MYM Blog

If They Made A Movie About Your Ministry

Written by Christopher Wesley | May 2, 2011 1:21:00 PM

I’m not sure who I would have play me…maybe Mark Ruffalo?  I don’t know he’s too old to play me.  I know I’m not alone, but there are times I’m driving home from work and certain songs that are the soundtrack of my life come on and I begin to wonder:
“If my life was a movie who would play me and what would it be about?”
It’s a valid question, in fact one many of us should ask when it comes to our youth ministry.  Because you ask that question, you begin to explore your:

LEGACY
If you think about it one day your teens are going to be parents or adults involved in ministry and what you did and did not do as their youth minister.  And if they move away and get heavily involved in another church your influence on them will have an impact on that church.  Asking, “What’s my legacy?” might seem like a question filled with vanity but in reality what you leave behind is determined by how well you:

  • Delegated: Did you pass things off to your ministers well?  Did things run in your absence?  Basically did you replace yourself?  If you didn’t it means that it was all about you.
  • Invested: Do the values you instilled in the ministry still linger?  Did you ever communicate your values?  How did you invest them into your ministers? If there were no values, then don’t expect the things you started to stick around.
  • Shared Yourself: You should be remembered for the good that you did.  Youth ministry isn’t about anonymity because without relationships there’s no life change.  If you were authentic in your relationship with Christ and others then you will bear fruit.

I don’t have a title for my film, but maybe I would have Mumford and Sons or David Crowder write the soundtrack.  The important thing is the message that the movie leaves.  What’s the story I want to tell?  What’s my legacy?  When we can embrace our Christian servitude and self identity our story will be becomes epic.

What’s the message from your movie?

Who would play you?