I am currently and interim Children’s Pastor.  Which in the words of my former pastor mean I am 2 seconds away from being fired.  I always loved joking around with him about stuff as far as I know he was never serious about that statement.  Anyway I have been a youth pastor for 15 years and there is a part of me that gets somewhat disappointed when others seem to destine our teens to a life of mediocrity.

It seems we have somehow got it in our heads that that teens can’t make a difference, or they are just a bunch of good off’s.  We tell ourselves if only the teens in our churches could survive their teenage years just perhaps something good could happen.  Since when did the teen years become about survival.  Why do we sell them so short.  Perhaps my favorite quote is this one “the teens are the church of the future”  well the teens are more then the church of the future they are the church of today.

I recently heard one pastor who seemed rather upset because his church was looking for a youth pastor to hire part time.  His response was that teens will never change the church.  I really dont think I will address that here but why is that our mentality in the first place.  Why do 70 percent of teens abandon their faith when they leave home for college or a career.  Has the church failed them?  In many respects we have.  We have created this sub class of people we call teens and we have lowered the bar for them and have expected far less from them then we ever should have.  In essence we have made them destined for mediocrity.

When Paul wrote to Timothy he did not say “well Timothy I sure hope you can make it”  No way he challenged Timothy.  He told him to be loyal to the faith, to be strong in Grace, he told him about being an approved workman, He talked to him about following doctrine and preaching the word.  Paul did not tell him to be lazy he told him to fight the good fight, to beware of Apostates, to be a servant of Jesus Christ.  Will every teen grow up to be a sold out Christ follower?  Absolutely not but why do we continue to sell our selves short.

Parents, pastors, teachers it is time we stop lowering the bar and settling for mediocrity and start raising the bar and challenging our teens to be more then we are willing to settle for.

Just some thought from a former Youth Pastor who might be one again someday who knows?

I really like those passages where Jesus points his finger at the Pharisees. I want to stand right beside him and glare at each of those guys and shout, “That’s right, buddy, don’t look down your nasty nose at me!” If I did, I have a feeling Jesus might glare at me and say, as he did to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” (Matt. 16:23). Self- righteousness goes in both directions. No matter what kind of person we are, it’s always easier to detect sin and shortcomings and imperfections in other people than in ourselves.

Regardless of where each of us is on the self-righteousness continuum, we’re all looking down our noses to some degree at someone who’s unlike us. Our sin-corrupted survival mechanism makes us think, “I have to believe I’m better than somebody.” This rampant urge to maintain self-confidence and self-esteem is the default mode for fallen humanity. If we aren’t better than somebody, we fear we’ll lose all reason to live. It only shows that we’re trying to trust in our superiority, rather than God’s, in order to be saved.

- Tullian Tchividjian, Surprised by Grace: God’s Relentless Pursuit of Rebels, 146, 147

Tonight is our Awana Awards Night here at FBC.  Since I am the interim children’s pastor I get the Awesome opportunity to be involved in the Awards program.  These kids have worked very hard to earn the awards they are getting tonight and our commander has done an awesome job.

On a side note being the interim children’s pastor has kept me busy and actually has given my some different speaking opportunities.  I had a chance to speak for our opening for Awana Gameday, I also had a great opportunity to speak at our Awana Grand Prix.  Sure these are not standing and preaching necessarily but it definitely forces me to think outside the box.  I have enjoyed my time as the interim Children’s Pastor not sure how much longer I will be doing it as my previous pastor always stated being the interim means you are 2 seconds away from being fired.  However while I am at where I am at I will look for ways to serve Christ and hopefully others will see a glimpse of Him in me.

It has been a long time since my last post and I have been crazy busy.  Between our Sr. Pastor resigning, me looking for a church position, being the interim children’s pastor, and so forth I just have had little time in between.  This is really just apost to let everyone know I am alive.  By the way if you know of a church looking for a pastor let me know.