Confession and Vision
My name is Jon Morton and I am a youth pastor...
And, yes that is part of my confession...it's also one of the biggest parts of who I am. It isn't something of which to be ashamed nor is it necessarily something that needs to be applauded when we've finally worked up the courage to admit it. Youth ministry does however come with certain stigmas. To some it is just a weed in the church to be removed, free babysitting, activities coordination to keep teenagers busy and out of trouble, and akin to "church lite". There are still many friends and family members that ask me when I'm going to become a "real pastor" or when we might take our own church. In short, they just don't get it.
Partnering with parents and church leaders to disciple teenagers is an incredibly rewarding vocation and our family is blessed to play even a small role in God using students to accomplish great things for His Kingdom. But the funny thing is that I never wanted to be in student ministry. The older I become the more it becomes apparent that following Jesus is far more a progression than a single incident but I remember clearly the night of December 30, 1997 at a Youth Evangelism Conference that God gripped my heart. Having grown up in the church and dozens of children's ministries and youth groups, He finally got through to me to acknowledge Him as Lord. Each day has been an experience in remembering that "It's not about me...because it's all about Jesus!" Some days, it seems that we share an incredible intimacy and other days I know I've wandered far from Him. This road is definitely a journey but new life for me began just days before a brand, New Year.
It wasn't too long afterwards that my pastor gave me the opportunity to address our church following another youth retreat. Standing behind that pulpit, delivering a testimony and brief challenge to people I had known since I was six years old, it was all over for me. I knew what God wanted me to do. Everything that followed was in pursuit of full-time ministry. I surely wasn't perfect and God needed to regain my attention on occasion but there was no denying that He was calling me to preach and teach His Word. In high school when there was no other adult to lead our students, I took on that responsibility...but in college I was refusing to be a youth pastor.
"But that's how you have to get started," the naysayers would declare. "What if God wants you to do that first?"
And I would respond, "No way. I know I'm supposed to be a preacher - it isn't right for wanna-be senior pastors to use teenagers like a stepping-stone to some kind of 'greater glory'. If you're called to be senior pastor, do it and if you're called to student ministry then go for it."
Looking back, it's clear that despite my apparent love and respect for students, I had placed God in a box. NOTE: fair warning - don't tell God that you'll never do something...
While at Liberty University, I quickly assumed the role of a discipleship group leader for other college guys then kind of fell into helping to lead worship for "PowerSource," the middle school ministry at Thomas Road Baptist Church. Less than a year later, all praise band members were challenged to also assist in leading a small group and that's when it happened for me. I fell in love with a group of smelly, slightly-crazed, pillow-fighting and ragtag group of middle school guys. They were awesome and through them God began showing me that teenagers are not the leaders or church of tomorrow. If they are Christ-followers, they are the church TODAY. Like you and me, they too have been called to dream big, cast visions, initiate change, engage the local church and community, make disciples, reach, preach, and teach.
From the second chapter of Acts, God's promise is that in the last days, before the end comes:
‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your young men will see visions,
and your old men will dream dreams.
18 In those days I will pour out my Spirit
even on my servants—men and women alike—
and they will prophesy.
19 And I will cause wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below—
blood and fire and clouds of smoke.
20 The sun will become dark,
and the moon will turn blood red
before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives.
21 But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
And, yes that is part of my confession...it's also one of the biggest parts of who I am. It isn't something of which to be ashamed nor is it necessarily something that needs to be applauded when we've finally worked up the courage to admit it. Youth ministry does however come with certain stigmas. To some it is just a weed in the church to be removed, free babysitting, activities coordination to keep teenagers busy and out of trouble, and akin to "church lite". There are still many friends and family members that ask me when I'm going to become a "real pastor" or when we might take our own church. In short, they just don't get it.
Partnering with parents and church leaders to disciple teenagers is an incredibly rewarding vocation and our family is blessed to play even a small role in God using students to accomplish great things for His Kingdom. But the funny thing is that I never wanted to be in student ministry. The older I become the more it becomes apparent that following Jesus is far more a progression than a single incident but I remember clearly the night of December 30, 1997 at a Youth Evangelism Conference that God gripped my heart. Having grown up in the church and dozens of children's ministries and youth groups, He finally got through to me to acknowledge Him as Lord. Each day has been an experience in remembering that "It's not about me...because it's all about Jesus!" Some days, it seems that we share an incredible intimacy and other days I know I've wandered far from Him. This road is definitely a journey but new life for me began just days before a brand, New Year.
