Recovering from a Battered Ecclesiology Part 3

Maybe, like me, you have faced ministries that slowly grind away at your view of Church. In my previous posts I addressed this slow grind in a Recovery from a Battered Ecclesiology and Recovering From a Battered Ecclesiology Part 2 please take a moment and read those posts to catch up with where I am in the discussion.

7.  Most youth pastors are young when entering ministry and have an underdeveloped Ecclesiology. This is my admission of poor theology (when I was younger), and if most veteran youth pastors are honest they also have entered youth ministry at a young age, and they also had a lackluster view of the church. We were just having fun, and hanging out with students and pointing them to Jesus. Since then I have grown in maturity (hopefully) and in my high view of the church. In the meantime in ministry I did not view the Ekklesia of Jesus with as high esteem as I do now. This hurt me in my early years because I let fun and reaching teenagers overshadow my desire to disciple teenagers into the life of Christ which is His body life. So part of my recovery was to grow in my high view of the importance, and heart for the body of Christ. Now mind you, I didn't grow in my view of the institutional church, the hierarchy, or the programs of the church, but I grew in the view that Christ's redemption reached out to people whom he called to Himself. I grew in understanding of the redeemed and His glorious work in making them the Church, making them priests, and kings forever. So my view of the people, the Ekklesia of God that He redeemed from every tribe and nation grew, and yours can too. Let Him recover that in you. Let Jesus speak to your heart how much more His Church means to His heart than just the programs, structures, buildings, and bylaws that you maneuver in daily in your local Church life and ministry. It is His Bride! We are His Bride. The Bride that he died to marry!

8. Christ (not a person in leadership) is the head, cornerstone, and leader of the Church! It is so hard not to confuse this consistently. We don't see Jesus standing up in the pulpit every week. That would be cool for sure to see Jesus preaching every week, but we don't. We have flawed, fallible, sinful men standing up in pulpits around the world every week, and we have deeply flawed pastors on Church staff, and elders and deacons who also continually need the Grace of the Lord Jesus. Our leaders are totally screwed up! This just displays the great grace and kindness of Christ that he is the Cornerstone of the church, but places men in his stead who must hold on tight to the grace of the Lord just to make it daily in this work to lead God's people, pointing to the that Chief Cornerstone. This is where I have royally screwed up in leadership. When I fix my eyes on a man rather than the Chief Cornerstone, I have lost sight of the true nature of the Church. Hebrews 12:2 says "let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and finisher of our faith." When I have definitely let my Ecclesiology be battered is when I have let a man or a group of men take the place of the Chief Cornerstone in my mind. Let us return our gaze to the "Author and Finisher!" Only then will we recover a truer Ecclesiology.

9. Most youth pastors have the "fun" personality and so the Entertainment/Attractional church model lends to youth pastor burn out because they carry much of the burden for programming. I can remember when I realized this, that I was the fun bringer, the announcement clown, the one that everyone liked to laugh at. I was in ministry for quite some time when I signed up for a men's retreat. The leader asked me if I would do the games for the retreat? I had done them the previous several years. I had to say, "no". I hated doing it, but I had to not be the game guy, the clown, the entertainer. I wanted to be taken seriously and I am sure you have felt that way too. You have asked yourself, "When will they take me seriously?" I have a few suggestions. Learn to say "no" when the things that you are being asked to do do not fit into your ministry priorities, or into your job description. You can quickly be taxed and burned out with all the "fun" things that you are asked to do. It could also hurt your view of the church when all you are asked to do are the funny video announcements, church picnic games, concert nights, halloween alternative programs, or being the dunk tank guy every year at the Church Carnival! you can find yourself asking, "is this it?" "Is this what Jesus died for? That I am the dunk tank guy at the Church Carnival again this year?" As a youth PASTOR you are more valuable than being the entertainment door mat at your Church. So let yourself be respected and heard as a PASTOR in your congregation. Now do not get me wrong, do fun stuff, but be careful to balance it out so that you do not get burnt out, and so that your people respect, and hear you as a legitimate PASTOR/ELDER of your Church. And Church, what I am asking you to do is, that if a Youth PASTOR is hired as a PASTOR in your Church treat him like one, and make him an elder! If he is qualified to be a PASTOR in your church then he is also qualified to be an ELDER. And if he is not Biblically qualified to be an ELDER than he is not qualified to be a PASTOR! and don't hire him! So set him up for success by giving him the position that he is qualified for PASTOR/ELDER when you hire him!

These are just a few suggestions to recover a biblically Christ honoring Ecclesiology when it seems to become battered by years in ministry. Ultimately we need Christ to recover a truly honoring Ecclesiology. If you feel that fade toward a, "Is this all?" type of question, then do whatever it takes to "fix your eyes on Jesus." This might help...

Pastors I Have Known; Lessons I Have Learned By: Michael Holt

My mentor and professor in Bible College Michael Holt was very experienced in ministry and always had great advice, and knew many things about the intricate inner workings of Church life and policy. He was very influential on me in those years. We were talking about my desire to minister to youth pastors, and he shared this article that he had written many years ago in Youth Worker Journal. I hope it blesses you and helps you on your journey to maturity in student ministry. I know he has influenced me. Thanks Michael!

