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    my boss, a jail and one sweet coat
matt mcCage
During my time as a volunteer in a small, Nashville church, I learned many things. For one, comparing manna with a Big Mac when telling the Exodus story will get laughs from the students and necessitate a stop at the drive thru on the way home. But no lesson was more profound than what Brother Frank taught me. Brother Frank, the pastor of the church, showed me that every position—including a youth ministry volunteer—is also a job. Every job has a boss and every job has a boss with expectations of how well that job gets done.
On my last day at that church before taking on a full-time position, Brother Frank gave me these parting words of wisdom: “Matt, [the pastor at your new church] is bringing you on because he believes you can do a better job at youth ministry than he can. Honor him, promote him and support him in all you do. That is why God is putting you there.”
In my nine years on staff at Woodhaven, I have seen many friends in youth ministry fail beyond recognition for one simple, but huge reason—they forgot they worked for the senior pastor. They were passionate about serving Christ and His church, they just forgot that they had been placed in a position under someone else’s authority.
Many of them felt that they were the “savior of the church” and that they should be given carte blanche to simply implement whatever they wanted to do. Sadly, many of them are no longer in ministry today, and some are no longer in the church.
So how do we fix this problem? How do we, as youth workers, keep the right perspective and remember that we’re not only serving God, but serving a boss who has authority over us?
We look to Daniel. Long before the whole “lion’s den” experience, Daniel served—and he was very good at it. Daniel was able to serve leaders who initially didn’t respect his God, his heritage or his nationality. Yet he had such a way about him that even though he was a prisoner in a foreign land, he was put into leadership over an entire empire. And when given that opportunity, Daniel avoided the temptation to undermine those in authority and bring the empire down. He promoted the king and did everything he could to honor his own God, the God of Israel, as a testimony. Even Nebuchadnezzar’s wife mentioned his heart and character (Daniel 5:10-12).
As people look at youth ministers, what do you think comes to mind? What is your reputation? Are you known as an envelope-pusher or the self-serving staff member? Are you doing everything you can to promote those who have a great burden on their shoulders? Are you secretly trying to bring other ministries down for the sole purpose of getting more attention to yours?
But Daniel’s not the only guy who shows us how to lead and follow. Joseph is another great example—well, eventually. He had a rough start. Joseph had a lot of problems. He loved to run his mouth and tell people what he thought and knew. He very seldom sat and listened to anyone. He rubbed his gifts—like a certain multi-colored coat—in other people’s faces.
It wasn’t until Joseph faced some very hard and lonely times that God was able to use him in amazing ways. After serving time in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Joseph was eventually freed—thanks to some divine intervention—and entrusted with the opportunity to be in charge of an entire empire.
Joseph could have made whatever decisions he wanted, and thrown around the king’s power and authority like a teen with a credit card. But instead, Joseph knew his role and was accountable for every detail.
As you go through your everyday tasks of event planning, crowd control and budgeting, how much do you keep your pastor in the loop of what’s going on? I have found that many pastors tighten their grip when they don’t feel they can trust the point person. While it’s awesome that we have been entrusted with student ministries at our churches, it’s ultimately our pastors who are accountable to the congregation for the decisions we make. They have to answer the tough questions on our behalf.
Give your pastor the info he needs to defend you and your decisions. Allow your pastor the opportunity to offer wisdom. It’s annoying to track down people to find out what happened in a specific situation. Save your pastor that headache and let him in on what’s going on.
Youth ministry is a calling and a passion for many of us, but the reality is that it’s also a job.
Work as if God is your boss, like Paul writes in Colossians 3:23, but also realize that you have a human boss as well. As Brother Frank told me, “Honor him, promote him and support him in all you do.” That’s one of the reasons God has put you where you are.
http://www.simplyyouthministry.com/community-articles-from-the-field.html
matt mcCage
During my time as a volunteer in a small, Nashville church, I learned many things. For one, comparing manna with a Big Mac when telling the Exodus story will get laughs from the students and necessitate a stop at the drive thru on the way home. But no lesson was more profound than what Brother Frank taught me. Brother Frank, the pastor of the church, showed me that every position—including a youth ministry volunteer—is also a job. Every job has a boss and every job has a boss with expectations of how well that job gets done.
On my last day at that church before taking on a full-time position, Brother Frank gave me these parting words of wisdom: “Matt, [the pastor at your new church] is bringing you on because he believes you can do a better job at youth ministry than he can. Honor him, promote him and support him in all you do. That is why God is putting you there.”
In my nine years on staff at Woodhaven, I have seen many friends in youth ministry fail beyond recognition for one simple, but huge reason—they forgot they worked for the senior pastor. They were passionate about serving Christ and His church, they just forgot that they had been placed in a position under someone else’s authority.
Many of them felt that they were the “savior of the church” and that they should be given carte blanche to simply implement whatever they wanted to do. Sadly, many of them are no longer in ministry today, and some are no longer in the church.
So how do we fix this problem? How do we, as youth workers, keep the right perspective and remember that we’re not only serving God, but serving a boss who has authority over us?
We look to Daniel. Long before the whole “lion’s den” experience, Daniel served—and he was very good at it. Daniel was able to serve leaders who initially didn’t respect his God, his heritage or his nationality. Yet he had such a way about him that even though he was a prisoner in a foreign land, he was put into leadership over an entire empire. And when given that opportunity, Daniel avoided the temptation to undermine those in authority and bring the empire down. He promoted the king and did everything he could to honor his own God, the God of Israel, as a testimony. Even Nebuchadnezzar’s wife mentioned his heart and character (Daniel 5:10-12).
As people look at youth ministers, what do you think comes to mind? What is your reputation? Are you known as an envelope-pusher or the self-serving staff member? Are you doing everything you can to promote those who have a great burden on their shoulders? Are you secretly trying to bring other ministries down for the sole purpose of getting more attention to yours?
But Daniel’s not the only guy who shows us how to lead and follow. Joseph is another great example—well, eventually. He had a rough start. Joseph had a lot of problems. He loved to run his mouth and tell people what he thought and knew. He very seldom sat and listened to anyone. He rubbed his gifts—like a certain multi-colored coat—in other people’s faces.
It wasn’t until Joseph faced some very hard and lonely times that God was able to use him in amazing ways. After serving time in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Joseph was eventually freed—thanks to some divine intervention—and entrusted with the opportunity to be in charge of an entire empire.
Joseph could have made whatever decisions he wanted, and thrown around the king’s power and authority like a teen with a credit card. But instead, Joseph knew his role and was accountable for every detail.
As you go through your everyday tasks of event planning, crowd control and budgeting, how much do you keep your pastor in the loop of what’s going on? I have found that many pastors tighten their grip when they don’t feel they can trust the point person. While it’s awesome that we have been entrusted with student ministries at our churches, it’s ultimately our pastors who are accountable to the congregation for the decisions we make. They have to answer the tough questions on our behalf.
Give your pastor the info he needs to defend you and your decisions. Allow your pastor the opportunity to offer wisdom. It’s annoying to track down people to find out what happened in a specific situation. Save your pastor that headache and let him in on what’s going on.
Youth ministry is a calling and a passion for many of us, but the reality is that it’s also a job.
Work as if God is your boss, like Paul writes in Colossians 3:23, but also realize that you have a human boss as well. As Brother Frank told me, “Honor him, promote him and support him in all you do.” That’s one of the reasons God has put you where you are. |
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