A Hard Pill to Swallow

Between two churches and 8 years of youth ministry thus far, one pill I have found hard to swallow.  Can a person be a “youth” minister without any youth?  Well the answer is yes.  Being a youth minister is not a “job description” but a calling.  It’s the outward expression your inward calling and personality.  However the hard pill to swallow, quite often, is seeing students who don’t want ministered to.  Our stories are often the same.  We had a youth minister in our life that greatly impacted us or wished we’d had one.  We see the importance of having that person in our life that may not be our parents, our pastor, or our “friends” that remember what it was like to be a teenager that survived enough to still choose Gods will for their life over their own or their parents. 

A hard pill it has been to swallow to not see students not want to be ministered to; it’s harder to see and endure those who “attend” church but are not a part of the ministry.  In every church, in every age group, in every ministry area there will be some who attend but are not a part of.   These are students who are somehow satisfied with doing the minimum while, at the same time, hoping for the maximum in return.  I hard pill I’ve swallowed is to admit, “They are members of this church, just not the ministry.”  Knowing a day is coming when your ability influence them toward God will end should compel you to chase after them harder.  One the other hand, if a sheep ignores the shepherds rescue, at some point the shepherd must consider the welfare of the flock and return to it.  However, another spiritual ministry conundrum arises.

When Jesus shared the parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15:1-7) it doesn't share HOW the seep got lost or WHY the sheep got lost or ever WHERE the sheep got lost at.  We should not get hung up on the circumstances surrounding the lost sheep but hung up on the sheep itself.  But another question arises when looking at this parable; when did the shepherd leave his flock to search for the missing sheep.  We are told where he left his flock; “in the open country.”  The “open country” is symbolic of what is safe and secure.  Does that mean my 1^st duty as a youth minister is to those who are a part of the ministry, to make sure they are safe before I leave them a pursue those who aren’t?  OR is my 1^st priority those who are lost from the ministry and getting the others to a safe place is a part of the overall plan to recapture the missing ones.  And yet still there is another puzzle that arises.

Jesus reveals the “spiritual condition” of the sheep in his explanation of His parable.  Jesus says, “one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons” which indicates the sheep’s spiritual condition as being lost from God.  The translation is the sheep is symbolic of those without Jesus as their savior.  In talking about those who may be a part of the church but not the ministry, the question still presents itself as a difficult one; what portion of my efforts should be spent on reclaiming those who are lost from the ministry in contrast to those lost from God and pouring into those already plugged into the ministry?  I do know that a balance has to exist.  What that is I’m not sure of.  But when my heart turns against those who are lost to the ministry, for whatever reason, I now have a spiritual problem.  However, a FAR GREATER spiritual problem exists when I have lost my care and concern for those lost from God regardless of my calling in Christ.  EVERY Christian should have a heart for those lost from God.  In fact, NOT having that care or concern might explain why most churches are in the shape they are.