It wasn't too long afterwards that my pastor gave me the opportunity to address our church following another youth retreat. Standing behind that pulpit, delivering a testimony and brief challenge to people I had known since I was six years old, it was all over for me. I knew what God wanted me to do. Everything that followed was in pursuit of full-time ministry. I surely wasn't perfect and God needed to regain my attention on occasion but there was no denying that He was calling me to preach and teach His Word. In high school when there was no other adult to lead our students, I took on that responsibility...but in college I was refusing to be a youth pastor.
"But that's how you have to get started," the naysayers would declare. "What if God wants you to do that first?"
And I would respond, "No way. I know I'm supposed to be a preacher - it isn't right for wanna-be senior pastors to use teenagers like a stepping-stone to some kind of 'greater glory'. If you're called to be senior pastor, do it and if you're called to student ministry then go for it."
Looking back, it's clear that despite my apparent love and respect for students, I had placed God in a box. NOTE: fair warning - don't tell God that you'll never do something...
While at Liberty University, I quickly assumed the role of a discipleship group leader for other college guys then kind of fell into helping to lead worship for "PowerSource," the middle school ministry at Thomas Road Baptist Church. Less than a year later, all praise band members were challenged to also assist in leading a small group and that's when it happened for me. I fell in love with a group of smelly, slightly-crazed, pillow-fighting and ragtag group of middle school guys. They were awesome and through them God began showing me that teenagers are not the leaders or church of tomorrow. If they are Christ-followers, they are the church TODAY. Like you and me, they too have been called to dream big, cast visions, initiate change, engage the local church and community, make disciples, reach, preach, and teach.
(By the way, the "girl"in the front is really a 7th grade dude in our small group dressed up for Halloween - I'm pretty sure he walked away from "Trunk or Treat" with at least 10 guys' phone numbers)
It's been almost a decade since that photo was taken but I will be forever grateful for these young men and their impact on God's calling for my family. Sadly, today, I'm not sure where some of these guys are but if the statistics can be trusted, more than seventy percent of them have abandoned the church and many will never return. There are tons of reasons why this happens but I'm more interested in discovering the attributes of teens who stay plugged in. What is it about them that makes their experience different? Why do they remain engaged with the church? What do the sticky sheep really look and sound like?
After dozens of interviews with these "sheep," some traits do stand out that I will share in a later post but suffice it to say that we have to teach the Scriptures, minister to the whole family, take students outside the church, plug them into service, and give them a mission that's bigger than just warming a pew or listening quietly to an extended lecture. There has to be more than that...
And therein lies my struggle today. I know that our student ministry exists to disciple teens to love God, love people and change our world by declaring that our lives are "ALL ABOUT JESUS." We just want to be good slaves who exist to glorify our incredible Master and Creator. We desire to seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God fulfilling the Great Commission to the ends of the earth. In and of itself, that is an enormous task but as leaders, we need to break it down and cast a vision that will capture the hearts of whole families. But I haven't done that very well. Instead, goals and prayers have been limited to what I thought I could accomplish. Rather than being covered in the dust of my Rabbi, if I were to be transparent, I'd have to acknowledge that sometimes I've been more concerned with following the god named "ME." Today, then, is about taking up my cross, denying the urge to worship little gods like me and following the One who demonstrated His love for me by dying on a cruel tree (And that's the crux of Luke 9:23 anyway, right?).
Proverbs 29:18 reveals that people (and teens in particular) will run wild unto their own destruction when there is no vision to pursue. As a pastor, what is the picture I am painting for students that reveals what only God can accomplish. Do we dream big enough? Are we clinging to man-sized dreams or are we utterly dependent on a God who chooses to use us despite our utter deficiency? Mark Batterson describes in The Circle Maker, "The size of our prayers depends on the size of our God. And if God knows no limits, then neither should our prayers." [Check out the book here.]
‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your young men will see visions,
and your old men will dream dreams.
18 In those days I will pour out my Spirit
even on my servants—men and women alike—
and they will prophesy.
19 And I will cause wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below—
blood and fire and clouds of smoke.
20 The sun will become dark,
and the moon will turn blood red
before that great and glorious day of the Lord arrives.
21 But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
will be saved.’
Obviously, this is an eschatological reference about the prevalence of prophecy in the last days (yes, youth pastors can read John MacArthur commentaries too). But in my heart, I just want to be that kind of dreamer, a prophet with visions for his sticky sheep. So my prayer today is that God gives our pastors great vision. I pray that youth pastors take to task their responsibilities of discipleship and DREAM BIG, encouraging students to worship and pray to a BIG GOD. And I pray that He forgives me for being an idiot who often acts as though I can accomplish everything He has for our ministry by my own effort and giftedness. Honestly, Lord, move or move me out of the way. Grant me God-sized goals, a vision for your Kingdom that is specifically designed for the students under my charge, dreams that only You can accomplish, with or without me, Lord. Because, it's not about us...
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