Like a dog with a squirrel or a junior high boy with…well pretty much anything, we as the church and youth workers have got a bad case of ADD/ADHD spiritually. We get all wound up and excited about the newest cause or trend. We all jump on the bandwagon and drag our groups along behind us. It can be a tornado, a hurricane or a war lord in Uganda.

The church at large has had this problem, as it quickly moves from thing to thing, but youth ministry especially gets sucked in so easily. We work with students and get upset because they won’t stay on task, listen or focus, while we—the adult leaders—are doing the same thing. I am including myself in this discussion, also. It is something I am trying to make myself more aware of, too.

It is time we slow down and focus our minds and hearts spiritually. It may seem a bit boring in the midst of the hype we live in, but we need to start finding and sticking with a vision, plan and cause. My suggestion is to make a choice to P.A.C.E ourselves. Let’s agree we will give it our best shot to stop the cycle of Spiritual ADD. Let’s set our eyes on the prize and do what we can do: Do a couple things well and not many things poorly. Allow me set the P.A.C.E. for you…

1.) Prayer. This may seem to be the obvous Sunday School answer, but it is the root of any change in life. Before you make a change in your ministry or get involved in a cause or mission, pray about it. By default, you will slow down, but prayer also will give you a clearer vision of what God wants or does not want you to be doing.

2.) Ask. Ask hard questions and research about the trend, cause, need and people involved. If we have learned nothing from the KONY 2012 thing it’s to ask questions and research beyond the hype. Before you race off to be part of the 135 million people who suddenly care because of a video, get more information.

3.) Commit. If you are going to do something, do it only if you are willing to stick it out for a while. Longevity is the golden ticket in this conversation. It actually is less helpful in the long run to help when doing so is the popular action. Anybody remember Hurricane Katrina or the Earthquake in Chile? Guess what? People are still living in tents in Haiti! Do what you can do, and then keep on doing it day in and day out…year in and year out.

4.) Educate. If you are already praying, asking hard questions, researching, and are committed to something for the long haul, it only makes sense we do what we are called to do teach about it. If it passes the first three steps, then it is time we educate our students and our churches. We need to dig into God’s Word and find out what passages apply. Once again, in our hype-driven world we chase after things without really taking the time to learn and understand.

These are just a few thoughts as I learn to slow down my own spiritual mind and focus in on what is going on and not be distracted by…Just kidding!