Why You’ve Failed Your Values

I’m going to be transparent.  I was reviewing some old posts in Marathon Youth Ministry when I came across the importance of prayer in your ministry.  It stopped me when I realized it’s a habit we’ve dropped the ball in doing week in and week out.  We used to pray before program and after, but somewhere down the line that habit got dropped…why?  Several reasons:

• Lack of Priority: You should have personal priorities, so should your ministry.  Whether it’s putting parents before students, small groups ahead of worship, you need to prioritize or else you’ll be a Jack of all trades, Master of none.  There are certain areas in our ministry that deserve priority over another.
• Too Busy: Maybe it’s because you are short staffed or you’ve overburdened your team with so much responsibility that they just don’t have the time.  Either way you are rushing to get the program started and now you’ve wiped away your margin.
• Bad Communication: You can’t be everywhere, besides the ministry shouldn’t rise and fall on you.  So why the lack of prayer?  Maybe when you asked someone to lead it they thought it was a one time deal, maybe it’s a value you’ve expressed but not enforced.  A lot of the times we blame the people and not the system and communication is a system.

Maybe it’s not prayer but encouraging leaders to bring their Bibles, show up on time or greet the students instead of socialize with one another.  If you aren’t aware of your values and keep them up front they will suffer and be lost.  A great way to stay focused is to:

1. Write them down and post it.  
2. Share it with your leaders and have them hold you accountable.

What are the values in your ministry?


How do you maintain them?