Pastors I Have Known; Lessons I Have Learned

BY MICHAEL HOLT POSTED ON OCTOBER 09 2009

Thirty years ago I entered full-time ministry energetic, excited, and naïve. I actually began as a church music director; "Minister of Music" it said on my business cards, my door, and the plaque on my desk. I'd been there about two weeks when the pastor said to me rather conspiratorially, "You know…you're the youth director." I was stunned. What did youth directors do? I was fresh out of college, prepared to lead choirs, sing solos, and get children to stand still in their cute little robes. Youth director? What a challenge!

As the years have passed, I've realized that God simply used that avenue to get me where I was supposed to be; music was fine for a while, but youth ministry changed lives. I haven't sung a solo in years and I sure don't miss those holiday pageants. I've learned some crucial truths through the years that aren't specifically about youth ministry, though they impact it substantially. In working with seven different pastors, I've realized that those you work for can have an incredible impact on how you work.

Brother Fred

Perhaps it started because I had this profound belief that pastors were men of God who could do no wrong…or not any serious wrong anyway. They always did the right thing, in the right way, with everyone's best interest in mind, even mine. They were supposed to be kind and caring towards everyone. That's probably why I couldn't believe that Brother Fred was so distant. We never had staff meetings unless it was him, me, and the secretary to talk about some big-time church function like a revival that he wanted to be sure was publicized on everything but the toilet paper.

So, dutiful staff member that I was, I would arrange everything around his schedule (he was the pastor) and hope for the best. He never commended me for anything, but he would be critical if something didn't live up to his standards, and he never explained those to me either. If I asked questions about anything, he had this funny way of arching his eyebrow, which let me know I must be a fool for asking such a question. So I quit asking, although I did spend some time in front of the mirror learning to do the eyebrow thing.

I should have been wiser, but how wise can you be when you're 22 and green? I was loyal, I was on time, and I worked long hours. The ministries I led grew, but he wasn't happy with me, I could just tell.

After about a year, he seemed particularly grumpy one day, so I just asked him what was wrong. He gave me the eyebrow so I gave it back to him. He seemed a little taken aback, so I just waited. "The church just isn't growing," he said. "I expect more out of you." "What did you expect?" I asked. He did the eyebrow thing again and replied "We should have added 20 families by now. It's been a year and that hasn't happened. The deacons and the personnel committee read a study and told me if we got another full-time staff member that we could expect growth—that families with teenagers would join. I told them it wouldn't work."

And then I understood: he'd never wanted a new staff member in the first place. Here I was all eager to learn, and he had no clue what or how to even teach me. So I said, "That's what you want? You want 20 families?"

"Yes, that's what's expected of you," he answered. So I went and sat in my office and wondered how to fulfill the job description I'd never been given.

Frankly, it didn't go well after that. I really think I got myself snagged into some kind of ministerial performance-based acceptance. After another year of seemingly frantic attempts to please Brother Fred and get twenty families, I was asked to resign because I "had not fulfilled my responsibilities." He showed up unannounced at my house after a board meeting and quietly but firmly informed me my services were no longer required. He did the eyebrow thing the whole time. But I learned some valuable lessons through that experience:

Ask more questions in the interviews.

Make sure the pastor is looking for a staff member.

Be sure of what the job expectations are, and get it in writing.

The eyebrow thing works really well with middle schoolers.

Brother Clyde

Soon, I took a position with a church in a blue-collar community—practically everyone worked at the local mill. These folks were great—they loved God and they loved us. My pastor was an enigma to me. He was fastidious about his appearance, yet had never heard of the word "tact." Once during a hospital visit with a lady who was having a "procedure," Brother Clyde asked, "What type of procedure?"

"A female procedure," she said shyly. By this time, I'm looking for the exit.

He asked, "What kind of female procedure?"

She replied "A DNC."

"What's that?" he asked.

Since I knew what that was, I gave him a slight nudge, knowing he was headed for major embarrassment. So she told him in technical terms exactly what was going to take place. He blushed crimson, asked me to pray, and we left. In the car he said, "I can't believe she told us that!"

I often wondered what he did all day. Monday through Thursday he would show up at the office after 9:00, ask me to go to the hospital with him, then we'd eat lunch at his favorite hot dog stand, where he would loudly harass the Middle-Eastern proprietor about the pornography behind the counter. He would urge the man to be saved so he wouldn't have to deal in this sinful filth and the man would smile, nod, and wait on the other customers while I ate my hot dog as quickly as possible so I could get out of there. I never said so, but I thought that my pastor might be using an ineffective method of evangelism.

After lunch, He would go home to study, which never seemed to be reflected in his sermons. He never asked me what I did, nor did he give me any guidance or accountability. On Thursday he would admonish me to be sure to visit the hospital on Friday because he had to go see his elderly mother in a neighboring town. Once I commented to his wife how kind he was to see his mother so consistently. Rolling her eyes, she said, "Are you kidding? He plays golf all day while I sit with his mother!" Then I realized why he was absolutely totally unavailable on Fridays, not for a funeral, not for anything, he was "with his mother." Would you believe he placed 3rd in the World Clergy Invitational in 1972? He retired from that church in 1998 after serving 25 faithful years; doing what, I have no idea.

Lessons learned;

Don't ask probing questions in the hospital. You might get an answer.

You can't win someone to Christ by condemning his or her lifestyle.

Most mothers don't play golf on Friday.

