3 Things I’m Worse at Being a 40-Year Old Youth Worker

I’ll be honest with you – “if it worked last year, let’s do it again.” I’m safer than ever before. In the early days of youth ministry I was naturally hungry and never OK with “the way we’ve always done it.” But now the way we’ve always done it has worked and it is MY way, so why change it up? But that’s why I have to surround myself with young leaders who I can allow to lead me where God has us in this season of ministry. Just like someone before me gave me the rom to try, fail, experiment and forge new ground, I need to do the same to allow the next generation of leaders to push the church forward. I want to still be a risk-taker, but it takes more intentionality than ever.

I couldn’t get enough overnighters when I was in my 20s, I still did some in my 30s … but at 40, I’m not a big fan of overnighters. I’m over it. I don’t think they’re into me, either. And while that isn’t all bad (because it does force some creativity for new events, etc) I do think I’m a little less likely to greenlight the over-the-top overnighter. Of course, maybe that’s a perfect excuse to develop leaders – let them run it while I get a good night’s sleep! Hahahah

I can handle it myself. I’ll just fix it. I’ll just teach. I’ll just make that problem go away. While I can spot leaders easier than ever I also have the ability to just just in and fix it. I have to resist the urge to rob people of their development as a leader and not come over the top and just clear the red tape, ease the pain or eliminate the problem. The “I’ll do it myself” of my ealier youth ministry years was motivated by selfishness and ego, now it is the same problem but the motivation is to just keep everything smooth sailing.