I have two boys, 12 & 8, and one daughter who is 4 and all of them are growing up in youth ministry. What I mean is every one of them was born while I was the youth pastor. Over the years, week in and week out, my kids hang out with and are cared for by the teens in our ministry. They tag along on trips and outings and during one sleep over my oldest son outlasted everyone staying up all night. He jokingly said to me after looking around and seeing everyone else asleep, “Dad, they can’t hang.” Then last year an interesting thing happened, my oldest son entered Jr. High and officially became part of the youth ministry. He went from just tagging along to belonging. While I’m sure it was an adjustment for him I soon realized I now found myself in a somewhat of an awkward position. I mean I knew the day would come but, before I knew it, it was already here. After experiencing a full year with my son in youth ministry I found a few pros and cons. Here is a few from a list I complied:
Pros:
in no particular order
·
You get an insider’s perspective on how things are working: I sometimes
ask my son to critique my messages or the whole service. Teens are brutally
honest these days.
·
You stay up to date on pop culture: Being more than a few years removed
from my teens, my son keeps me up to date on lingo, style and trends. It’s not
like I have to ask him…I just have to listen and watch.
·
You have an additional tool for evaluating volunteers: I like to ask my
son how his bible study went and how the teacher did. Students are very
observant and can tell if you’re prepared, nervous or confident. It can be like
blood in the water for a shark.
·
You have someone to keep you honest: Am I living what I just preached
or taught. He will be watching and it will impact him.
Cons:
in no particular order
·
You have to pay for event registrations
·
You lose someone to tell funny or embarrassing stories about
·
You have to actually be sick when you want to play hooky
·
They get to tell all funny or embarrassing stories about you
·
Making clear the line between youth pastor and father· Teenage girls: nuff said!
· Parents of teenage girls
·
Did I mention girls?!
You know, language is one of those awesome things that changes all the time. What you learned is different from what I learned, and I don't have a clue what most kids say these days. Though I'm not entirely lost thanks to google, reddit and the kids across the street. I've also noticed where I learned language is far from the language learned here in TN. I'm still in total shock and not entirely sure I'm speaking English! Kids (well, some of them, I won't say all) are more honest and intelligent because they see the world in a different perspective. Also, you forgot to mention Girls...pretty soon it'll be boys. XD
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