My first youth ministry position was as a part-time youth director. I accepted the job as a 22-year-old college graduate. I had been a follower of Jesus for almost four years, and my résumé boasted an entire two and a half years of volunteering in my church’s youth ministry. I genuinely believed my volunteer experience had given me all the training I needed to be a youth director.
As you can probably surmise, I had no idea what I was doing as a youth pastor. God protected me for those three years at that church, and they ended up being some of my most fun years in ministry. However, much of those years are a blur. In addition to my 10 hours a week at that job, I worked full time at a local mortgage company. After a year, I quit my job at the mortgage company to enroll full time in seminary, and I picked up another job to help pay the bills.
...
I resembled a clown more than a leader. Clowns have a long history of making us laugh. The court jester—the modern clown’s ancestor—had the responsibility of entertaining the court and official guests. While he was close to the king and able to exert some influence using the tricks of his trade, the jester ultimately had no real authority, and nobody took him seriously.
...
Many youth workers are happy not to be taken seriously. We play into the stereotype of being immature babysitters. What passes as leadership in our culture is often very different from how the Bible teaches us to lead. Perhaps it’s time to step out of the clown role and learn how to lead.
This is one of those things where I honestly probably write about the topic better than I live it. Still learning, I guess. I'm curious: what do you think about the image of a youth pastor as a clown?
