People strive to be the best, even in the church; but in the world of youth ministry, what does it mean to be, use or do the best? Is being the best unhealthy or God-honoring? To find out, we spoke with four experts.
A veteran youth worker, Brian Berry is the Generation Ministries pastor at Journey Community Church near San Diego, where he works directly with the high school ministry and oversees a staff responsible for infants through high school. Brian’s the author of Criticism Bites and As for Me and My Crazy House.
Rachel Blom is American at heart, but Dutch of origin. She currently resides in Germany where she volunteers as a youth leader in her church. She’s a gifted speaker, avid youth ministry blogger and author of Beyond Small Talk: Connecting with Teenagers Through Conversations that Matter.
A former teacher, Lars Rood has been in youth ministry for more than 20 years. He’s the Family Ministries pastor at Bellevue Presbyterian Church in Washington and a popular speaker. He’s also author of Youth Ministry on a Shoestring: How to Do More with Less.
Dave Rahn’s passion is to reach unchurched kids with the love of Christ, something he does as the senior vice president and chief ministry officer for Youth for Christ/USA. He’s the director of the MA in Youth Ministry Leadership program for Huntington University and author of several books, including Evangelism Remixed.
YouthWorker Journal: What does it mean for something to be the best?
Rachel Blom: The best used to mean it had to be perfect, but I’ve learned that the best under the circumstances gives more freedom and grace. Time, budget and the talents of people involved can be limiting in terms of perfection but still be the best.
Lars Rood: The best fits what we need within the boundaries we have. The step between good and great is small. If you have the resources to make it better, do it; but remember you can’t do it with everything.
Dave Rahn: I used to think of the best in a competitive way. Now I’m more inclined to think about the best in terms of my efforts and production. Others might do something better than me, but that doesn’t bother me if I’ve given my best.
YWJ: How has American culture influenced the church’s understanding of what it means to be the best?
Brian Berry: We worship success in America. Just because something fails doesn’t mean the time or resources we spent were wasted. Those who truly arrive at the best learn from failures in pursuit of the best God has for them.
Rachel: Americans are more performance driven than other cultures. That drive for excellence has become part of the church culture. It’s one reason American resources often don’t work in Europe. They come across as too slick, showy and perfect.
Lars: We’ve believed youth ministry needs to compete with culture. That myth has ended with us having youth facilities that look more like amusement parks than church. Most students don’t come because of our toys. They come because of relationships. That’s not something American culture can replicate as well as the church.
Dave: Competitive goal structures are a way of life in America: I can only win or be the best if others don’t or aren’t. When ministries buy into this myth, they ignore important biblical teachings. The value of unity—a big deal to Jesus when you think about His prayer in
YWJ: What makes youth ministry activities successful and effective?
Brian: Activities are effective when a student’s get-it factor increases—when lightbulbs of wisdom start clicking on and their lives change accordingly. My goal is to see spiritual maturity in teens, to see them take ownership of their faith. My ultimate definition of success is not a student who’s loving God as a teen, but rather one who graduates and in 10 years is living an authentic life as a follower of Jesus in his or her work and family.
Rachel: Activities are successful if they contribute to a mission. If your vision is to connect with students, then a low-key night when you hang out may be a great success. If your goal is discipleship or evangelizing, you’ll need other activities. Being successful and effective starts with a mission and vision and then determines what activities help you get there.
Dave: We’re a pragmatic bunch. We depend on immediate and concrete feedback. Attendance at youth ministry programs is intuitive, understood by everyone. We’d benefit from thinking more about theological values before we calculate success. At this point in my career, I’m committed to the singular notion that faithfulness to Jesus is enough. That’s my measure of success. As my friend Jared Taylor observed, “Fruit is above our pay grade.”
YWJ: What metrics can and should youth workers use to measure success?
Rachel: Numbers never tell the whole story. You can have 150 students who are lukewarm or 35 who are on fire. The latter means so much more. Ultimately, it’s about changing lives for eternity, not about small group attendance, baptisms or the number of students coming forward at an altar call.
Lars: Track down graduates and see what the lasting effects of the ministry were on their faith. Do a measure based on fruits. Are students showing the fruits of the Spirit? If they’re being changed, the ministry is effective.