There's a lot to be said for just showing up Sunday through Thursday.

Brother Roy

We moved when I saw some greener grass. Brother Roy sounded positive—the church was ready for growth, my ministry would complement his, the leaders were open to change, etc. Boy, was I naïve! The church wasn't growing, the leaders weren't open to anything, and his wife, Rose, the faithful secretary who worked for free, actually ran everything. It amazed me that she could work so hard but never seem to do anything but get the bulletin together. Whenever I asked her to do anything, she was always busy.

Needing some storage space, I snooped around until I found some unopened Sunday school literature from the 1950s. Certain that it had been overlooked in some past church-wide cleanup, I was throwing it into the dumpster when she caught me. She demanded I put it back, saying it would be used eventually. When I told her that if it hadn't even been opened in 20 years it probably wasn't very valuable, I thought she was going to have a breakdown. She actually began to stammer and went into her office and slammed the door. I felt like reminding her that I was the minister and she was the secretary, but I thought that might push her over the edge. The next day, her husband, my pastor, took me off into a distant classroom and very gently told me that I must be very careful with her—that she worked very hard and that people really appreciated her and I had hurt her feelings badly. When I asked him exactly what I had done to hurt her feelings, he said he couldn't quite say, but I had. I began to realize something was really wrong, but remember I was naïve.

Brother Roy and Rose had adopted a son who had major problems; they were constantly making excuses for his behavior and paying his speeding tickets, and I knew from the kids in the youth group that he was headed for trouble. Once when I tried to offer some youth minister advice, he quickly changed the subject, then later said to be sure not to mention anything to his wife about the boy. We had a famous evangelist come to speak and my pastor put him in the dumpiest motel in town. He even deceived the congregation about the offering we received for our guest, saying to me, "My wife said we couldn't give him that much! She said we need to be more frugal."

One of the last straws was the day I called our office supplier; the clerk sarcastically said "Shall we bring it out to the curb?"

What do you mean?" I asked.

"Your secretary always has us bring it to the curb so she doesn't have to put a penny in the parking meter."

"No, I'll be glad to come in for it." Which I did, very humbly muttering our church name to the clerk and hoping no one recognized me. I learned some great lessons there:

Naivete is a great quality, if you can afford it.

If the pastor's wife is in charge, you probably don't want to work there.

Frugal is a nice sounding way to say tightwad.

If you're embarrassed to mention your church in public, you definitely don't want to work there.

Brother Don

The famous evangelist took a liking to me and recommended me to a church in another state. Talk about greener grass, it was five times bigger, had a TV ministry, and was even closer to the grandparents. Unfortunately, the salary was the same. We bought a house, had lots of youth workers helping out, and I could snap my fingers and have 100 kids at just about anything. The pastor was incredible; older, wiser, very fatherly, always giving me advice and insight into people and situations. After a year, I attended a national youth pastor's conference and was introduced to the biblical concept of discipleship. I asked the Lord to give me three Timothys.

Noting that I was often gone from the office, Brother Don asked me in staff meeting where I was spending my afternoons. "Discipling Eddie M., Eddie H., and Jimmy K.," I told him. When he inquired as to what that meant, I explained the concept of investing my life into others that they might do the same and so on. He looked puzzled and then said we were starting a discipleship program and I shouldn't be wasting my time with those boys. "Really?" I said.

"Oh yes," he replied. Reaching into his desk drawer, he pulled out a charm bracelet with twelve profiles hanging from it. "See this? Next month, we start a Sunday school campaign on the Twelve Disciples. If you come to Sunday school twelve weeks in a row, you'll get a charm for each disciple."

Not yet having learned the art of keeping my mouth shut, I blurted out "And you call that discipleship?"

"Why certainly," he replied. And we went on with business.

Later, he summoned me to his office and chewed me out. "Who did you think you are, questioning my authority and my leadership?" He shouted. Then he pulled out my job description, threw it at me, and told me to go over it, determining what I wasn't doing. When I asked when he wanted it back, he snapped, "No hurry!" and turned away. I went to my office, worked on my job description, made sure I was doing all of it, and then wrote in the extra things I was doing that weren't on it. Leaving it on his secretary's desk, I went home and told my wife about my interesting day.

The next morning he was waiting for me. The veins in his neck were bulging and his baldhead turned red. He was actually rather scary, accusing me of insubordination and of turning the youth against him. I apologized for things I'd never even thought of, trying to figure out exactly what it was I'd done wrong. It was downhill from there; a few weeks later, there was a secret board meeting (no one who was involved in ministry with me was there, incidentally). The next day I was fired, given a check for one month's pay, and basically ordered off the property.

The next Sunday, it was announced that I'd been dismissed for "failure to fulfill my responsibilities." I was devastated. This was the first ministry that I felt like I had actually made a difference in some students' lives. My reputation, my integrity, and my future in ministry all seemed wrecked. Plus we were pretty much broke. I learned some hard lessons:

The grass is never really greener over there.

Never trust anyone until they've proven trustworthy.

Biblical convictions must never be compromised, even if they get you fired.

Unemployment compensation covers fired ministers in some states.

Brother Jim

After four months, a church finally hired me. When we'd been forced to sell our house, the lawyer at the closing recognized me from the television ministry and asked what had happened. When I told him, he encouraged me to sue. "You'd win easy," he said. "Not an option," I replied and moved my wife, my son, and my broken heart to a small inner-city church stuck somewhere in the 1950s.

