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...
