Number One Priority

“You must love the students… that’s what matters the most in youth ministry!”

That’s the common statement I face with parents and church leaders in youth ministry. This is one of the major struggles I face – what is the most important priority in a youth ministry? Loving our students unconditionally? Being there for the parents (and making them happy)? Keeping a open communication channel with the church leaders about our activities?

Sure all are important in youth ministry, but are any of them my number one priority?

Jesus faced similar questions when standing before an expert of the Law. Seeking information on how to inherit eternal life, Jesus gave him an uncluttered and succulent answer:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind”; and “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27).

Jesus stresses the importance of one’s relationship with God above loving or serving others; this principle applies to everyone, youth ministry or not. If anyone reverses this order, it can have a devastating effect on one’s spiritual life.

Loving God might not be difficult if done so in a static environment; it can become quite challenging when pressures of life and conflicting expectations takes hold in our lives. I’m guilty of this because it is easy to serve others under the guise of “I’m loving others because I want to show my love of God.” While there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with this, I find it easy to push aside my personal spiritual growth and time with the Lord when things get busy. In fact, I do this so often that I find myself burnt out and exhausted, wondering what happened.

Doug Fields explains it clearly:

“Failure to see the difference between loving God (focusing on him) and loving others (doing ministry) can result in a ministry-focused life rather than a God-focused life” (Youth Leader Training on the Go).

I preach to my ministry colleagues that the greatest aim for a youth worker – no matter what happens – is to pursue and love God. Once this is achieved, people can reveal God’s love clearly by serving others.