “real” pastor?”

    Here’s a summary of what I told him:

    • I love the process. In the 5-6 years that you have a student in your ministry you see them go from squirrelly middle schooler to mostly grown up.
    • I love that adolescents are moldable. The reason you can teach them radical truths and they will respond is pretty amazing. You just don’t see many adults looking for truth to move them.
    • I love the fun factor. When was the last time you’ve preached to adults and illustrated something by covering a kid in shaving cream or dunking for oreos in chocolate syrup. Like never. There’s a middle schooler in me that is highly amused by this kinesthetic goofy learning stuff. Adults just don’t go for it.
    • I love that it doesn’t end unless you want it to. Seriously, this is a beautiful time of year. I love the longitudinal factor of youth ministry. And I love the fact that you can chose to continue investing in some students while having a perfectly good excuse to move them out of your life. You can’t do that as a senior pastor, can you?

    How would you have answered this question?

  • Still Crazy After All These Years

    Yes, I am a Paul Simon fan. I can’t explain it, other than the fact that my mom introduced me to him as a high school kid and I listened to the album The Concert in the Park nearly every day when I lived in Germany. This particular song has always made me think.

    Here I am at 33 years old. Still crazy after all these years. Some days or weeks I’m crazier than others. With adolescent fervor I am still crazy enough to want to change the world. I remember 15 years ago, in freshmen orientation at Moody Bible Institute, being told by someone that I was just young and idealistic… “Everyone wants to change the world but no one really can.” I think over the past years I’ve shown otherwise. Sure, I can’t tilt the Earth on a new axis. But there’s been some change. And I wake up each day excited about more changes.

    The converse is also true, you know? Instead of being young and idealistic I could be old and pessimistic. I know plenty of curmudgeons in the world who live for bad news and think the best days on this planet are in the past. That’s an easy path. I chose to think that the best spins left on Earth are still out there.

    I chose to be just crazy enough. More importantly, I want to encourage others to be crazy enough to recognize that they can change the world. I believe each one of our roles in the world is important. I believe that every effort we make invest in life change with a person or positively changing an institution matters– lots of little impacts make a big impact. While it’s true that I cannot tip this busted world on it’s access alone as my butt just isn’t quite big enough. I wonder about a co-ordinated army of world-changers– is there is an army of people just crazy enough… together could our butts be big enough to change the world?

    I’m still crazy after all these years. Are you?

  • “Who are you anyway?”

    Recently, God has been all up in my video about who I am. It’s crazy how easy I get my identity wrapped up in what other people think of me. I suppose being in a public position will do that to you.

    One of the things that Bill Clinton was always accused of as President was that he based a lot of decisions on public opinion. As much as I disdained that style of leadership I recognize it as a legitimate way to handle yourself when all eyes are on you. “Just do what the majority wants and everything will be OK.”

    But I don’t think that’s leadership.

    Adam’s definition of what a leader is: A leader takes you where you don’t want to go on your own.

    Not only do I want to be a leader that takes people where they don’t want to go on their own… I want to be the type of person who is lead by God in ways that I wouldn’t do on my own.

    Confession #1: I’ve gotten wrapped up in being called a leader. I fall into the mistake of thinking people want to know what I think. Instead, a true leader defers to the ultimate source of wisdom, thinking, and counsel. The most appropriate thing I can do as a leader is point someone to ultimate truth found in the Bible. And I recognize that sometimes I do that and sometimes I depend on my own talent, experiences, and personal preferences. I used to be so good at saying, “This is what the Bible says: _______. And this is what I would do if I were in your position: ______________.” It seems that the more people want to recognize me as a “leader” the more I want to emphasize the latter instead of the former. The result is that I’m not always the best leader I can be. Ironic, eh?

    Confession #2: I get wrapped up in being called a pastor. I’ve never been comfortable with that title. But as the year’s have gone by I’ve gotten much less diligent in blushing it off when people call me “Pastor Adam.” I don’t know if it’s that I’ve gotten comfortable with what God has done and others recognize that in me or if I just like being called a pastor? Now, it’s true. That is what/who I am. And I am not ashamed of the title. I am not ashamed of my position. And I am not ashamed of my church. It’s not about shame. I recognize that its a sign of respect for my position yet I’ve always been uncomfortable with being labeled any title. Since I entered full-time ministry I’ve always self-reflected and laughed at God’s slapping me… ME… with the title of pastor. Sure… since I was little… even before I was a Christian… I always knew I’d be in ministry. But I also know who I am. I am biblically qualified to be a pastor and yet I know who I am.

    • Above reproach? As far as I know
    • A one woman man? Heck yes!
    • Temperate? I do my very best to not lose it
    • Self-controlled? To the best of my knowledge
    • Respectable? You tell me
    • Hospitable? Check
    • Able to teach? Check
    • Not given to drunkenness? Been good on that one since early teens
    • Not violent but gentle? By the grace of God
    • Not quarrelsome? Not my thing
    • Not a lover of money? How could I be?
    • Manage his family well? Could always do better
    • Not a recent convert? Check
    • Good reputation? Let me know, OK?

    Confession #3: I want to get more wrapped up in my identity as a daddy and husband than as “Pastor Adam.” Closing in on 6 years of working in churches full time and I know well why some denominations don’t let their pastors marry. The demands on the position are over-the-top hard to balance with a family. People think nothing of about calling me late at night or early in the morning to talk to me or ask me to do something. And I’m always tempted to work every day and most nights for youth group, small groups, meetings, and other stuff that lands on my schedule. I really don’t think this is biblical and I should be more disciplined about saying “Can we talk or do this tomorrow?” In the past 6 years we’ve had countless family meals interrupted, countless dates disrupted, dozens of movies put on pause, play time put on pause for other people so many times my kids hate it when I take a call, times with daddy missed for this and that. Spending quality time with other people’s kids while missing the same with my own. Honestly, I hardly ever noticed. But my wife and kids did. It’s tough being married with kids and being married with kids to a church. Only recently have I been doing some studying in the New Testament and I realized… “Wait a minute! These guys weren’t nearly as available as I am and God still thought they rocked as pastors and leaders.”

    How about you? Who are you anyway?