My Epic Journey

Life is not as bad as it could be.  I know it is tough but after reading a quote by Wallace Stegner in his memoir, Wolf Willow,  where he describes the Dust Bowl drought of 1917 in southern Saskatchewan life for us looks pretty good.  Here is the quote:

There was a whole folklore of water. People said a man had to make a dipperful go as far as it would. You boiled sweet corn, say. Instead of throwing the water out, you washed the dishes in it. Then you washed your hands in it a few times. Then you strained it through a cloth into the radiator of your car, and if your car should break down, you didn’t just leave the water to evaporate in its gullet, but drained it out to water the sweet peas.

But as I read this quote I was struck by how desperate times must have been and to what great lengths people had to go through to simply meet basic needs.

In my reading this morning in 1 Kings 18, Israel is faced with their own dust bowl–a drought God had placed on the land because of the wickedness of Ahab but mostly because the Israelites where worshipping between two gods.

21 Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”

The hearts of the people wavered and God needed their undivided attention.  This recalls to my mind another verse in Scripture, Matthew 6.24,

24 “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

I can relate to both of these verses.  I know I often waver between which god to serve–the One true living God or the god of pride, lust, money, personal preference, etc.  And yet EVERY time I find myself worshipping a god other than THE God, I always find myself in a Spiritual Dust Bowl.

Questions:

1.  Would you consider yourself in a Spiritual Dust Bowl/Desert now?

2.  If so, why?

3.  Where is your current focus?  On self or on God?

I am sure some youth pastors will argue with me, but I DO have the best leadership team serving alongside me.  I value not only their gifts as leaders but their friendship as well.

I don’t know about other youth pastors, but for me, my team becomes my closest friends.  We do life and ministry together. 

Because of their unique role in my life I want to make sure that the time I am giving them in leadership training is not just about the students, but about their lives as well.  I want to know what they are thinking, what struggles they are going through and what accomplishments they are celebrating.

Here are simple ways I want to invest in my leader’s lives:

1.  Gifts

I want to know my leaders’ spiritual gifts.  What they are blessed with?  Are the gifts developed and been used in their life before?  Are there other gifts they have that they may not be using?

2.  Family

As a pastor, my family graciously serves alongside of me.  My wife is my partner and without her I would be completely ineffective as a minister.  God has blessed me tremendously with her.  Because of that, my children are excited about serving alongside their dad and hang out with their teenage friends.

Naturally, I want my leaders to feel the same freedom to serve as a family.  When we have activities, my kids and the kids of my leaders are running around enjoying each other and the students of our ministry.  I don’t want to take my leaders away from their family.  I want them to be together, serving together.

With that in mind, I am always trying to make sure my leaders’ family is doing well.  Are they balancing ministry and family effectively?  Do their children or spouse resent the fact they serve in the student ministry?  What can I do to help serve their family as a whole?

3.  Accountability

Though we keep each other accountable in the top two areas, there are other areas we try to make sure we are all doing well in.  It is imperative that my leadership team not only know that we are a team, but that we are a family as well.  What comes with that is expectation to live life in check with others.

There are other ways I try to invest in my leaders, but these are very important to me right now.

To my leaders, I love you like family, and in some ways even more!!!!!!!