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Is Youth Ministry A Competitive Sport? Part III

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In the last two post I have covered being competitive but not in in competition with other churches or youth ministries. Competitiveness is good. Competition is bad. The difference, I believe, is in the heart. I do not wish any harm on any other churches in my area, in fact, I pray for their success. But, if we are down about our group we might be tempted to say, “well, so and so church is reaching most of the kids. I don’t have to do much to improve myself or the youth.” Not only will you not build the Kingdom of God with that attitude, you probably won’t be in your position very long.

Just because a church down the street seems to have it going on at the moment doesn’t mean it always will. Things change,

Cycles change: This time next year, it could be you who has an influx of students, but are you ready to keep them ? In six months a bunch of kids will walk in but do we have anything to offer them? Next week one guest could show up that God wants to use to transform your group but will you spot them?

Youth Workers Change: This is a very Cult of Personality business we are in. That is why some followed Apollo, some Peter, and others Paul. Paul asks is Christ divided? I don’t believe Paul was talking about physically following, but where the hearts of these followers were. The youth worker down the street may leave in a few years and kids may leave and go searching again.

Students Change: We live in trendy world. You can check on Twitter to see what is trending. What is everyone talking about. We can become demoralized when we constantly hear about what is going on at First Church. Don’t be. Students are fickle. They follow trends in youth groups too (worship style, preaching style, etc.) I don’t condone this. If a kid is at a church, saved under that church’s ministry, they should continue in the faith there. But we know this does not always happen. We should be prepared and know that we can’t reach everyone but neither can First Curch. Who is First Church not reaching and decide to pursue them.

The last person (in this series), and also the first person (in real life), you should be competitive with is you. Take a look at how you spend your time. Consider offering a percentage next to each so you can clearly see where that time is going

  • Time with student leaders
  • Time with adult leaders
  • Time with parents
  • Time with your pastor
  • Time on campus
  • Time just hanging out
  • Time studying
  • Time doing administrative work

I believe time management is one of the top three killers of youth workers. Look at the list. Which area are you having problems in? Is this because you possibly have not invested enough time in that area?

We youth workers believe we have our own competitors. We categorize church, family, personal time, etc. In our hearts we are  not competing with those things but with our self, our own values and feelings about those things. If we believe something is of value then we must make time for it. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Please don’t take my blabbering as another emotional beat down on how you are not doing something well or you are not giving enough, etc. All I am saying is we need to name the culprit that is stealing our time, energy, and focus and then deal with it.

Let’s be competitive in our desire to reach students in our community, let be competitive with the things that are stealing the time, attention, and in some cased the hearts of our students, and let’s compete with our own laziness and lack of self discipline that is keeping both our youth groups and the Kingdom from growing.

Runners run for a personal best time.

Weight Lifters compete against their last weight.

Archers attempt to split there own arrow.

We also should set our goals in ministry and compete until we achieve them or get as close as we can. In our work with teens, being our best matters.

“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air;  but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified” I Corinthians 9: 24-

Let’s always remember what we are competing for is not found on earth but in eternity.

Is Youth Ministry A Competitive Sport? Part II

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I’ll say it again. I do not believe in competing with my brothers and sisters in Christ. It is not my group vs theirs or my calling vs their calling. We are not called to be competitors but rather to be competitive. In this blog we have to ask ourselves why we have to be or stay competitive in the youth ministry market place. I know this sounds carnal, but it is not meant to be. It is a fact of our lives. As long as churches make productivity, number of students, and the size of program the goal, I plan on staying competitive in my Kingdom work because my job (what I am paid for) will depend on it.

What are we really competing with? A students attention is focused in so many different direction we can hardly keep up. Consider why some of your students missed your last meeting

  • sports
  • studying
  • scouting
  • family time
  • a club meeting
  • another organization

Every youth meeting faces these challenges. These are things we cannot change and most of them we don’t need to. But there are reasons students miss our meetings that we should be concerned about:

  • We start late
  • We seem unfocused
  • We don’t have a vision
  • We don’t invite kids to something deeper or a bigger cause than support the meeting
  • We aren’t creative with our programs or messages
  • We are boring
  • We don’t insist or train students own their youth ministry or care about others

I have been all of these in the past 20 years and students rightfully stayed home.  There ball team had more clarity. Their math club was more interesting. Their coach was more inspiring. We compete with all these things. Taking time to examine all the parts of our program, our skills and abilities, our leaderships, and our hearts will only lead to making the changes necessary to stay competitive and being our best for the Kingdom.

