I dropped by the FUSEBOX last night…our youth ministry center at the mall. It was the “sex talk” night and Alden Ellis, our middle school pastor did the talk.
Long story short—there were 210 high school students there…and 10 accepted Christ. Alden did an outstanding job of hitting the real issues that teenagers struggle with…and it was TENSE in the room.
(For those who want to know—YES, he really did talk about sex. YES—in church! The church has been way too silent about the subject for far too long…and culture has been outspoken. So…culture is having the say in how our society views sex and instead of correcting their view by teaching Scripture to them we have yelled at them and forced them into isolation!!!)
Sorry about that rant…moving on…
Being with our high school students last night reminded me of my days in youth ministry. I was so stupid…it is a wonder I survived.
There was the time I arranged the food fight…a GREAT IDEA…and we had the largest attendance we had ever had at any youth function. However, the food fight took place in the church graveyard. NOT a great idea. Yeah…I got raked over the coals for that one by the pastor…but I still laugh every time I think about it. I really did think it was a good idea…oops.
And then there was the time I taught the kids to do the electric slide. Once again…we were building community…it was awesome…everyone was having fun…we were in the fellowship hall of a Baptist church…and then…the deacons walked in. Needless to say I immediately got to attend my first deacons meeting and was told to never do that again. (Remember…I came from an unchurched background…no one told me “the rules!”)
Oh yeah—the first time I spoke on a Sunday evening in the first church I served I said that the problem with Christians is that they sit on their butt and don’t do anything. I learned that night that you cannot say “butt” in a traditional church on a Sunday night…that will land you in yet another deacons meeting. And then afterwards many of those same deacons will step into the parking lot, light up, and tell dirty jokes…but anyway… :-)
And I could NEVER forget the minor feud that was always taking place between the senior adults and the youth in the last church I served…and it all had to do with the church van.
The rule was if you used the van you had to clean it up and fill it full of gas. Good rule…and I always followed the rule…always. However, there were times after the senior adults used it that “the rule” wasn’t followed. I would bring this up and…uh, lesson learned—NEVER tell the senior adults they have done something wrong!!! :-)
And then if they used the van and it had not been cleaned and filled full of gas—they would blame the youth…even if we hadn’t used it.
So after we had taken a mission trip to Florida I decided to make sure the van was both full of gas and clean…and this was the beginning of a huge boo boo on my part.
Filling the van up full of gas was not a problem. BUT…cleaning it…I went the extra mile. I sprayed the entire van down, inside and out—and then I put armor all on everything…the tires…the SEATS…the FLOOR. I am serious—that van looked the best it had ever looked…and I was so proud of myself.
Little did I realize that the senior adults had a trip scheduled to the mountains a few days later. They could not stand up on the floor without sliding all over the place…and when they would go around a curve they would all slide from one side of the van to the other.
Once again I was “talked to” to make sure I didn’t do that on purpose. I told them I wasn’t smart enough to think of something like that…and they all agreed…so I didn’t get into trouble.
The thing is…I served two amazing churches before starting NewSpring…and learned so many valuable lessons that equipped me to do what I am doing right now. I will always be grateful for my days at Griffin and also my days at North Anderson…the people in these churches loved me enough to let me screw things up…and for some reason kept believing in me…even when I made mistakes.
I would not trade those days for anything. I grew…I learned…I was stretched…and when I began to pastor…I had paid the price to learn some hard lessons.
To be really honest—I felt way over my head in those days…and I still feel the same today. Someone asked me once, “Do you find yourself more comfortable today as compared to when you first began ministry?” I replied, “No…I am not as comfortable…when I first began ministry I knew everything, now I know nothing. When I first began ministry I prayed more for good luck…now I pray because if God doesn’t intervene whatever I am doing is not going to work.”
I was stupid in those days…but even stupid people can do good things. I love where I have been, where I am right now…and especially where I am going!!! Thank you NewSpring for allowing me to serve as pastor…it’s an honor…and I can’t wait to see what God does around here next!!!