5. Thou shalt invest into students lives on an individual basis. Don’t assume someone else is doing it or that the student doesn’t really want it. Even in larger youth groups, pick a couple kids and pour your life into them. If critics arise who accuse you of playing favorites, remember it’s better to give a few students individual godly attention than no one at all. Don’t let the fear of critics paralyze your ministry. And if, in a worst case scenario, there are kids who are jealous and demand for your time, that’s great! Bring ‘em on! Ensure that volunteers are doing the same with everyone else. Whatever you do, don’t get so wrapped up in administrative crud that there’s no time for personal time with kids.
4. Thou shalt get to know parents. The more respect and trust the parents have for you, the more you’ll be able to do (and get away with!) in ministry. You’ll also create many opportunities for parents to share struggles and insights about their teenagers that will greatly benefit your ministry to those individuals. Prove yourself to be someone who cares about the family as a whole, not just the kids.
3. Thou shalt always publicly respect and support your church’s leadership. After all, you’re on the same team shepherding the same group of people. For the sake of building each other’s credibility and avoiding gossip, take care of disagreements and conflict behind closed doors. If done in public, everyone always looses. Gossip starts, people take sides, the body is divided, staff relationships are stressed, unity turns to tension and perspective Christians leave the church because it’s just as ugly in there as it is out in the world, except in the world people don’t always fake it with smiles.
2. Thou shalt regularly meditate on my Word. The word “meditate” makes a lot of us uncomfortable because of the religious Eastern overtones, but we already know how to meditate. We just meditate on the wrong things. As Rick Warren said, “If you know how to worry, you know how to meditate.” Better to mediate on the Word than on all the ministry complications that seem to be always present. Besides, how can we truly be the spiritual guides that teenagers need if we’re not constantly traveling ahead on the journey ourselves?
1. Thou shalt pray daily. Pray for personal issues, the ministry, your pastor, students, humility and wisdom. It’s absurd to think that we can effectively serve the Lord in ministry without discussing it with Him on a regular basis. Some of my best prayer and worship moments are the times I finally stop talking to God and just listen for Him in silence, waiting for whatever He lays on my heart and mind.
This article has been summarized from Tim Schmoyer’s site www.studentministry.org and is included here by his permission. For the complete article please visit his site.