Skip to main content

Ministry Monday: Youth Pastors Are Missionaries?

We have all seen them. They stand out like a sore thumb. But they stand out for a reason. I am talking about missionaries. 

You may have known them before they left for the mission field. You may have even prayed over them in a special service just before they boarded a plane for some distant country and culture. They looked like you, dressed like you, ate at similar restaurants. 

But upon their visit back stateside, you are wondering what happened. Guest speaking at your church, you see them wearing clothing native to the mission field. They are teaching yo strange sounding vocabulary and possibly introducing you to new foods. 

This is not the same person. They're odd. (Disclaimer: I don't think missionaries are odd. I am saying some people, other than me, might think you're odd. If you're a missionary, don't shoot the messenger. In fact, I know the first missionary who will comment about this post to me.)

When missionaries are odd and speak the language or act like the natives they work with, nobody says a word. That's what we want them doing. We pray for them and support them with our money and hold weekend events focused on them for a reason. We want them to succeed. To reach another culture, you have to find a common ground. That often means fitting into their culture. You don't lose your identity, but who you are grows into something more than it was before you arrived. 

Being different from our culture is what we expect. We'd think them to be uncaring and certainly unsuccessful if they didn't learn how to integrate into the culture they were preaching the Good News to. So why do think it odd when a youth pastors fits in well and communicates well with teens? 

I'm not advocating irresponsibility, but should we expect the youth culture to connect with anyone that looks like he comes from another land? Don't we also wish success on these pastors to our youth? I know people pray for me, so this is not a personal rage against the machine. I seek to encourage.

Youth pastors... Go into the mission field to which you have been called, integrating yourself until they see that you care. Become one with them so they can hear your voice and connect it to Jesus. Do your best to be the interpreter of youth language. 

Church people... Lift these youth pastors up in prayer. Come alongside them and ask how you can help them. Look past their oddities (like you might a missionary) and thank God for people who choose to sacrifice normalcy for youth ministry. 

  • Oh, I have one more thought. Does anyone ever ask a missionary when they're going to become a real pastor? If not, then I think you know what question to youth pastors has to go as well. 

Comments

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

Patience

I am more than halfway through the last year of dropping one of my children off at school. It's my eighth grade daughter, for anyone keeping track of my family.  See, next year she will be at the high school, and her brother will drive her. He says that it's not cool for seniors to drive their freshman sister to school, but I bet it's cooler than being dropped off by your mom in a minivan.  So rather than groan about this daily responsibility, I've been reminiscing about what the drop-off line used to look like, way back in elementary school. Once our children were about halfway through their elementary years, the drop-off line became a test of patience.  Do you know which group you do not want to get caught behind in the parent drop-off line at an elementary school? The kindergartners. These little ones are barely able to walk, but now we put them in the high-pressure situation of trying to unbuckle their seat-belt, grab their backpack (which might be as tall as they a

Jury Duty

I was recently summoned to jury duty. I know, groan. Except I didn't. I had never experienced it before and was curious to see what it was like.   When the day to report arrives, they separate you into groups, asking various questions to decide if you will be selected to serve. Do you know the accused? Do you have conflicts that would keep you from serving? Can you stay focused?  I wanted to answer well, if only because my kids kept wishing me luck the day before, telling me they hoped I made the team. After all, who wants to be rejected? It occurred to me that there are things you probably shouldn’t say right away if you’re wanting to serve on a jury. I know, I know, people don’t typically want to serve on a jury. But that list didn’t seem nearly as humorous to me. Here are the things you probably shouldn’t say if you want to be selected for jury. I hold myself in contempt. You can’t handle the truth. We find the defendant guilty. I believe the judge looks pretty in his robe. I’d