In my last post I identified three non-negotiables for effective youth ministry: (1) teaching or communicating God’s Word; (2) building God-honoring relationships with students; and (3) reaching others for Christ. These are the basic priorities of any local church youth ministry. Other than these three things, youth ministry becomes just programming. The world can offer fun and games, entertainment, and can keep kids off the streets; but only the church of Jesus Christ can truly accomplish these three priorities. It is imperative for churches to develop and employ a comprehensive and practical training initiative to prepare youth leaders for these three essentials of youth ministry.

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I am thankful for the lasting lessons I learned from my dad. He passed away earlier this year, but so many things in life remind me of what he taught me. My dad was a simple man. He left high school early during the days of World War II and he worked for almost forty years following his military service as a common laborer. He wasn’t the kind of guy to make speeches or seek the limelight. But, if you needed someone to clean up around the church, he was your man. Just a few years ago, my parents moved into a senior citizen’s high-rise building next to their church. I think my dad moved there so he could go over to church and help out. He would shovel the snow, mow the lawn, turn out the lights, clean up around the building, take out the trash, and generally do whatever other menial tasks that needed to be done. He wasn’t a deacon or a trustee. He wasn’t on staff. He just served.

That’s probably the number one lesson that I learned from him. Ministry is not about a title or a job description; it’s about service. It’s about doing whatever you can do to serve the Lord.

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