Sometimes you read a passage in the Bible and you realize that it says something you have never noticed before.  This week I was reading in 1 Timothy and came across the classic young minister’s verse at 1 Timothy 4:21, which reads:

¹² Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. (ESV)

As a relatively young pastor, I have often considered the first part of the verse to be an encouraging piece of advice that allowed me to see my youth as irrelevant to my ministry effectiveness.  As a student, this passage was often given to mean that even teenagers can serve God in powerful ways.  Perhaps the verse has even offered some swagger for young ministers who are out there doing ministry among people who are two to three times older as if it is some kind of get out of immature ministry free card, but I am not sure that it is saying any of these things, at least without clarification.

It was not until I began contemplating the second part of the verse that I started to recognize how the first part was supposed to work.  Paul calls on Timothy to set a tremendous example for the other believers so that his youth would not even be an issue.  If taken as 4:12a (which I really hate because that little “a” can make a verse say a whole lot of things it is not supposed to say), then the verse could read as a sort of “shake it off” platitude.  Instead, the “b” part decides to make things just a tad more difficult as it challenges Timothy to set an example in the five hardest areas that exist when it comes to setting an example.

Speech: Use words that glorify God and His work.  Use words that demonstrate the character of Jesus.  Speak in a way that is both true and compassionate.  Speak words that always build up and never tear down.  Speak words that are consistently gracious to all people all the time.

Conduct: Even if your words are good, your actions must also be setting the correct example.  Do good works.  Treat people fairly.  Act justly.  Use time wisely.  Pray all the while that your actions demonstrate the character of Jesus.

Love: At all times desire the good for the other person, regardless of their speech or actions.  Have compassion.  Experience anguish over sin and rebellion while offering grace and mercy.  Sacrifice your own personal comfort.

Faith: Believe and be strong in your belief.  Allow your faith to keep you from worry, pride, or judgment.  Trust God in everything, and allow people to know where your strength comes from.  Let your faith permeate every part of your being.

Purity: Don’t sin.  Focus on what is good.  Reject what is bad or might have the appearance of evil.  Keep your thoughts and actions pure and reflective of a holy God.

The emphasis of this verse seems to have more do with setting a good example than age.  This good example will allow us to use the influence we have as leaders to build our people up.  As a leader you have influence.  With influence comes responsibility.  A large part of that responsibility is to set an example that others might follow and find themselves becoming more like Jesus.  As a student minister, you have become an important part of a student’s spiritual development.  However, we must be good stewards of this role if we are to see the transformation in our students or parishioners.  Your presence creates an impact, but your effort and example determines what kind of impact you will make in a person’s life.

One of the earliest things I learned about ministry is that if you do not take initiative, you will fail.  While there are ministry responsibilities that must be accomplished, there is also a good bit of time where you must use your time wisely.  Whether it is getting a jump on a future talk, visiting a school, or communicating with parents, there are always things that need to be done.  Sometimes I feel like seminaries should offer time management seminars to prepare future ministers for the immense demands on their schedules.  The truth is that the minister’s work is never done.  Usually there is more to be done than can be done.  This can be tough if you are a personality like mine where you want to do it all but simply run out of time and energy to accomplish everything.  Something that helps me to reconcile this is to think about why I am not accomplishing all that I need to accomplish.  Here are the reasons that I have found cause us to feel like we are not doing enough:

1. We are not working hard enough.  Let’s be honest, sometimes we can just be plain lazy.  Maybe we are just coasting through because we think we have it all figured out.  Maybe we feel like we deserve to slow down a bit after a crazy season of ministry.  The problem is that because there is always something to be done, we must find ways to continually expand our ministry impact.  It drives me crazy when ministers fail to respect the position that they have been given.  Ministers must be professional and diligent in our work ethic if we are to maintain the standards set forth for our office.

