If you’re afraid of making a mess then student ministry may not be for you. If you have a hard time admitting when you’re wrong, stay out of the student ministry fish bowl. If you can’t imagine going to court with one of your students and defending their new found identity in Christ, you’re not an innovator. You’ll know what I mean when you feel the giraffe spit running down the back of your neck.
In this picture alone, one of these students has been kicked out of school twice for bringing a knife and being stoned, one has a brother practicing homosexuality, another has alcoholic parents, yet another had to postpone baptism to avoid being disowned. Four out of five come to church and student functions without their parents. Life is very real for these great kids. Some are still struggling (you know who you are), while we celebrate one who has accepted the Lord’s calling to ministry. If you are going to build an effective student ministry you have to be messy, transparent, and bold. You have to be authentic in your relationship with Christ if you want to earn the time and attention of today’s teens.
That said, you’re not a spiritual cowboy either. Hell is just as real. Sin is just as real. And the precious redemptive blood of Jesus Christ is absolute truth. If you want to rise above the MP3 you must be innovative and creative in the way you present the truth of the Gospel, but never, ever, change the message to appease the sinner.
Watch yourselves,
that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may
receive a full reward. Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in
the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the
teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. (2 John 1:8-9)
Being an innovator isn’t about some artificial “cutting edge.” It’s about being yourself and being absolutely true to the calling God has placed on your life. God doesn’t use the wrong tool for the job. If He has called you to student ministry He will also equip you for His service and His glory. If you’re in a ministry where kids get CompUSA gift cards for their birthday, you will need to know what a video iPod and a Sony PSP are. Or, maybe it’s more typical for one of your students to recieve their grandfather’s Ruger Red Label Over and Under. In that case, you better know the difference between a Merganser and a Pintail.
All ministry is contextual. Student ministry requires you to excel in two contexts; the student’s, and their parent’s. Sometimes that means you are a liason, and sometimes an evangelist. Many adults have come to the Lord through experiencing a spiritual tranformation in their child.
Remember innovators are messy, transparent, passionate, disciplined, and bold about Jesus Christ. You can’t possibly prepare for everything, so stay prayed up and expect a little giraffe spit. It’s all good!
