I have no doubt been out of the game of writing for a while. If you have had the incredible patience of sticking with me over the last couple of years through this blog, you will no doubt be unswayed and unsurprised by the fact that my wife and I have yet again moved to a different part of the country in obedience to what we have felt has been on our hearts.
Life gets scary. It gets even more scary when you are called out of something you know, and called into the fog or the dark. It’s hard-working through only being able to see the next step (sometimes not until your foot hits the metaphorical ground) or two at a time. Such has the post-graduate of college life been for my lovely wife and I. Currently we find ourselves in the Austin, Tx area where there is no doubt in my mind a need for students to grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ.
With this in mind, I feel it has been hard pressed on my mind to share that there are things Youth Pastors do/should not tell you. It is not that we do not tell you because we are trying to hide something. It is just that sometimes we do not want to be vulnerable enough to share that we are not perfect. So here is what your Youth Director, or Youth Pastor, or volunteer who does your youth, or the crazy guy that talks to you about Jesus, does not want you to know about his/her life. That golden nugget is this: we get it. We absolutely understand what you are going through. We know what it is like to be a teenager (some of us better than others). We have no doubt made similar if not worse decisions. We struggle to maintain the tension between being a good friend and good mentor. We get convicted by our own sermons or talks. We just get it. We completely understand. We understand life is hard sometimes. Even more, we (sometimes) have no idea why they broke up with you, why they got divorced, why she died, why he got sick or why that prayer did not get answered the way you wanted it to. We understand what it is like to feel hurt, anger, anxiety, frustration, depression, sadness, guilt, and jealousy. We know better than most that sometimes no matter how hard you work on something, it sometimes just does not seem to come out the way you had intended it to. We get it. So the next time that guy, or girl, comes up to you and offers you some advice on how you should live, just remember that we are not trying to be uncool… at all… we just completely understand.
There is a second part and it is this: if it hurts you, it hurts us too. We do not only get it… we walk the road with you. We hurt with you. We lose sleep at night with you. We cry with you sometimes when we are sitting with you. We pray so hard for you. And at the end of the day we just want nothing more for you than for you not to feel that pain. But it will help you. It does not seem likely, but I promise it will.
You see, leaders are responsible for those who follow them. Due to this responsibility, it is imperative that I confess to you that this is why guys like me want so badly for you to act accordingly and be very careful how you live as Paul told the church in Ephesus. It is because we understand that we want so badly to challenge the process when we see you stepping out of line. We do not like it when you hurt.
So I am going to publicly (semi) apologize to all of my students. I want so badly for you to make it through unscathed. Some, oh lets face it, most of you will not take my word for it. But alas, forgive me for trying. But know this; I get it. I was there too. We are not trying to be perfect, we are just trying to help.
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Food for thought: If you have a great leader in your life helping you through, whether parents, older siblings, grand parents…etc or a youth guy… give them a thank you. And for the love, just listen to them will ya!
leadershape 