I've never made a move without some sense of God's leadership, but this became a mess. Brother Jim was very concerned for his flock, especially the senior adults. His wife had to be the center of everything, constantly reminding us of her cultured upbringing. Brother Jim was always trying to get me to come to useless meetings. When I asked him why he went to the useless meetings, he said, "I want to keep my job!"

The leading members talked endlessly about the good old days when the church was flourishing. Most of those doing the talking had been born and raised in the neighborhood, but had fled to the suburbs as the area had changed. They faithfully drove into town to their lovely old sanctuary and did everything they could to keep it an inviting place. At my request, they even put up a basketball goal in the parking lot for the students. They bought a bus for us to take youth trips.

They couldn't have been more supportive until I asked to use the bus for ministry to a local orphanage. The board refused my request. When I asked why, the chairman said, "Well Brother Michael, you know some of those kids might offend our members."

For a moment I couldn't grasp his logic. Then I realized what he meant; "You mean that those kids aren't welcome at our church because some of them aren't white?" I asked incredulously! Brother Jim just stood there saying nothing. He really did want to keep his job. I resigned. Several of the members tried to get me to say that Brother Jim had driven me off, but that wasn't true. My own sense of justice had driven me away. I've never been back, but I sure learned some valuable lessons:

Spend lots of time in the interview process focusing on the pastor's wife's body language.

Don't accept a church bus with limitations.

Keeping your job is seldom worth it.

C. J.

After a brief para-church venture I landed at another mega-church as part of a multi-staff youth ministry team. The pastor seemed to be a real visionary and took me under his wing. One day he said, "After me, you're the most effective staff member we have." Man, that felt good, especially after my previous experiences. I was his loyal follower until the fatal staff retreat. He wanted our opinions on the key to spiritual growth in our church. After much prayer, I told him that he was the key; that we as a staff would follow his lead and the folks in the pews would follow suit; if he was seeking God, it would filter down—sounded pretty biblical to me. In front of the entire staff, he said, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!"

Several of the staff warned me I was in trouble but I can be determined, even stubborn. I checked my attitude, made sure I was doing my job, and waited. Before long the personnel committee asked for my resignation. When I asked for a reason, they couldn't give me one. I said, "Give me a reason and I'll resign."

Growth had led to major parking problems, so the staff was required to park at a nearby mall. One Sunday after the service, I came out to the car to find my wife sobbing. Our 8-year-old son was severely disabled, and we had a handicap sticker allowing us to use the disability spaces. On our car was a hand written note signed by C.J. stating that "staff were forbidden to use the parking lot!" I was enraged! I plotted his murder! I would firebomb his house. I thought of hundreds of ways to do him in.

Over the next several weeks, I became so ill with bitterness that I was hospitalized. Finally I asked God to forgive me, then went to my pastor and discretely confessed my bad attitude, asking his forgiveness. (I didn't say I had planned to kill him, thinking that imprudent.) He warned me to watch myself, that I was headed for trouble. Within the year, I resigned, knowing I couldn't work under those conditions. I took a job pumping gas at a service station. Talk about lessons:

Watch out for smooth talking pastors.

Telling the truth can get you into serious trouble.

Murder is not an option.

Brother Joe

I was done with ministry. We joined a church across town and I pumped gas; it was one of the happiest times of my life. Then Brother Joe asked me if I would consider the church's part-time youth position. I reluctantly agreed, and the ministry exploded. Just like God to do that to me; at least the gas station didn't explode! After 3 months, Brother Joe said the board wanted me to come full-time. I was pretty gun shy, but I agreed. Brother Joe was a very unusual man, very earthy, but also very godly. We moved into a very nice church-owned home and began to work in earnest.

Soon Brother Joe asked me why my wife was not returning his wife's phone calls. "I think she's afraid to; she's been hurt by lots of pastor's wives," I replied. A few days later Joe called me into his office where I found my wife, looking rather surprised. Then Joe opened the back door of his office and his wife Joyce entered. Everyone sat down and he prayed something like; "Father, we know Michael and Jane have been hurt by lots of people. Show them that we only mean them good. Amen." Then Joyce explained to Jane that she was sorry for all that had happened to her, and that she couldn't fix that, but that she was a minister's wife who needed friends and she couldn't think of a friend that she'd rather have than Jane. Jane cried. Joyce cried. I cried. Joe said "Amen". The women went out to lunch to celebrate their new friendship. Joyce treated for lunch and as they shopped afterwards, she bought my wife a very nice dress that wasn't on sale.

We had a church van that I used for youth events, sometimes taking students out by just grabbing the keys and leaving. I got back from one such spontaneous trip to find Joe waiting for me. "Did you take the van during lunch today?" he asked.

"Sure," I replied. "I took a group of kids out to lunch. We had a blast!"

"And did you tell the secretary when you got the keys; 'Sometimes it's better to ask forgiveness than permission?'"

Thinking fast, I muttered something like "I might have said something like that."

Joe's response was, "So you didn't notice that the bus was signed out for the senior adult trip?"