I believe this old adage serves us well, we should pray like it’s all up to God and work like it’s all up to us. I believe we have to rely on the Holy Spirit to produce anything good. If we try to produce ministry in the flesh we will corrupt it, but if ministry, creativity, productivity, and excellence come from the Spirit there will be fruitfulness.

How can continue to be our best?

  • Take an online class in a subject that will help you
  • Read books in various disciplines outside of youth ministry (business, theology, politics, etc.
  • Attend seminars in things besides youth ministry like social media, social justice, business and education
  • Volunteer at places that are not necessarily Christian organizations
  • Get out and talk with people unlike ourselves by joining hobby clubs or cause clubs (meetup.com)
  • Substitute teach

We can either whine or shine. Those are our options. If you do not believe we are in a competitive market, just ask the other youth pastors in your area to “loan” you some of their kids for a few weeks so you can build up your group. Yeah, that’s what I thought. Anyway, I know there will be some who still think I am off base but this is the elephant in the room at most youth pastor network meetings. We are all very supportive of each other until it starts to effect our bottom line. Do I wish things were different? Yep. Is the system we work in going to change anytime soon? Nope.

So, until the model changes, we should all continue to love and pray for our youth pastor friends, help where we can, support when we are needed, and sacrifice when we should for the betterment of the Kingdom.

Is Youth Ministry A Competitive Sport? Part I

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“Where is everyone tonight?”

“I think a lot of them went over at First Church to their outreach.”

“Man, what is going on?”

Ever have this conversation before or after a youth meeting? I know we like to say we are not in competition with our brothers in Christ, and we are not. We, youth workers and programs, whether we realize it or not, ARE trying to stay competitive in 3 areas: programming, the A.D.D. nature of our students, and ourselves.

Let me tackle the first competitor: Another Youth Program

This is where my over analysis of life in general kicks in. In my town, like yours probably, there are churches that have similar programs to yours. They all have bands, great facilities, etc. When kids don’t show up to our programs, I usually go through a check list in my brain of what could draw a student somewhere else:

  • Charisma of the leader (How well they speak or interact with students)
  • Budget of the church (How much can they spend)
  • Number of students (everyone goes there)
  • Organization (how well do they plan, execute, and market their program)

Evaluating these key areas of our program can help us see where the program might be falling flat.

  • If you are concerned about your message delivery, take a speech class at your local community college, read a book on it, practice in the mirror more, or take some online training.
  • Look at the budget and see exactly where that money is going and whether you are spending it on maintenance or on outreach.
  • You may not be able to change the number of students you have right now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t change the momentum. Try focusing on leadership development with your students and adult leaders. Light a fire under them to lead and take ownership of the program. Let them plan it, execute it, and reap the rewards of it.
  • Make a list of some recent event that did not go so well and then tear them apart with students and other adults. Was it poorly planned or not well announced. Start tweaking how you execute. We many not have the gifts of another youth worker in our community, but we do have a vision and a mandate. Work the game plan God has give you and don’t spend a lot of time trying to mimic someone else.

Scripture tells us we are not to judge ourselves by others (2 Corinthians 10:12.) I am certainly not asking you to do that, but we can’t be naive to think that every youth worker in out community has the mentality of “we’re all in this together”, because we are not. As long as money, job security, numbers, and certain expectations are attached to our job performance, we are in a competitive race for the time and attention of students in our community. But, as I learned playing tennis, when you are playing someone better than you, you tend to try harder and seek improvement. Being competitive isn’t bad, being in competition is.

Do you feel like you are in a competition? Do you feel the pressure to compete with other churches? Is it o.k. to be competitive? Let me know, I want to hear from you. Be encouraged, God has your back no matter where you are in the pack. Part 2 coming soon.