This truth is quite possible the most difficult for youth workers to really grasp. After all, most youth workers got into youth ministry in the first place because we wanted to make a difference. A teacher once was asked by a student "How much do you make?" The teacher's response: "I make a difference."
When I was offered an interview (at the age of 22) for my first position as a youth director at a church, I couldn't sleep. And when I was offered the position, of course I waited the obligatory "I'll pray about it" few days before accepting the position, but there was no way I was turning it down. (I hope I've become a bit more committed to asking God to guide my discernment since then, although the job turned out great and I had an amazing three years at that church.) I literally felt as though my dreams were coming true. Well, minus the baseball contract with the Colorado Rockies part. I was excited to make a difference in the lives of teenagers.
Such enthusiasm, of course, is something most churches would want in a youth pastor. But looking back, my excitement was on what I was going to accomplish, not on what God was going to accomplish.
Is it wrong to want to make a difference? No way. Is it wrong to want to plan an amazing event or retreat that students will want to come to? Nope. But there comes a point when we start to put the onus of the transformation of students on ourselves, rather than trusting in God to transform them. And little by little, we start to put on ourselves the responsibility of what Jesus has already done. There will always be one more phone call we could make, one more finishing touch on a talk, and one more student we need to meet with. We will never be able to do it all. And the good news is this: we don't have to, because Jesus already has through his death and resurrection.
You don't need to be a strict Calvinist to buy into this (I'm not). You just need to understand that you might plant, someone else might water, but it's God who gives the growth (1 Corinthians 3:6). Yes, God uses us, yes, we might mess up sometimes, and yes, he is sovereign through it all. I honestly don't quite understand how that all works together, but I do know this: we are not saved by works, whether by our own or another mere human's. We are saved only through the God-man Jesus Christ, and it's in him alone we can trust to save and transform the students we love so dearly.
Other posts in this series:
Five Truths of Youth Ministry (an Introduction)
Five Truths of Youth Ministry | #2: In America, Fewer Youth Are Attending Church
Five Truths of Youth Ministry | #3: I'm a Sinner
Five Truths of Youth Ministry | #4: Youth Leaders Should Be Missionaries
Five Truths of Youth Ministry | #5: God Desires Faithfulness, Not Numbers
