Yesterday I had the privilege of speaking to a group of about 500 youth workers from the Church Of Christ. I shared four truths I’ve been learning the past few years that have simultaneously led me to a deeper faith experience AND exposed my areas of shallowness.
1) Life Is A Squiggle.
This one isn’t really new, and it has sort of become a “calling card” of sorts for me. I’m convinced that when we embrace the reality that life is unpredictable, that we are slaves to sin (sorta like Paul), that twists and turns are all part of the journey we actually begin to rely on God in deeper ways than ever before.
2) I Need A Travel Parnter….Or Two.
I’m not talking about traditional accountability where you sit together with your accountability partner (whom you often really don’t have deep relationship with) and go through a list of accountability partners. I’m talking about a friend or two who know and love you deeply; who know the good, bad and ugly about you. A friend with whom, as my buddy Scott Rubin says, you can put “your worst foot forward”.
3) Busyness Will Keep Me In The Shallow End.
After purposely bragging in my intro about how much I have going on in my life (as part of a set up for this part), I then shared the sickening story of my recent complete unawareness that my neighbor was in her 3rd round of chemo for breast cancer. A guy who lives SIX houses down was the one who told me. The Pastor on the block…who is so busy doing great ministry…isn’t even connected to his next door neighbor. I talked about the fact that Jesus despised the Pharisees for their “cup issues”; being impressed with their outward appearance. Can you imagine me bragging to Jesus about the outside of my cup with him knowing about my lack of concern for my neighbor. Yikes.
In Life, And In Ministry, I Need A Long View
We are infatuated with the here and now, with instant gratification. But most good stuff in life takes time to develop.
Those are some things God has been teaching/reminding me of lately. If you haven’t done so in a while, take a few minutes sometime soon to jot down what He’s been teaching you.
Kurt Johnston leads the student ministries team at Saddleback Church in Southern California. His ministry of choice, however, is junior high, where he spends approximately 83.4% of his time. Kurt is also the founder of www.simplyjuniorhigh.com, and he writes, speaks and looks for opportunities to encourage other youth workers. He likes to surf, ride dirtbikes and hang out in coffee shops. He is married to Rachel, and they have two teenage children, Kayla and Cole
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Scott Rubin is the Director of Elevate, the junior high ministry of Willow Creek Community Church near Chicago. He's mostly a middle school pastor, but he also writes some, speaks some, and blogs some. He's the co-author of the book Middle School Ministry, and a few other titles too. He likes sports, summer, his wife Lynette, his 3 sons, and often wishes that Lake Michigan was actually an ocean.
