Double Mocha Jesus with Two Pumps of Holy Spirit

This morning, feeling like I needed a cup of coffee, I decided to make some (usually I get it at work). I love to cook and not only do I love to cook but I’m really good at it, but making a cup of coffee for me is like a 5 year old attempting to do brain surgery.
I hate how a cup of coffee on the coffee maker is not a liquid cup and the directions on the bag give a ratio of grinds to water but not beans to water…it doesn’t make sense and really in the end it’s only there to confuse those of us who don’t make our own coffee. In reality it’s a test and see process where you try to remember exactly what beans and how many beans, make x amount of grinds that make x amount of coffee…that’s why people go to Starbucks…you can get what you want, how you want it, almost instantly. It actually baffles me how detailed some of the drinks are that people order, it would drive me crazy if I was a barista…that’s why I tip my hat to all those that work in a coffee shop, because giving people what they want and how they want it, can be insane.
If that’s the way student ministry was to be run, I don’t think I would be doing student ministry. It’s important to give teens something they need and one of those things is a church community. And unfortunately that’s something easier said then done…we all try in church ministry but I think we fall short trying to serve the students as if we were running a coffee shop. Some students want more dodge ball, others want more serious discussion, some want more of you as a youth pastor, others want you to leave. It’s not easy, especially if you feel like you have to please everyone. So what should a church community provide? Here is a few of what I came up with:

• Authentic relationships with Christ-like adults
• An environment where they feel safe and encouraged to be vulnerable and broken
• Ministry that serves them, but also empowers them to grow on their own,
• Most importantly a place where they can connect with God in the most intimate worship possible.

I know there’s more and this is all about creating vision. As we enter into our next series Faith Underground, I’m hoping to lay out to the students a little more of why they need church on top of a personal and authentic relationship with Jesus Christ…because we aren’t Christianity Baristas and I don’t want to act that way.