Creating a space

Over the last few weeks Beth and I have been slowly transitioning into our new roles as Co-Youth Directors at Nicholasville UMC. We love it. Seriously, this is maybe the best job I've ever had. I'm in awe of the kids, I love working closely with my wife, we're walking into a great set-up and we're learning big lessons. Probably the biggest thing that I've learned so far happened during our Mission trip with the Sr. High kids to Long Beach, MS. Prior to the trip, I've been reading Contemplative Youth Ministry by Mark Yaconelli. Yaconelli stresses the fact that in youth ministry we often get too caught up in ministry being about us and our ideas and our programs. He believes that we need to create a place for our youth to experience God. When I first read this I thought "Of course this makes sense! Youth ministry is not necessarily about programming and whatever...it's about God and the way that I show kids God." Unfortunately, the last part of the statement was my own, as I believed that I was somehow crucially necessary for kids to experience God. I thought that my preaching and planning and worship leading would change the way that kids get to know God. Then we went on our trip.

The trip wasn't mine to lead. Zac, the former youth minister, was leading the trip and we were along for the ride. Zac asked me to help one of the kids lead worship. I asked him about evening devotions and worship and he basically told me that we weren't going to have any kind of message...we were just going to talk about our days and sing together. I thought that this seemed a little crazy and insignificant, but it wasn't my trip to lead so I did as Zac asked. As the week went on, I began to encourage kids to sit in silence, thinking to myself that they were probably bored as they did it, but over and over again we would end the silence and kids would be in tears. On the last night, we headed to the beach for worship and communion. We sang together, read out of I Corinthians 11 and then invited the kids to be with God before they came to take the elements. When we said this I expected the kids to sit for about 30 seconds and then come for the elements. Instead, kids headed away to different parts of the beach and fell on the faces and knees before God for almost 30 minutes. Kids wept and talked quietly together and then came one by one to receive the elements and be prayed over. God moved in the kids lives and I had nothing to do about it. I simply created a space for God to be present in the busy-ness of our schedule and God came in powerful ways. As kids later shared with me about their time that night I heard stories about how they realized that they were truly taking part in the body and blood of Christ. I heard stories about how they learned that by service they meet Jesus. I heard stories of kids who realized that get too consumed with material stuff of the world and that they desperately want to follow Jesus. God came and I had nothing to do with it. I'm learning that my job as a youth minister is not to have great sermons and excellent programming...my job is to create a space for God both in my life and in the lives of my kids. God is bigger than me and God is plently big enough for my kids. Thanks be to God.

Quick thoughts

I want to write a bunch...I'm just home from two fantastic mission trips with the good kids from NUMC. God moved and we were amazed, but more about that later.

A couple months ago I wrote a post about Panera bread and church. Yesterday, my aunt, who I love dearly left me a comment that ripped me up. She noted that many people who go to Panera or who spend Sunday mornings sitting on their porches know what they're missing, but they also know that they won't find it in a church. She stopped me in my tracks and made me realize again that we're not offering God in a way that transforms people. On top of that, I've been reading in Mark...this morning I was reading through Mark 5 where Jesus starts to drive out demons and heal women and raise people from the dead. Jesus is full of power and I believe that Jesus offers that same power today. Unfortunately, for some reason we think that we need to dress Jesus up in such a way that he becomes acceptable or pertinent to the people around us instead of just allowing the work of Jesus and the power of Jesus to stand by itself. We become so fake in our relationships with others and we become so power hungry in our relationship with the church that we limit the power of Jesus to transform lives in a powerful way. That's not the way that we should be at work. Jesus will heal our brokenness, transform our hurts, drive out our demons and renew us if we'd only let him. Churches need to get back to Jesus-centered programming rather than us-centered programming that we think might work, because frankly, it's not about us.