Basketball and Dinosaurs

At 38 I feel like an aging athlete. Which, if you know me and have seen me lately that should be a very funny statement. But at age 38 I find myself wearing a similar set of Nike's, they just don't have my name on the side of them. You see I am a dinosaur, prone for extinction like the other veteren Youth Ministers out there, watching as the younger kids rain down the jumpers of fun, party atmosphere, high energy pizza and parties style of youth ministry down on my head as I watch their numbers sail high. Kudos to them, I've been there. But the sad thing is, I wished I had not. Like any wily vet, if I knew what I know now, I would have been so much better then.
But the real reason that experienced youth ministers in their thirties are leaving the ministry in droves, which they are by the way, has more to do with what's broken in the Church these days. It's not a new problem, it also is the biggest reason Pastors get run off; numbers. Unfortunately churches get to caught up with the "noses in the seats" mentality and not in the SUBSTANCE of the noses in the seats. We all like quantity, sometimes over quality. Experienced youth ministers know that what makes your ministry successful is what you see in ten years. TEN YEARS!!! Are you kidding? (Sorry that young 22 year old Youth Minister must have over heard,) Yes son, ten years. What will that 12 year old hyperactive, poorly groomed video-game fanatic kid look like ten years after he leaves your program? Think about that. Let's even move the timetable back to five years. When he is 23 what will he be doing? Will he be in church? Will he be serving? Will he be a leader for the Truth? By 28 he will have a career and most likely a wife and a kid or two, how will he lead that family? Will he be a testimony of Christ at his workplace whether it is teaching in a classroom, finding the cure for cancer or pulling trash at the mall, will he be working "as unto the Lord". That is what youth ministry is about. Sadly, the church doesn't usually count how many counseling sessions you have with your students to try and get them through life struggles. They look at how many events, how many kids and how many new tithing families you brought into the fold. Just to be clear I'm not bitter, I'm sad.
Like most of my professional friends I've taken my trade to the "secular" world. I don't see ministry as having to be done inside the walls of a church. My "former" youth minister friends, of which the list is long, have mostly all done the same thing. The church has worn them down. They have retired to become baristas, marketers, teachers, non-profit workers and more, it is a sad day when we are happier doing ministry outside of the church then inside. It appears a career in youth ministry is much like that of an athlete. By 40 you should have something new lined up. But like the best athletes who don't get depressed when they are replaced by that number one draft pick, experienced youth minsters must realize that ministry is lifelong, whether the church recognizes it or not.

Tomorrow I will blog on the State of Youth Ministry, please check back in 24 hours.