"Guess not," I said with my winningest grin. He took me into his office, dressed me down, and told me I was a 'Jacob,' a manipulator, and that I should be fired. Then he told me he was willing to work with me, to help me get this defect out of my character if I would submit to his direction. Thinking the option was termination, I agreed. For a year, he spent time with me, working on my character. I became a changed man, no longer a manipulator. Joe loved me enough not to fire me when I deserved it.

Our disabled son Jonathan got sick and spent several days in the hospital. After we'd been there around the clock for 3 days, Joe and Joyce showed up one night and announced that they would spend the night with Jonathan, that we were to go home and get some rest. When we protested, he said, "That's an order." So we went home and cried ourselves to sleep, unable to believe that we were loved so much.

I served at that church almost six years before God put me on the road as a speaker. Leaving my students was hard; leaving my leadership team was harder; leaving Joe almost killed me. I've met very few men for whom I would gladly lay down my life. Joe is the most godly man I've ever met. He's the kindest man I've ever met. He restored my hope in pastors. Today I'm going over to his house to help him set up his computer, and I'd gladly do anything within my power for him. Lessons, you ask?

God has agents everywhere. We just have to wait for them to show up sometimes.

God has an agenda and a schedule, and they're not mine.

Quality by its very nature is rare. Quality men and women are even more rare.

Suffering is usually worth what it costs to learn the lesson.

One Joe is worth all the other pastors I've known.

The Top 15 Youth Group Cliches

On a lighter note, If you have been in youth ministry for very long at all you have probably done at least one of the following. I have done every one of these 15 Cliches over my time in youth ministry. Have a great day and a great laugh...

Recovering from a battered Ecclesiology: Part 2

In My Previous Post I began to deal with what I call a "Battered Ecclesiology." Many times in ministry I believe many youth pastors, and even pastors/Church staff can have their view of the Church shaken, and even shaken to it's core. I dealt with a few ways our views of Church can be shaken and in that post promised to deal with several other things that can affect someone's view of Church. My desire in this post it twofold. I would like youth pastors to know and understand that they are not alone in feeling that their Ecclesiology (Theology of the Church) has come under attack by being on a church staff. My other purpose here is to challenge the Church at large to become more biblical in practice. Learning to take care of it's pastors, and to encourage them by having great things in place to keep them healthy by growing their high view of Jesus Church. So here we go...

4. Many Youth pastors do not have "real" spiritual authority in the Church only responsibility. A colleague made this statement a while ago to me. It really stuck with me. I have also noticed this. I think this is where the church needs to really change some things. If a youth pastor is a pastor then biblically they are also an "elder/overseer" as the Bible defines it and have real spiritual authority not just a position and responsibility in the Church. We have made professional ministry just that professional. And so the errors we have made lend to a youth pastor becoming jaded because no one really sees him as having real spiritual authority. If he fits the job description of a pastor in your church, that job description should also have built into it the qualifications of an elder found in Titus 1:5-9 and 1 Timothy 3:1-7. If he is a pastor he is an elder also. So make him one. The congregation usually votes a youth pastor into his office when he is hired, so when a youth pastor is voted in then he should also be voted onto the elder board. Let's change this practice and not only grow leaders but empower youth pastors to mature quickly, and be those with real spiritual authority.

5. The hierarchical model of ministry dis-empowers the students that these youth pastors are pouring into to lead the Church. This can also grate on your view of Church as a youth pastor. If over the years you see the students that you pour into not being given greater church spiritual leadership then this can discourage pastors. I have asked many times, "what am I doing this for if my students have no way to become spiritual leaders in the church?" My thought is two fold here. Youth pastor, you can create opportunities where your students can lead. Let mature students lead often and early. It will grow them into mature disciples. Then, Church, please also create opportunities early and often where they can lead not just in the children's and student ministry but with the greater church even letting them preach when possible.  Don't let the hard work of investment that youth pastors are making go without plugging students into substantial spiritual roles in the church.

6. Most Church Staff/Parishioners mistakenly believe that the building that they meet in is the Church. The problem that we face in the modern church is that we kind of need buildings to meet in. That was not how it was in the early church. They met from home to home and so they realized and held to the community, the Ekklesia of God, that met in a particular house. They would greet Ekklesia of God that met in Jerusalem, or in Lydia's home in Phillipi, etc, etc. They understood the most high God as they worshipped Him in the temple courts, and they understood the most nigh God as they assembled in the home where they met. This is difficult today in the modern church to separate the building from the assembly or to understand them separately. But we must, and we must communicate it often! The church is not anyplace we meet or anything we do! If we have preaching or worship or prayer. That does not make us the church! The Ekklesia is people! I had a parishioner approach me many years ago and alerted me that a student was chewing gum in the church, and that I ought to go correct him. I looked around to locate the perpetrator. When I found the the student in question, and saw that it was a student that had professed faith in Christ, I said, "It looks like to me the Church is chewing the gum." This is how we have to continually communicate to people that WE are the church, this will empower and lift up your view of the Church. The Church is and always will be the PEOPLE worldwide from all time that Jesus has "called out" unto Himself by shedding his blood. Keeping this ever before us will always sharpen out Ecclesiology.

This is all for now. Like a good preacher, I will address these other three points in another final post.

7.  Most youth pastors are young when entering ministry and have an underdeveloped Ecclesiology.

8. Christ (not a person in leadership) is the head, cornerstone, and leader of the Church

9. Most youth pastors have the "fun" personality and so the Entertainment attractional church Ecclesiology lends to youth pastor burn out because they carry much of the burden for programming.

