Fear is one of the biggest enemies to your ministry’s growth. If unaddressed you’ll drive yourself crazy wondering, “Why isn’t anything happening?”
Courtesy of Capture Queen ™/Creative Commons License
Fear is deceiving because you can have the right plans, and right people in place, but if you can’t pull the trigger they become irrelevant. As youth ministers you need to overcome you fears, especially your:
Parent are not your enemies. They are not out to get you. Yes, they can be a little crazy, but it’s because they love their teens. Instead of fearing them, engage them.
If you try to avoid parents in your ministry you will never earn their trust. You need their trust because they are the people physically bringing teens to your ministry.
To engage them approach them. Don’t become defensive when they vent. Pray with them and for them. Make a relationship with them a priority.
No one truly enjoys conflict. Things get tense and very uncomfortable. The best thing to do is to address the conflict right away. The reason it gets so difficult is because we let it fester into little monsters.
Whether it’s with a parent, or the pastor lean into any conflict by addressing the issue. Lean into God to guide the conversation. Go to people for insight and wisdom. The sooner you address conflict the sooner it will be resolved.
Fear of failure is also a fear of losing control. Failure will happen because people make mistakes, but if you do not allow people to make mistakes they cannot grow.
A fear of failure is what holds us back from delegating to new leaders. It’s what holds us back from doing new things with the ministry. It’s what holds us back from making the ministry into a movement.
Overcome your fear of failure by surrounding yourself with people to hold you accountable. Pray to build trust in God. And know that it’s not the end.
Failure will emerge and it can paralyze it. You just need to name it. Confess it to God and allow Him to give you the strength you need to build your ministry into an unstoppable movement.
[reminder] What fears have you seen hold a ministry back? [/reminder]