Walking On our Hands

I was talking to a colleague recently about the ‘health’ of a ministry being the most important thing for that ministry. By that I meant that the mentality in any ministry, most especially one for youth, has got to be one that emphasizes the individual relationship with Christ and their walk daily with that faith. The old model that we may be more familiar with is one the puts an emphasis on numbers and exciting events in order to draw students into the church or into the faith. That may be a more critical view of those types of ministry models, but you can see my meaning.

The idea that a youth group must have large numbers in order to be successful is a secular idea that has no real place in the church society. The model we have in Christ is the one that works the best: A small crowd of intimate disciples who had a personal relationship with him who then turned and ministered to the larger crowd. This is the perfect model we can still use today.

The point is that in a ministry of health the numbers will come. People are attracted to success. The easiest and most lasting way to have success is to be healthy. What good is being king of the world if you are too frail and weak to make decisions or enjoy your position?

Doing it another way is like walking on your hands. Yes, you will move. Yes, you are technically walking. But not only is it more difficult, and aside from the fact that your body was not made to walk like that, if you do nothing but walk on your hands you will look ridiculous. Sure people will be fascinated for a while, but eventually you become passé and everyone looses interest. And what do you have to show for it? Sore hands and a headache.

With that in mind it is easy to see why there are so many youth directors who last only a short time in a church or a short time in the ministry field period. They cannot walk on their hands continually—it’s just not humanly possible.

While emotional fervor and being excited about Christ certainly have their place in our faiths there is no possible way we can expect to build a ministry based solely on those attributes.