Anyway, coming off the retreat...I felt really good about my teaching, how I did it, how the retreat went, and I felt God was telling me that this could be my future, being a youth minister...I can't really argue with God, I trust some day his plan will happen. As I have posted the retreat was awesome! I checked Bob Rice's web site just to see if he had posted anything new, and he posted this blog. Again, it felt like he was speaking directly to me. This blog gave me a lot to think about. Most of the time when we with of "successful" youth ministers at least I think of the people where their Job is to go around the country and speak. You can't force that though, God qualifies you to do so, would it be great to be one of those people? YES!, will it happen God only knows...I can say I am following my vocation, and some day, God may call me to be a ym. I don't see my self saying no to that!
Over the past few weeks, I’ve had a number of young people ask my advice on how to “do what I do”, namely, being someone who travels around the country/world as a speaker or be successful at playing music/making CDs, etc. My first response, which I think is the most important, is: I’m probably not as “successful” as you think! It’s hard to gage what “success” means in ministry, because God’s definition is so different than the world’s. As Mother Theresa once said, it’s about “faithfulness, not success.” But I think one way to define it is that you get an opportunity to do what you love to do, and in turn you make enough money off it to support your needs. If that definition fits, then I’m grateful to God that I’m “successful.” But if you’re looking for a “I’ve conquered the world, I’m the best in my field,” then no—you’ll have to ask someone else. I’m more than happy to share some advice I’ve learned along the way. My advice comes from my own experience and, though two people’s experience will never be the same, I think the principals behind them are foundational. My faith journey really took off in high school when I started attending my local youth group. If you met me in high school, I don’t think you’d peg me as someone with obvious leadership qualities. I was socially awkward, naive, and at times would say insensitive things. But the Bible is filled with under-qualified people who God transforms to do His will. I was certainly one of those people. “God doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called.” I became very active in my youth group. I attended everything. And I tried to bring what I learned into my everyday life. This is an important step that sometimes people tend to skip! They hear the Good News and want to proclaim the Good News without realizing it’s most important to live the Good News. In today’s Office of Readings, St. Gregory the Great wrote, “Whoever fails in charity toward his neighbor should by no means take upon himself the office of preaching.” Good advice for all of us. As I got older in youth group I began to volunteer for anything I could do to help people come to Christ. When I got to college, I’d spend summers at Christian Camps and volunteered for a local youth group in the area. I never had a big ambition about it, I just wanted to help people spread the word of God’s love. Then someone from Steubenville saw me doing these kind of things and asked me to come help out with the Steubenville Youth Conferences... and they paid me! I would have framed the check, but I really needed the money :)
I moved to Steubenville to do youth ministry, but also to learn more about my faith. Though I never thought I’d get a Master’s degree in Theology, I was excited to learn more about what it means to be Catholic. That wasn’t new for me: all along I would read books about understanding the Bible, I’d ask lots of questions to priests and youth ministers, and I bought the Catechism the day it came out and read it cover to cover. Now I’m excited to work on my PhD. The faith is so simple and yet there is so much to know! Never think you know enough, whether that be as a speaker, a songwriter, or a musician. The people who are really successful are the ones who are really smart and work hard to get better at what they do. From working the Steubenville conferences I started getting asked to speak/play music at other events. Now here’s where my story differs from some other people I know. There came a point where I realized that, with a little work, I could probably do this full time and make a decent living at it. That was the direction God called some friends of mine (like Steve Angrisanno or Matt Maher), but that’s not where he called me. I liked the day job. I loved being a youth minister and now I love being a college professor. Though there was a part of me that was excited about being on stage and traveling more, I felt more peace about not doing it as a full time profession, but as something I do on the side. I feel that was from God, and God really blessed that decision. So that’s how I got to “where I am”, wherever that is! So to sum up what I’ve said, I think I can share the following five pieces of advice:
1)Remember that it’s not about how talented you are. God doesn’t need your talent, He wants your heart.
2)Make sure you are living the Gospel before you start preaching about it. (That doesn’t mean you have to be perfect, or else no one would be able to preach! But it does mean that you are seeking holiness, you repent when you fall, you love those around you.)
3)Say “yes” to every opportunity that you can to help others share the Gospel.
4)Keep getting better at what you do: continue to learn about the faith, practice being a better speaker, be a better musician, etc.
5)Just because you have an opportunity to do more doesn’t mean you should take it. The devil can open doors, too. Discern God’s will through prayer, not circumstance.
6)Don’t be ambitious. Don’t treat one ministry opportunity as a “stepping stone” to another. Every opportunity to share the Gospel is the best opportunity. There is no difference to God between an audience of six thousand or six. Each soul has infinite value. God will put you in the places He wants you to be, and remember that He has a different definition of “success” than you do. And PS, you don’t need to wait for an invitation to share the Gospel—there are plenty of people around you who need to hear about God’s love! Speaking of love...
7)Love the people you meet. Hands down, the coolest thing about traveling around is the crazy cast of characters that I get to know! I guess this ties in with the previous point. Just like you shouldn’t treat an event as a stepping stone, don’t treat people like “good business contacts.” We’re all brothers and sisters in Christ, trying our best to share the love of God. Some people you will like more than others—that’s just human nature. But in the end, we’re all sacrificing a lot to do the same thing.
Hope that helps! I’ll throw an invitation out to other folks in the ministry world to see what they have to say about it, too.
And two more pieces of advice:
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