How To Lead Youth Ministry: 7 Habits To Develop Now

how to lead youth ministry
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Tips for How To Lead Youth Ministry (cont.)

5. Serve irrationally.

Go hard. Instead of asking, “How little can I get away with spending?” the right question to ask is “How much do I have to spend?” With your time, give as much to kids as you can. With your money, press up against the boundaries in your budget. You serve students irrationally by giving to them irrationally.

My goal is to create a culture of serving so that one day kids will get to my age and wonder how I managed to do it. This level of irrational giving will reverberate into their adult lives and speak a message of servanthood they won’t forget.

6. Speak to who kids really are, not who they pretend to be.

I heard that youth group leadership lesson from a pastor. He realized that responsibly pastoring a church is about gently breaking down walls and speaking to life’s easy-to-hide dysfunctions. Students have a natural self-preservation defense mechanism that causes them to live a double lifestyle. They’ll have a church life and a personal life. It’s toxic to grow up believing that your faith and your life are separate matters.

If you never create an atmosphere where it’s safe to speak to what isn’t working, you’ll eventually lose your credibility as their leader. To students, you’ll become obsolete. After all, they don’t need your help with what’s working. They need your help with what’s not working.

7. Be someone worth pursuing.

Consistency breeds credibility. During my early years of youth group leadership, a student  asked me a simple yet startling question. “Are you the same around us as you are around your friends?” That question still echoes in my spirit and challenges me every day.

Am I someone worth being pursued? Have I done anything that will inspire people to be a difference-maker to those they have influence over? Have I been a positive influence? Am I raising the standards for myself?

Your life will always make more noise than your lips. The people you lead will hear what you do much louder than they’ll hear what you say. So make sure the noise you make is worth being reproduced.

May God bless you as you keep learning how to lead youth ministry well!

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