Recovery from a battered Ecclesiology

I have known so many former youth ministers (myself included) who have worked for years in ministry and continually had their view of the Church pounded on by working in the modern Church. Let me explain the a few ways most youth pastors (and maybe even many currently in ministry) have their view of the church (Ecclesiology) battered over the years.

1. They live with the constant pressure to draw more students into their ministries. I met a children's minister/youth minister years ago who was responsible for 500 children in his ministry. He told me that his Sr. Pastor asked him every week about how many children they had that particular week. This led him to really question and always be skeptical of his own view of the Church. He said for a long time he only thought they could be a successful church if they were growing. Is this true? of course not, Jesus is Lord of His Church and He grows His church! He usually doesn't grow His Church by stealing the neighbors churches sheep. He grows His Church  usually through conversion growth. So how do we recover from this? First, I will acknowledge that throughout my years in ministry, I have felt the same pressure, and many others do too. Youth pastor, you are not alone, and you are not crazy that pressure truly exists. Secondly we need to call it wrong. It is a misplaced, hurtful and wrong view of Church that the church can only be successful if it is a huge "growing" church. It can be a healthy church if it is growing but not always. We have to be honest. Then we have to admit when we have fallen into that trap of numbers. I used to go to Youth Pastor meetings, seminars, and summits, etc and always 'fib' on my numbers to see the reaction from guys. I usually got a shrug off from guys from larger churches, and would have much in common from guys from smaller churches even though I was usually at larger churches, I had more Ecclesiological commonality with them than the mega-Youth Pastors. How can we recover a deeper more Christological Ecclesiology? By Seeing and savoring Christ. Focus on Christ the Author and perfecter of our faith, and not on numbers.

2. Most Churches are Attractional in Methodology. This seems to speak for itself. The Attractional model of youth ministry and overall Church ministry is failing. If churches can manage to keep the slick programs, and MTV service afloat for more than a few years they are doing good, but mostly they fold with the succession of new leadership. Needless to say we also create more consumer Christians than true disciples with this model. I have been in so many churches and church traditions, from Baptist, Presbyterian, Brethren, Methodist, Evangelical free, Charismatic, etc. and for the most part their ministries were built around the Sunday Morning services. This leads pastors and youth pastors to only value the meeting on Sunday and much of the other stuff, that really makes us church, falls by the wayside. I found that in my own life, I put so much into the Sunday morning activities, I usually had little time, resources, or energy left for anything else. Have you felt this way? If you have you might be a victim of the Attractional model. Admit it, Confess it, and ask for healing from the attraction of the attractional model of ministry. Dear Lord I am attracted to the allure of the attractional model of ministry, I confess this was not in your heart when you envisioned the Church, I ask that you reform my understanding of what your Church was, is, and is meant to be.

3. Most Churches and youth ministries build their methodology around the Preaching/Charisma of the senior pastor or youth pastor (i.e. attractional model). This has engulfed the Church over the past few decades. The Charisma of the lead pastor and the Church staff have kept many Churches afloat. From the inception of the Multi-site, and the superstar preachers of the evangelical world, most churches will not tolerate less than the best most entertaining, funny, and convincing preachers. Now don't get me wrong, I am for excellence in preaching, but there are average guys out there preaching the NOT SO average gospel in the NOT SO average power of the Holy Spirit. However there are many ABOVE average Communicators/Preachers preaching in the average power of the flesh. The superstar/Multi-site Church Ministry approach I believe is hurting the Church. This view that "Preaching makes us the Church" is wrong! We need to adhere to regular gospel centered preaching, but that does not make us the Church. Jesus makes us the Church. As Acts 20:28 says "The Church/Ekklesia which he purchased with his own blood" No preaching, music, small groups, AWANA, Midweek Youth programs, Men's Ministry, Women's Ministry, or any other thing we could "do" as the church makes us the Church. Jesus alone does that; He makes us the Church. The things we "do" as the church are only a response of worship to the faithful savior who has purchased us. In that great sacrificial act HE HAS MADE US the Ekklesia of God. If our view of Church is anything else we need to recover a biblical Ecclesiology.

I will cover these others aspects that batter our ecclesiology in part two of this series...

4. Many Youth pastors do not have "real" spiritual authority in the Church only responsibility

5. The hierarchical model of ministry dis-empowers the students that these youth pastors are pouring into to lead the Church.

