I read this poem about Youth Ministry today over on the PDYM blog and it resonated with something I am slowly realising. The middle of the poem said this:

So now you’re full of life

Full of hope and ideas

Planning events, prepping talks

Recruiting volunteers

The longer you’re in this thing

We affectionately call youth ministry

The more you come to realize

It’s not about activity

It’s about loving Jesus, living authentically

And of course loving students

Sometimes you want to quit

But something tells you you shouldn’t

Because you come to know

Yes you come to understand

Youth ministry isn’t about kids

It’s about godly women, godly men


This is what struck me, the longer you do youth ministry the more you realise that it's not about activity but about loving and living for Jesus, and about sharing your faith and how that impacts your life with the young people you minister to. It's not about kids, but it's about helping them to grow into Godly men and women.

Funny how a poem can put into words just how you are feeling. The more I've plugged away at just simply getting things done, the more dissatisfied I feel, the more I feel like quitting. But if my perspective is about sharing my life and faith with others, and mentoring and discipling youth into Godly adults, then that's a whole different story. Programs are my tool for that, not my master.

I think churches in general need to be less program focussed and more people focussed. Not sure what that means for us here, but I think I need to realse myself from my office and get out and meet with people in their context more. Simple, but hard. Obvious, but it's taken me 2 years to figure it out!