He Man and the moron youth minister

My first year as a parish youth minister I actually created a puppet show using my old collection of  He Man figures in which the story of creation was acted out behind a make shift curtain on folding tables.  He Man was, of course, God and She Ra was Eve. If these names mean nothing to you, you simply missed out on one of the greatest cartoon story lines of the 80's...or so I thought.  The puppet show...was for juniors in High School.  I....was a moron.

I was 22 years old and thrust into a position where I had been given the responsibility of helping form the faith of hundreds of teens.  I thought I could be extremely entertaining and maybe dabble in a bit of content. My credibility was shot with the youth and adults in the room in one night. Quite frankly my ego was a bit fractured.  Why was I doing this job again?

When I started out in youth ministry with my pony tail and sandals, I was convinced that I was the best at what I did simply because I wanted to be the best at what I did.  My personal spiritual life was a joke and my understanding of day to day parish life was a bit of a fantasy.  I was good at being with young people, but completely inexperienced at planning anything.  My understanding of youth culture was based solely on my memories of being a youth and my education, I believed  some how entitled me to authority...I thought.  My charm would have to be enough.

Oddly, it sort of was.  You can get away with being fun loving and easy to get along with in ministry. You can be the young adult that makes youth laugh and completely accepts the quirks of the culture with a smile and a ,"Thats cool, no worries," type attitude.  Your impact, however, will be shallow and short lived.  It took me a long time to learn this.  I was much more concerned about being accepted in the youth culture than being a messenger.  I thought it my job to be a positive influence in the lives of youth rather than a disruptive voice on behalf of our risen Lord.  Both are important.  Simply being positive, however, is not the way of the cross and certainly not the model laid our for us by the communion of saints.

My career as a minister has been a bit of a mountain ascent.  It has mostly had its ups but they have come at a price.  The cost is always hard work and forcing my self to walk the extra step to gain ground in m spirituality and personal formation.  Along the way I have a stumbled a ton.  With every bruising step, I have a choice to make.  My own spiritual ascent can either form me or frustrate me.  I can let my career in ministry change me into what God wants me to be or simply attempt to climb a corporate ladder.  The choice is mine, but the result will impact everyone around me.

This is the way of service.  I am not in my twenties anymore, and am glad for it.  I do not make the same mistakes I made as a younger man...thank the Lord.  I take my own spiritual formation extremely serious because I want young people to do the same.  This is the seed of success who's fruit I may never reap.  But it is a path much more attune with the Gospel narrative and the path of discipleship.