Tag: rant

  • Hey youth workers… do you believe?

    Image by hiddedevries via Flickr (creative commons)
    Image by hiddedevries via Flickr (creative commons)

    Here’s the deal.

    Dirty little secret time.

    I think a lot of youth pastors, youth ministers, youth directors don’t believe in the power of adolescents to flip their world on its head.

    Adults think they can do it all. And they backfill that belief with anecdotal information to make themselves feel better.

    They think kids are too busy. They think kids are distracted by education. They think kids care more about sports. They think that you have to be spiritually mature to reach your friends for Christ. They think parents just get in the way. They think lack of resources get in the way. They think ordinary kids can’t do extraordinary stuff.

    When they see inspirational stories of teenagers who have made a huge difference, they don’t think their kids could do that. And they wonder why the adults who “really lead that” aren’t in the spotlight. The aspire to see stuff like that happen in their midst but refuse to believe the style of leadership that leads up to it.

    A lot of youth leaders think its their job to do those things themselves. They think that because they are “the leader” they should be the ones leading the charge. Kids are just the pawns who attract the cameras, so they think. Ultimately, they think they are the ones who are responsible for making something big happen.

    They have it upside down.

    Adults just get in the way with their ego, agendas, and desires to be famous. “Maybe Disney will make a movie of my awesome leadership?”

    Reality check– Adults who “lead” big movements of God are typically on the sidelines. They coach. They inspire quietly. They parent. They mentor. They encourage. Most importantly, they know that the best thing they can do is equip them to lead and get the heck out of the way. And then they stand by and watch. (And then coach some more, mentor some more, parent some more, encourage some more, develop some more.)

    If there is a microphone, they are reluctant to step up to it. But they are quick to put a student in front of it.

    The big fancy adult leadership Christians are infatuated with rarely, if ever, results in movements of teens. (Whether as movements of religion or otherwise.) We chase after it but it’s a myth. You get there only to discover you’ve wasted a lot of time, energy, and investment in the wrong stuff.

    The style of leadership that seems to result in the most world change involves handing the reigns over to kids and believing in them. It’s the most organic, natural, and effective style of leadership. It’s so easy a football coach can do it. Or a high school basketball coach. Or a Little League coach.

    Those leaders do their leading on practice days and give the kids the spotlight on game day. Kids step up because that coach believes in them enough to put their reputation behind them.

    And that’s the problem. Most adult leaders in youth ministry don’t seem to believe in kids.

    What do you believe in…?

  • Why Church Hopping is Bad

    By Scott Kinmartin via Flickr
    By Scott Kinmartin via Flickr

    The second fastest way to make a church leader roll their eyes is to ask, “How do you minister to homeschool kids?” The fastest way to make a church leader roll their eyes is to ask, “Do you have any church hoppers?”

    Let me give you 5 reasons why church hopping stinks!

    1. It’s turning church programming into a commodity. Church hoppers bring their families to church like they would a trip to McDonald’s. Pastors can spot these folks coming a mile away. They are checking everything out, looking for the best kids program, the best worship band, etc. There is a difference between an earnest shopper and a professional hopper… ask them how long they’ve been looking!

    2. It’s turning preaching into a commodity. No pastor wants you to come to their church because you think they are a good preacher. There’s a little devil on the shoulder that says, “You want them, they love you.” But people who are coming to hear a good sermon are only there for the show. Make them buy tickets!

    3. It’s turning your community into a commodity. I’m always amazed to find people driving 20-30 minutes to a church. It’s as if they were in complete denial that a good church would turn them loose in their own town? (Even if the churches are lame in their opinion.) If God put you in that community, go to a church in that community, make it unlame.

    4. It’s turning the people of the church into a commodity. It’s funny when you talk to a church hopper about “their old church.” They are quick to point out what they don’t like there and they do like here. I’ve noticed these folks are happy bystanders. Ask them to join a small group and see what happens. It’s a trip.

    5. It’s treating churches like a commodity. A little repetitive, eh? It can’t be said more clearly. The problem with hopping from church to church is that it tends to value “church” by the elements that make it up instead of jumping in with two feet. No staff member wants to be judged by numbers, no church deserves to be judged by the programs they offer. And it’s ultimately a sign of shallow spiritual growth when you fail to commit to a local church for the long haul. Yep, it’s messy. Why? Because it’s full of people just like you!

    What advice do I recommend to church leaders when they encounter church hoppers? Call them out. (Privately) Invite them to shop but not hop. Speak truth into their life. Don’t placatte them and their silly requests. “We’d stay if you had a cry room with a video feed.” “We’d stay if you had a better college ministry.” My advice is for church leaders to be comfortable enough with who they are and their churches vision to kindly invite hoppers to keep on hopping!

    Catering to the saved is a distraction from reaching the lost.