6. Most Church Staff/Parishioners mistakenly believe that the building that they meet in is the Church.

7.  Most youth pastors are young when entering ministry and have an underdeveloped Ecclesiology.

8. Christ (not a person in leadership) is the head and leader of the Church

Recovering from the Criticism of Your Ministry

I have been in ministry now longer than I haven't, and just like any other profession it is professional. Unfortunately ministry is not and should not be viewed as such. But we are paid usually for the ministry that we do in our local congregations, and so with that normally come job reviews, job descriptions, meetings with elders, church council oversight, weekly check ins with our pastor (usually our boss), staff meetings, and other required church staff obligations. Many times we as youth pastors can feel the pressure to produce numbers, results, decisions for Christ, more small groups, big slick midweek outreach programs, bigger monthly outreach programs than the last one, etc, etc. If you have been in ministry any length of time you have experienced this pressure for bigger and better. With that pressure may come much criticism. I can remember many times being criticized in many different places and in all kinds of churches. One particular instance stands out in my mind. I was on the phone with a person who was critical of how I was handling the planning of a mission trip. I was apologetic for his situation which was very difficult one, and then I explained a way for him to be able to bow out of the trip that we were going on. From that point he proceeded to criticize my wife, who was also helping with the planning of the trip. At that point I was done with the conversation. I said, "You can criticize me, and you can criticize this church, but when you criticize my wife that is where I have to draw the line. You are free from your commitment to this missions trip, goodbye." And I hung up the phone. Some of you have experienced much of the same, if not even the exact type of criticisms. Your family, children, spouse, friends, and their friends friends are all under constant scrutiny. You are supposed to be perfect after all right? This can be a heavy burden, and many of you including myself have wanted to just leave it all behind because of that intense scrutiny. Just so I am following the proper youth talk criteria I have a few thoughts...

1. Let Christ bear the scrutiny for you!
The perfect man has gone to the cross for you and all the impossible standards that you could never live up to. He met all those ridiculous standards that some people hold you to, and that you even hold to yourself. He has met them all. The most righteous, humble, holy, reverent, human, invested, courageous, prayerful, bold, meek, and kind man that has ever lived. He will bear your scrutiny! Let Him! give to him the impossible scrutiny that you could never fulfill, and that He will always fulfill.

2. Find someone to share this scrutiny with
For me it happened to be a regular meeting with an older, wiser man, some really great colleague youth pastors, my very cool German intern, and my wife, but she is the last line of defense because I want to try to protect her and you should too. It is hard to hear negativity all the time though so, "bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ". Don't be a one way street. Hear as well as being heard. And then Pray for each other, and you will do well.

3. Pray about it often
If I ever made a mistake in this area it was not praying about it enough. I always would talk to people, gripe, complain, or just get bitter, but I never prayed about it enough. I could have always done that better. Not just, "casting your cares upon Him because he cares for you," but "Pray for your enemies and those who spitefully use you."

Brothers the challenge is always that we are not professionals. We do this out of a deep calling and that calling must come under deep scrutiny because the bible also scrutinizes us. "Let not many of you be teachers because teachers shall incur stricter judgement." This is the tough balance. My greatest prayer for our profession/calling is that we will receive the great judgement from our Lord "Well done good and faithful servant."

I commend to your reading Brothers We are Not Professionals.

Here are a few "Brothers We are not Professional" sermons by John Piper

Recovering from the Seduction of Ministry Accolades

As a youth Pastor you have been a father figure, friend, pastor, caregiver, babysitter, homeboy, coach, cheerleader, event planner, hype man, concert promoter, preacher, teacher, parent, tech guy, staff member, audio tech, video tech, actor, worship leader, counselor, fire putter outer, fire starter (maybe even literally), administrator, web designer, set designer, stage coordinator, Sunday services production designer, Church picnic games man, any church event games man for that matter, general announcement clown, and general coordinator of all things fun in most churches. By no means is this an exhaustive list of hats you might wear in youth ministry and you might have a few extras to add to this list of responsibilities. I have definitely seen most job descriptions in youth ministry out there and seen those men and women try to faithfully fill those positions. Quite frankly Jesus couldn't accomplish most Youth Ministry Job descriptions. These hats that most youth ministers wear can lead to many many accolades. For whatever difficulties youth pastors do have in ministry, they can also be very loved and appreciated. They are typically wired for fun, the life of the party, and they are typically drawing a crowd. They are not typically the INTJ on the Myers Briggs Spectrum they are usually the TSAJ (Totally Self Absorbed Jerks). Just kidding you guys are all totally selfless, but you gotta laugh at yourself a little bit to be able move toward healing. This is not a bad thing it's just the typical youth pastor personality. That's usually how we are wired. Unfortunately there are a few pitfalls that come with that.

Fleeting spotlight of Self-Glory

1. Youth pastors love the spotlight and are usually front and center and typically on stage or very close to the stage.

2. Youth Pastors easily maneuver their way through high capacity job with high visibility.

3. Youth Pastors life "on the stage" of ministry can be appealing and seductive.

Maybe these or another of the seductive pitfalls of accolades have caught you in its deceitful snares. I know it has me. And even worse I hide behind the lie of false humility. Whether I deny the spotlight or cling to it with a kung-fu death grip, I usually present a facade of humility.

Kung-Fu Death Grip

Maybe you are a little bit like me. In the dark corners of the un-humble portions of my spirit I really want the accolades. Unfortunately I have in moments and periods of my ministry built things on the unsteady, shaky, crumbling foundation of the praise of people, have you? Then like me you need to recover from the incredible let down and pain that the lack of praise will bring. When those praises stop, or maybe on Monday that day I dub PMS day (Post Ministry Syndrome day) you feel empty, defeated, or not whole you may have given in to the lie that the enemy wants you to believe. "You are only as successful as the accolades and praise you receive." Our identity in Christ is only based on the merits and work of Christ on our behalf. In those moments where we are tempted to lean on our own merits in ministry, we must "look unto Christ the author and perfecter of our faith." This is the beginning of recovering from believing in our ministry accolades of numbers, students discipled, years in ministry, who hears our sermons, likes on Facebook, number of re-Tweets, or how many people praise you for your sermon on Sunday. Focusing the center of your ministry on Christ and not how much accolades we receive at any given time will never fail you because Christ is always faithful and His glory is never fleeting. Please give up the ministry of self-glory and rely once again on the ever-present all-sufficient Christ, and His worthy work to reach and disciple teenagers through you as a surrendered vessel. If you are one who has done this in the past and needs healing from this "stage" life learn once again to rely on the healing power of Christ who gives victory to the weak, and power to the broken. I came across this song recently and it has blessed my soul to know Christ is Healer. My prayer is that we as a youth ministry culture would once again lean on Christ to heal and run our ministries. He is enough! He is all we need, everything we could want is found in His love!

