Standing On The Shoulders of Greatness

Every minister knows well just how indebted they are to those volunteers who do the same work they do but without pay. This will be a rare, very personal post where I want to reflect on those people who play that role in my life. It can be hard being a minister. Often you feel like you are walking through a fog, not knowing where you are going, but holding on to the only light you see in the darkness and trying to show others the way. Success is never assured and failure is always right around the corner. Since success and failure are no signs of God's favor or disfavor (as God can call us to what seems to be 'failure' for purposes beyond our ken), you can never know if the road you are called to is one that will lead to anything like material success in the world.

It would be wrong to ask people to undergo the level of education good ministers must go through and to make the sacrifices they make without recompense. The laborer is worthy of his hire. Yet the work cannot be done by paid ministers alone. There is this massive body of workers, all who do what they do because they are called and without thought to the material cost. In youth ministry this is extra important as you need multiple adults to ensure the safety of kids and youth. I am often lauded for my work at the church, and when I am I feel a little guilty for two reasons. First, I know that whatever objective 'success' I have had is mostly due to the activity of God. You can work and plan and do everything 'right' and it comes to nothing unless God deigns to bless it. I experience this all the time in Bible studies. Sometimes the Spirit 'flows' in the conversation and sometimes it doesn't. It really is up to God.

But also I feel guilty because I know a lot of the work is done by people the general church knows little about. There is an entire team of adults who does so much work that is rarely recognized. This youth ministry would be nothing, absolutely nothing, without their help. They do the day to day ministry I cannot do alone. They show up and their presence is one of the most important gifts. These people use paid vacation time to go on mission trips. Not only are they not paid for ministry, they actually technically pay to be a part of the ministry. They give wisdom and love to the youth I lead, and they are looked up to for it. God moves in them in ways He could never move in me, and through them He does much of the work that is done in the ministry. At best I create the field in which the work they do reaches fruition. At every conceivable level, they are the genuine Apostles, and I am least among them.

So I say to all the adults who are involved in the ministry, to Kevin, Amy, Valerie, Christine, Stephen, and to my Wednesday Night volunteers, who are there week in and week out, to Tom and Kendall and Rhonda and Elena, thank you so much for all you do. I am humbled by your service and your ministry, to the youth God has called into our community, to me, and ultimately to our Lord Jesus Christ Himself.