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