Necessity for Youth Pastor Recovery

I have been in youth ministry for nearly 20 years. I have served in 9 different churches in those years. Each one great in its own way! I am so blessed to have to worked in these diverse and unique congregations. I have in those ears also experienced youth ministry from my own perspective and other colleagues perspectives. Youth ministers are a rare breed. They are usually a little bit rebellious lets just be honest guys. And also we are honestly fighting for the good of our students and the advancement of our ministries in the eyes of our congregations. I am sure that most youth pastors are seeking to help their congregations make youth a priority in their churches. In those many years of listening to my colleagues, coupled with my own experiences in ministry I have noticed some troubling trends.

First youth ministers, in my experience and in fact are underpaid which makes them feel undervalued (2012 Youth Ministry Salary Survey).

This is a difficult thing because most churches are working with not very large budgets. As a result most youth pastors do not feel like their work is seen as valuable in the eyes of the congregation, staff, elder board, council, deacons, or other governing bodies of churches. I have come across so many youth pastors struggling to stay in youth ministry because they cannot afford to. Their time is stretched so thin from the demands of attending events for their students, event planning, midweek flagship program preparations, Sunday school preparations, campus ministry, not to mention leader training, discipleship, and many church related ministry requirements just because they are on a church staff. I bring the salary issue up for three reasons. First I write to you youth pastor to let you know you are not crazy or diluted in thinking that you do not make enough money.  You are right, you don't make enough money. If you managed a business the same size and programming as your youth ministry you would make two times what you make. You are not alone, other youth pastors are facing the same thing with poor compensation packages. Secondly, I also write this to challenge churches to see this imbalance and to act accordingly. Please seek to adjust your compensation packages fairly. Look at the High School teachers in your area and pay youth pastors according to that standard, not according to the national youth pastor standard which is woefully inadequate. Please be fair according to the work your youth pastor is doing, and his level of education and experience. Lastly, I write this for youth pastors to take an honest look at your salary package, and seek to renegotiate if necessary. A colleague of mine wrote on this topic recently and I found it very helpful, maybe you will too (How Much Money Are You Worth By: Benjamin Kerns). Church, please consider and reconsider 1 Timothy 5:18 which says, "For Scripture says, "Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain," and "The worker deserves his wages." Are you 'muzzling' your youth pastor by paying him too little for him to survive?

Second, Youth pastors are many times disillusioned, burnt out, overworked, struggling, and jaded from their experiences in Youth Ministry.

I often talk to colleagues that are very hurt from their church experiences. I know a youth pastor who every time he met with his pastor, the pastor would talk about numbers. How many students were attending, and the youth pastor was actually growing the student ministry. They had moved the student ministry and kids ministry from 300 regularly attending to over 500 in weekly meetings of a church with 3000 in regular attendance which is great! usually a church with 10% of its regular attendance being student ministry is considered successful. But there was a constant pressure on this guy to succeed by having bigger attendance numbers. It was too much for him, and so he resigned. Unfortunately, I wish this was an isolated incident, but sadly over the 20 years that I have been involved in youth ministry that has been pretty common; guys feeling that pressure to have higher and higher attendance. Again I write this so that youth pastors know and feel that they are not alone. Most youth pastors have that pressure to "attract" more students. So they seek to do a bigger and better outreach program, or add a much slicker attractional aspect to their regular program. This is a slippery slope away from the core of discipling students. I am not saying I have many answers. I just first of all want you to know that you are not alone in your frustrations. Admitting that there is a problem is the first step toward recovery.

I am however so encouraged at the resiliency of so many of my colleagues in ministry. My greatest hope in this blog/ministry is that Youth Pastors and Youth Ministry professionals are encouraged, strengthened and given hope to move forward. My prayer for you is that whatever you have been through, you will lean on the grace and healing comfort of the Lord Jesus, and that wherever you are, you will move forward in faith that the Lord will sustain you in whatever he is calling you to, and my hope is that it will still be youth ministry.

Praying about how to best help struggling youth pastors

Thanks for traveling to my site. I am curently thinking and praying about how best to help struggling youth pastors. I have over the years come across many hurting, struggling, depressed, burned out, and even jaded youth pastors. My desire with this site is to...

1. Help guys by listening and hearing what they have gone through
2. Being compassionate to youth pastors as they process their pain and struggle
3. Loving the church for them and for Christ's sake
4. Helping pastors not walk away from Christ or ministry.
5. Helping pastors believe once again in Christ's church

I just want this site/ministry to be faithful to a calling to help youth pastors heal and continue to walk with God. I am praying about a direction and vision for what God is going to do with this. Thanks for visiting.