Why are you frustrated?

For a 2 week period, Tim Schomoyer did a poll asking if you, a youth minister, are thriving in your ministry position or are you frustrated in it?  It was a great question to ask.  The results are posted here.

For me, the results were very surprising as a good majority of youth ministers were frustrated in their position. Of the 112 votes, 58% of youth ministers said they were frustrated by it.

So, trying to figure out why this was the case, I began processing my own youth ministry experience and in going over my 13 years of full-time ministry highs and lows.  Out of that I came up with 2 main reasons why youth ministers can become more frustrated in their position.  There are likely more reasons but here are 2 that really stood out to me:

1. Unrealistic Expectations from our Supervisors. This is due largely from a lack of clear job description.  Whether you have one or not, it boils down to  your boss having different expectations for you than what you expect.  This can be very frustrating as you often get assigned tasks that do not fit the ideal job description of a youth minister.
2. Unrealistic expectations from Ourselves. I have found this to be the case that when I get passionate about a direction our program should take, yet students fail to follow.  I get frustrated when I see student struggle with the same issues over and over again, never giving it fully to the Lord.  I get frustrated when I see God wanting to work and students failing to take a step of faith.  I think the bottom line for me and many others is I get frustrated because I think everyone should “get it” and they don’t.

So what about you?  TAKE A MINUTE and examine your situation.  Are you thriving or frustrated?  If you are thriving, great!  I hope that continues and the Lord continues to bless you.  However, if you are frustrated, why is that?  What is driving that frustration.  Regardless of your situation, I want to strongly encourage you to not make any rash decisions during this period of frustration – like quitting. YouthMinistry.com just posted this yesterday & if you are on the verge of making a rash decision read this 1st.

There is no doubt that youth ministry can be very frustrating – just like any other job.  However, I hope that your frustration can be turned into a positive. There are too many youth today that need your help in helping them process this crazy world.  Regain your focus and put your hard hat on because you’ve got a great work ahead of you.

If you have a thought or comment about this, please post it so we can all benefit and learn from each other.