So what do you write about in your first youth ministry column? It could be all about big strategies and how we look at the big picture and there will be some of that later - promise! But for many of us in youth ministry the most pressing need is the week-by-week demands placed on us in maintaining our ministry. That Friday (or Sunday) feeling of knowing that there will be a group of students waiting for us whether we like it or not. And the last time we met them things didn't go to plan - some listened but others were on another planet.
In the years I have taught and led young people, the chapter in the Bible I come back to so often is 1 Thessalonians 2. Paul was defending his actions, having left the city in a hurry (Acts 17.5 ff), and was anxious for the new converts to get the support they needed. This chapter reveals his motives for doing things and should help clarify ours.
Encouragement needed
We all need it - week-by-week youth ministry is hard work but we don't do it just to feel better. We do it to please our God and the biggest encouragement we could possibly have is that 'we dared to tell you his gospel'. It may not always be received with rapturous applause but it's what God wants us to do. It's why we're on the planet, so the mere fact that God has given us the opportunity to speak about him is a great privilege. It is very easy to lose our focus that the best thing that can happen to a young person is to respond when they hear that Christ died for their sins according to the Scriptures. So much in a young person's life is geared to self-fulfilment and it's good that people should use their talents. But let's never lose the truth that being obedient to the gospel is permanently life-changing and we are to be the messengers of that good news.
