How Professional Is Your Ministry?
Courtesy of Dreamstime.com When I wear a shirt and tie into work people will ask one of three questions: Are you interviewing for another job? Who’s...
 |
| Courtesy of Dreamstime.com |
I’m willing to bet that when you took your job as a youth minister you envisioned nights where life change was happening all around you. Hundreds of teens were embracing a life with Christ, new believers became sold out and people would constantly knock on your door telling you how your ministry has changed their life.
That’s what you envisioned; however, somewhere down the line you realized that those nights feel far and few between. What you do get are evenings of complete chaos followed up by phone calls from concerned parents. The youth minister journey can be filled with powerful moments; however, it’s those negative ones that beat on us and wear us down. Whether you like it or not, they shape us and how we handle the responsibilities, choices, and overall vision of the ministry depends on whether we are:
A Short Term Leader or The Humble Professional
The tension to being one or the other comes down 5 distinct difference. They are:
- Short Term Leader – Needs to control everything
- Humble Professional – Knows they aren’t always in control
- Short Term Leader – Fears that others are better than them
- Humble Professional – Makes those around them better
- Short Term Leader – Refuses to be wrong
- Humble Professional – Learns from mistakes
- Short Term Leader – Criticizes others
- Humble Professional – Praises others
- The Short Term Leader – Desires attention from others
- A Humble Professional – Desires God’s attention
To embrace the
Humble Professional you need to keep yourself in check and review motives and decisions. The best way to do this is through:
- Accountability
- Journalling
This way you can give yourself an honest review. If you can be honest with yourself then you give yourself the opportunity to
last long in this field. If you focus only on yourself and your own desires then don’t expect to last long. When you fell into this line of work you did so because of a vision. While the path that gets you there may not always be what you intended, how you travel that road is still in your control.
What other differences would you note between a humble professional and the short term leader?