Ears to hear...

Typically my blog leans more toward the philosophical than the practical...but perhaps today I can blend the two a little more intentionally.
I'm a youth pastor and very shortly will have been in youth ministry for 20 years...
I've seen and experienced a little over those years, however, I don't pretend for a minute that I have this all figured out.
I love students and will always love students, but not everyone shares my affection for the pubescent masses.
Probably because, now, more than ever, teenagers are direct. Students speak their minds even if it's not polite or socially acceptable...which I happen to find refreshing, but to some, this is offensive.
To the aged ones out there, (anyone over 25) who feel disconnected and like you've lost touch or control or both... Don't worry, we all have those days, but this freedom of speech is striking you as disrespectful or irreverent and so it rubs you the wrong way.
This is more often symptomatic of a generational disconnect than it is a cultural norm, although we have experienced a consistent decline in the respect for our elders department over the last 50 years...but, I digress.
What we, like all other generations of adults before us must realize is this: Students are saying more than we are hearing. I don't think this is a startling new revelation, but, If you really want to connect with the teens in your life, hear them. Don't just listen to them and respond out of your annoyance at their lingo or feigned disinterest.
Actually take a moment and listen...focus and hear them.

In many instances, they are dying for you to hear them. yeah, you might not understand everything that's going on or coming out, but for God's sake...try. You'll never know how significant the effort is to them and the impact that it makes until you do. Though we may never permanently span the generation gaps, we certainly can make the effort to build a few little walking bridges here and there and be amazed at what comes of it.

Though Youth Ministry might not be for everyone, we all have a responsibility to bring those generations along that follow us...at the very least we should try and do it intentionally...Lord knows we're reaping the rewards of the accidental influence past generations of adults have had on the "angry youth" around them.

Stop, look, listen and be amazed.

Oh, give me ears that i might see more clearly, than i do through eyes that oft deceive me...hearing, not only listening...discerning, learning, loving, being.

I LOVE MY JOB!

Over the past couple of weeks I've had the opportunity to enjoy some great times with our students at Bethel Church. And I've come to the conclusion...again...that we have some amazing teenagers who are a part of our student ministry.
For those of you who know me, I'm not an overly excitable person.
I'm pretty low-key and relaxed. However, there are a few things that bring the emotion out in me and one of those things is seeing students grow and transform as their relationship with God progresses and matures.
I've had the privilege of serving in youth ministry for the past 18 years, (and counting...), and over that period of time, Kathy and I have had the honor of serving with some incredible people.
The common thread, that weaves those of us who love youth ministry together, is that passion for students...to see them really get it! To see them grab on to God and really learn what it means to follow Him is what motivates and excites us.
I think that's why I've grabbed on to Rick Warren's words from the Catalyst conference in April...
"...we have to be about helping people move from a come and see approach to church, to a come and die devotion to Jesus Christ."
That's what our lives are to be about...transformation, and that's what has become my mission and passion, now more than ever, seeing students move from a state of ambivalence toward God to a place of complete and utter surrender to Jesus Christ.
So, through all the challenges and triumphs over the years, all of the flat tires and broken down church vans, the near death experiences in church vans, the horrible camp food, did I mention the awful camp food? teaching middle schoolers about "metric-time" in Canada, miles and miles of amusement park pavement and roller coaster track, Lost luggage on missions trips, encounters with scary street people, 7 foot tall transvestites and crazy Rastafarians, broken limbs and busted out teeth of skaters, irate parents, teaching people the wonder and elation of surfing, fainting episodes at Creation festival due to dehydration, countless relationship dramas, the histrionics of middle school girls, over-flowing toilets, puke fests and bathroom breaks along the road, doing "the Mexican two step" because we couldn't resist the road side taco stand, near drowning experiences on the Deschutes, the miraculous healings, Holy Spirit baptisms, radical transformations of drug dealing teenagers, party people learning to "party" with Jesus, athletes seeing there's more to life than what they can achieve on the field of play, bookworms coming out of their shells and discovering their gifts and purpose, kids really getting it and getting fired up enough to reach their entire campus for Christ, students grasping a mentality of service instead of consumption and discovering what it really means to love one another...man, I LOVE MY JOB!
And I'm looking forward to the start of the school year, where we can really ramp up the call, to move students from a come and see approach to church, to a come and die devotion to Jesus Christ!