2. We are trying to do too much on our own.  I confess to doing this so often.  Sometimes I feel like I cannot get to the important stuff because I am stuck doing the busy work.  The truth is that if I had leaned on a ministry team, I would not be running around last-minute to get cups because they could have been picked up.  Over the past year I have realized just how many things I should actually be able to delegate to small group leaders or to volunteers.  I would love to have more time to dream and to get creative, but so often I am exhausted from getting all of the little things done like fueling the vans.  Allowing others to do ministry alongside you allows you to do more ministry.

3. We are doing pointless things.  We are all stewards of our time.  We must decide how to use it and how to prioritize the things we do.  As a result, we must also take some time every now and then and think about whether we are actually doing the things that will have the most impact.  I have spoken with student ministers who use 16 hours a week to prepare their talk on Wednesday nights.  That seems unbalanced.  Other ministers I know spend the majority of the time on a program that has terrible attendance, but it is part of church tradition.  It is so important to make sure that you are making the maximum impact that you can make.  Truthfully, a quick lunch with a student may make more of an impact than twenty Wed. night talks.  I tried to make a list of everything I did throughout a whole week.  When I looked at the list, I realized that I was spending too much time keeping one program working so I purchased a curriculum that cut my work on that program down by 75%.  Now I have more time to write thank you notes or hang out with students after school.

4. We don’t plan ahead.  I actually love to make the calendar for the year.  I love looking at the blank squares and seeing them come to life with activities and teaching topics.  I do this because I understand that if I can plan June in December, I will be saved from running around like a headless chicken when June comes along.  Planning ahead allows us to have a distinct advantage of getting our tasks accomplished because we have the time to think about all that is involved.  Planning ahead also allows us to get people into place that can help make the event or program happen.  We did so much planning ahead this year for our Fall Retreat that I actually got nervous the day before because everything was done and that seemed impossible the first year that we did the retreat.

In college I worked at a camp where I had to use every bit of energy that I had each day.  The last bit of life I had in me was that which allowed me to lay my head on my pillow.  I was exhausted, but I was also proud of the fact that I left nothing on the field that day.  I try to have those kinds of days in my current job.  I want to leave the office with no regrets.  I want to feel good about taking that day off because I maximized my ministry time and was able to accomplish all that I could possible accomplish.  I hope that is your goal as well.  Your church and the Kingdom of God will be better off for it.

One of the unexpected blessings of this past year has been the opportunity to spend time with other youth ministers in our area.  It’s unexpected because I would not have guessed that it would make such a huge impact on my own approach and understanding of ministry.  I have gained so much from spending time with my fellow ministers.

Truthfully, the idea to get the network going came out of my own shortcomings.  I was noticing that I had a hard heart towards many of the other local youth workers.  When their programs out shined mine or when I lost students to their ministry, I sat in judgment rather than celebration that the Kingdom of God was increasing.  As I recognized this dark place in my heart, I knew that the only way to resolve it was to open the doors of relationship with these men and women who were, after all, trying to accomplish the same goals that I was.  All it took was a few phone calls to recognize that restarting the network was something that resonated with all of the other youth workers in our area.

The previous network failed primarily because it was not built on relationships.  It was more informational or sales oriented.  With this in mind, we have tried to keep our meetings agenda free where we can discuss ministry and life in an organic way.  Over the past year we have become more comfortable with one another.  We have also gained more respect for one another.  Great evidence of this is that we are developing an unwritten rule that calls us to communicate with other ministers if a student comes to our church from theirs.  Imagine the benefit this brings as we seek to help the student down the journey of faith.

Over the course of the last year I have received ideas, encouragement, ministry opportunities, and friendship from our ministry network.  It continues to amaze me how easily things came together after just a few phone calls.  God has blessed our fellowship as we seek to work together to reach the students of our communities.  If you have not found a network of ministers in your area, maybe it is up to you get the ball rolling.  I guarantee that it may be one of the most beneficial things that you do in ministry.