Last night as I was laying in bed waiting for my sleep aid to kick in, I couldn’t stop thinking about my to-do list for today. This is not an uncommon occurrence, thus the sleep aid.
“Sleep Aid” = 1/2 .lb bacon cheeseburger with onion rings and guacamole… it’s an over-the-counter drug. Try it.
My main area of non-sleep focus was this blog post. I have a blog list but none of those seemed right for this week. For many posts, I write about what I’ve been experiencing most recently. Doesn’t apply this week. Nothing super interesting has happened. So I rolled over and asked my wife this question,
“What do you think is the one thing a new youth pastor should know?”
To which she groggily replied, “When teenagers realize or feel that we care about them, they are more willing to listen to what we have to say.”
Um… That’s pretty much the whole post. Never forget that programs mean nothing if our students don’t have relationships with us. The greatest words in the world will be lost on ears that don’t feel loved by the mouth speaking them. Often 10 minutes of sharing inside jokes and listening to their problems will do more for the life of a student than a month of great programming. Then, when we have that relationship – when we have that insider’s pass to their life – we can speak the love and freedom of God into it.
Look at Jesus and the lady at the well. He didn’t start preaching at her. He didn’t condemn her for her sins. He talked with her. He had a nice civil conversation with her. Then, when she was ready… when she was comfortable with Him… when she felt safe with Him (that He wasn’t going to condemn her), she opened up and Jesus was able to not only speak into her life but also to forgive her and free her from a life she desperately needed to get away from.
Teaching comes through relationship.
Posted on June 3, 2011 by Derick Brown
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