Dave: If faithfulness is what matters, the questions that matter are those that help assess whether we’ve been faithful. Is love for outsiders spilling over from vibrant loving relationships within the youth ministry? Are young people growing in maturity, getting to know Jesus, and submitting to His lordship in their lives? Is the Bible being learned, practiced, integrated and modeled? Are teens discovering and using their gifts, moving from consumers to contributors?
YWJ: How does striving to be the best honor God? At what point does focusing on the best become unhealthy?
Brian: The more you give your best to God, the more you’ll care for those God cares for. My best becomes unhealthy when I turn it into “my better is better than yours.”
Rachel: God deserves the best we can give, but that doesn’t mean perfection. He’s more interested in our hearts than anything we bring Him in terms of worship, sermons or cool stuff we come up with. Honoring God is loving Him above all else and loving others.
Lars: We honor God in wanting to use the resources, skills, talents and gifts He’s given us in the best possible way. If we want to be the best because we’re comparing our ministry against another church or we feel better when more kids come, then it’s not healthy.
Dave: An obsession with the best may mislead us into an unhealthy achievement agenda; an obsession with faithfulness trusts a loving God to give us the rest we need as we’re all in with Him.
YWJ: What are some best practices for youth workers?
Brian: Get around others in youth ministry. You’ll find camaraderie and encouragement. It’ll help you realize you’re not the only one struggling. Read blogs and books. Go to conferences. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Don’t cookie cutter someone else’s best either. Learn from others, but adjust so it’s best for your ministry. Your best is not something you beat out of you. It’s something you walk into with God.
Rachel: Take care of yourself, especially your body and heart. Rest. Set priorities. Your family has to come first. It may seem godly to put youth ministry first, but it isn’t. Eat well and exercise. Those practices will help you stay in the game for the long haul.
Lars: Focus on leaders and building your team. If you can’t do that because you’re spending too much time with students or feel as if you can’t release kids to other leaders, you’re not healthy.
YWJ: What are the best reads for youth workers?
Brian: What Matters Most by Doug Fields and The Next Generation Leader by Andy Stanley.
Rachel: To get a fresh perspective, read areas outside of youth ministry, for instance theology, leadership or biographies. For those who aren’t big fans of reading, there are many great youth ministry blogs. Reading a few each day will feed you with new ideas.
Lars: Hurt 2.0 by Chap Clark, Soul Tsunami by Len Sweet, and the new series by Andy Root Taking Theology, Scripture, Cross to Youth Ministry.
Dave: Spend 80 percent of your reading energy on that which deepens your own connection with Jesus. The Bible deserves our first attention.
YWJ: What are the best off-the-shelf resources for youth ministry?
Brian: Online resources that are editable and that you can easily fit to your context. Cut, paste, tweak and pass them onto your team.
Lars: The Re-form curriculum by Sparkhouse is fabulous. It’s an amazingly deep and robust theological study that’s accessible to middle school minds. The Live curriculum by Simply/Group is great for high school ministry.
YWJ: How can leaders successfully create games and lessons that fit their groups?
Brian: Gather a group of key students and adults you can run your ideas by first. We meet with key students every Wednesday to talk about what worked from the past weekend, what’s coming up, and what games and lesson ideas they might have. Collaborated ideas are always better than ones I dream up on my own.
Rachel: Know your context. Know where your students are spiritually. Buying lessons is good, but make sure the topic is something that will help students make the next step in their journeys with or to God. When you buy stuff, personalize it to make it specific for your group.
Dave: Become an impassioned student of your group. Understand what the members like and don’t like. Let a passionate purpose for those you love become a tightly articulated objective. Let the creative process begin. People who know those they serve and are driven by a specific agenda can see creative potential everywhere—and they should.
YWJ: What else should we know?
Brian: Don’t worship what you create. You’ll likely laugh at it in the future anyway. Hold it loosely before God and get used to change. Teens constantly change, so being culturally relevant is a moving target. Hold to your principles, but adjust your practices as often as necessary.
Rachel: Step out of what you know and gain fresh perspective from others. Postmodernism in Europe is far ahead of the United States. Learn from what youth workers here are doing. For instance, there’s great experimenting going on in the United Kingdom in terms of how youth ministry can look. Broaden your horizon!
Lars: Don’t let resources dictate your ministry. You may not have a wide enough understanding or vision about all the resources available to you. You can do great things with limited resources.
Dave: Faithfulness is enough.
