I’ve been a full-time youth pastor for almost five years. At times, discouragement is a hard enemy to battle. I’ve seen my share of youth group students drop out as they get older. I also have been disappointed by current and former students when I checked their Facebook pages.
Well-intentioned congregation members forward me reports with the latest statistics about the drop-out rates of college students. I have to ask myself if I’m wasting my time…if we’re all wasting our time in youth ministry.
Maybe it’s simply that I am more easily discouraged than most youth workers, but I get incredibly frustrated thinking about the low retention rate of college students. This reality often takes my thoughts to the Parable of the Sower and the Soils, which is found in
Sow Seed with Abandon
Around the beginning of the school year, I felt like a failure. I was watching some of my students slipping away and growing increasingly unreachable. While at the same time, some of the teens who came from outside our church seemed to be bearing fruit, and there were a number of other students who told me about God working in their lives.
It was in this moment that my attention was drawn to the Parable of the Soils. I’ve studied this passage many times, but never before did I really consider the seed that fell on the path or on the rocky soil. Why would anyone throw seed there? Shouldn’t a sower be more careful if the goal is to see plants grow? Surely the supervisor of the hired hand would criticize the wasting of precious seeds!”
Not everyone in our ministries will grow in Christ and bear fruit that lasts. When Jesus taught His apostles the meaning of this parable, He explained to them that not everyone would receive the Word of God and bear fruit. If this was true in Jesus’ ministry, how foolish if we think we can do better.
The reality is that we don’t know which students represent the fertile soil, the thorny soil, the rocky soil or the well-worn path; but we do know this from the parable: Every kind of soil received its share of seed.
Don’t think for a moment that we don’t have to pursue so-and-so—that he or she must not be fertile soil and that we’re wasting out time!” Rocks can be cleared away and thorns can be cut back and uprooted; granted, it’s not easy work. Even the fertile soil must be well cared for, fertilized and aerated.
The next time you think you’re a failure because you’ve been let down or discouraged, remember this parable. Only a foolish farmer spends time thinking about all the wasted seed while harvesting a crop. Be encouraged; and don’t neglect the hard work of fertilization, uprooting thorns and clearing out stones.
When we talk about spiritual growth in youth ministry, we’d be remiss if we didn’t at least acknowledge that not every student is going to develop the spiritual disciplines and authentic faith we so greatly desire to see developing. Rather than blaming ourselves and focusing on having all the greatest and latest ministry philosophies, perhaps we ought to scatter seed everywhere while paying special attention to the good soil and working hard to clear away the thorns and stones that threaten to keep seeds from taking root.
