Today I picked up a magazine in Bryan's office and started reading. It was the current issue of Group magazine. (This is a great resource for youth leaders!) There were several articles that caught my attention and I haven't finished all of them yet. One article in particular really made me think. It was talking about having effective youth leaders and what that looks like. In our ministry, that is something that we are always striving for (effectiveness) and we are always up for suggestions. I hope that this is something that all youth ministries are striving for, but unfortunately, I know it is not.
Two things that jumped out at me are that kids aren't looking for a witness but, with-ness. I can't tell you how many times I have seen this played out with our kids. We can talk about our faith and be good examples all day long, but they don't care. They don't want to know what we know. They don't want to know where we have been.
What they do want is us. They want to know that we want to be with them. When they are lying in a hospital bed, crying over a lost loved one, or dealing with a broken relationship they want us by their side. We don't have to know what to say or do they just want us to be there.
The second thing that jumped out at me is that we need to move from a chaperone mentality to a Shepard mentality. We aren't there simply to supervise. We are there to take care of them, love them, feed them, protect them, and guide them. A chaperone tells them when they have done something wrong, guards the door at night, and keeps them from jumping off balconies. Anyone can do that. You don't have to love them or even care about them to do that, you simply have to be able to see, breathe, and move. To Shepard them, you have to truly love them and care for their best interest.
I will probably comment about this more at another time, but that is just a little something to spark some more thought or discussion.
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