Skip to main content

Jesus as Youth Pastor: Dealing with Randomness

"So what's the deal with God wanting my money?"

That was the first question.

"What if I'm married and some hotter girl comes along?"

That was the second question.

"Do I really have to listen to all the rules?"

That was the third question. 

If you've ever been involved in youth ministry, in any capacity, this probably sounds like a normal youth group meeting to you. The youth pastor had probably been speaking about priorities or choices or Jesus sacrificing His life for everyone. Then he noticed someone had a question.

The question, of course, was not going to be about priorities or choices or Jesus sacrificing His life for everyone. The youth pastor didn't know that, unless he'd been teaching teens for longer than twenty minutes. Then he knew what was coming. 

"So I saw this episode of Ninjago where the master told the ninjas to hone their skills for battle."

And even though that is not actually a question, the youth pastor now has the challenge of connecting that thought with his original thought. This kind of skill, though I've worked on, had always left me discouraged. If I was teaching well, shouldn't their questions be on topic. 

But then I realized that Jesus, the Master Teacher, had the same experience. The above scenario is from Mark 12, where Jesus had been speaking about the Kingdom of God and Himself. But then we see the Pharisees and Saduccees, like teenagers, volleying questions so random from each other. The amazing aspect is that Jesus kept up.

Taxes to Marriage to Law

Much like a youth group, the questions changed topics faster than Taylor Swift writes break up songs.

So I have decided that if Jesus put up with it, so can I. If I need to be prepared every week to answer questions about End Times to Sex in Heaven to Women Pastors, Dating in High School to the Devil in my bedroom to Justin Bieber witnessing through his music, so be it.

But the story in Mark 12 wasn't done. Then Jesus pulls the ace card out of His cloak. He turns the tables and confuses the crowd with a deep question. Having no answer from the crowd, Jesus got back to the topic at hand, which was Himself.

Well played, Jesus, well played indeed. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Accountable

I recently officiated a wedding. The ceremony was simple, lovely, and ended with another couple professing to keep the covenant of marriage. But it all started with a clarification...from me. At our first premarital counseling session, as I have done with every couple I have agreed to marry, I clarified a couple of matters. First, I officiate Christian weddings, where both spouses-to-be are professing Christians. I firmly believe that marriage is difficult enough, without adding disagreements about God into the mix. Second, as a minister of Jesus Christ, I believe the pastor’s role in a wedding is to represent the blessing of God on that union. So we have several sessions of premarital counseling where we discuss married life. It’s not that I have this imaginary card in my head, with a picture of me on the front and my stats on the back. (You know, like a baseball card.) Ok, I do picture cards. Pastor cards! And being a competitive guy, I want my stats to look good. The number of coupl...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Facebook Maybe

Granted, I'm a pastor. I have Type-A tendencies. Ok, my tendencies border on freakish OCD behavior patterns, but... Few things bother me more than the Facebook 'maybe'. I suppose I could go on and on about the grey areas of our society and the refusal of people to accept absolute standards. I could discuss the great need of people to accept that what is wrong for one person is likely wrong for everyone. I should certainly be concerned about mentioning that someone might have sin in their life. But I don't believe the Facebook 'maybe' is quite sin. Perhaps if I were coming up with new sins, I would add this to the list. But alas... Some might think the Facebook 'maybe' did not exist prior to the Internet, but they would be wrong. When I was in high school and asked a girl out on a date, I would normally be told that if they had no other plans, if nobody else called them, if there was nothing good on television and their hair did not need washing, then per...
5 comments
Read more

But I Wanted It

As I've said before , I'm looking for a new place to do youth ministry. Job searching in itself can be a full time task. Unfortunately, no one is paying me to look for a job. And when you haven't had to find a job in 15 years, the whole experience can feel brand new. And nerve-wracking. And quiet. So very, very quiet. I may spend a few hours here and there sending out my resumes and writing cover letters. But the churches I'm sending my information to have their own timeline. And sometimes that timeline does not involve acknowledging my presence. Which is fine, especially if one of the churches I've applied to is reading this right now. I understand those looking for youth pastors will have their own agenda and their own timeline. But it leaves me sitting here with a deafening quiet around me. I am choosing to walk by faith through these days, picturing God working behind the scenes (always behind the scenes) and holding His voice very still, until He is re...
2 comments
Read more