Since I'm actually doing concrete training in my profession of choice right now, youth ministry, I'm beginning to recognize some of my strengths and weaknesses in this particular area.
When you first decide on a career, you have lofty ideas in your head of the perfect job for you. I'm sure I'm not the first one to tell you that it doesn't all work out that way.
Doctors, for instance, often become doctors (or so the stereotype tells me) because they want to help people. People go into law because they want to fight injustice.
This all operates on one particularly flawed assumption. They assume that all the work they do will work towards meeting their goal of helping people or fighting injustice, when really so much of it ends up being paperwork and manual labor.
There are 2 components to a profession. One is the actual subject of that profession. The subject of a teacher's job is education, the subject of a senator's job is government policy, etc. The second component of the profession is the method of application.
The first component focuses primarily on that ideal which I talked about earlier. The teacher studies the ideals and goals of education, and then the application, the actual teaching, is where the rubber hits the road.
I'm learning more and more that the primary goal of my profession of youth ministry is the spiritual development of youth, but the applications of that are ALL OVER THE PLACE. It could be playing basketball or painting or teaching a Bible study or playing Guitar Hero. I am finding ways that God has uniquely crafted me with skills and talents that make me relevant to youth. The gifts that God has given me help me encourage kids to listen to what I have to say.
Obviously, I am not skilled at everything, so there are some kids that it is harder for me to reach than others. I'm finding more and more that I am really not that interested in leading middle schoolers. High school, maybe college eventually, is what I want to focus on teaching because I see myself more effective there.
A lot of pastors and youth pastors might say that makes me selfish.
Sure, there might be times where I am called on to help in the spiritual development of people outside of high school, and I am not limiting myself to that. That's just where I want to focus.
I sure hadn't thought of any of that when I first thought I wanted to do youth ministry. Eesh.
6.04.2009
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1 comment:
well, i would love to do youth stuff if it meant i could play basketball and talk about boyfriends all the time. But the whole speaking in front of people and shepherding a bunch of teens wouldn't be my favorite. I actually like middle schoolers. They're so dramatic and hilarious. (minus the ones who try to hook up with me)
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