Passion exceeds Resources

The Final Four is set! And while Villanova, Oklahoma, Syracuse and UNC are in it, there was one thing that happened the very first weekend of the tournament that speaks volumes to student ministry leaders.  Upsets happened…a lot of them this year.  In fact, a total of 13 lower seeded teams beat higher seeded teams that first weekend.

So, how does this speak volumes to student ministry leaders?

As a leader of a student ministry program, especially at a small to medium sized church, you might feel that you are the David competing again the Goliaths of bigger and mega churches in your area.  How can you make an impact with limited resources and no big “wow” factors for your ministry?

Whoa, whoa, whoa Tom.  We are not small and large churches.  We are all ONE Church with a capital “C”. We are not “competing” against each other like David and Goliath. 

While that is true in theory and we are all on the same team, the reality is that smaller churches can sometimes feel that they lack the ability to truly impact their community.  Whether it’s because lack of building (or very small property), lack of resources or whatever it is that makes a small church small, larger churches have an upper hand on reaching more people for Christ.

Again, I know we are not competing for salvations and we are on the same page, but as a person who worked at a small church for half of my ministry profession, it can be frustrating at times.

But there is a silver lining…especially for student ministers at smaller to medium size churches.  The bottom line is where there is passion and excitement there is a way. What you may lack in resources you should never lack in passion and excitement about reaching students for Christ.  In fact, you don’t have to have a ton of resources to make an impact.

Attractional items like big events, cool features or imagery may get students to come, but it is the relationships and passion from the student ministry leadership team that ultimately wins the race.  Students will be drawn towards the big events but if there aren’t student leaders to invest in those students, real life change won’t happen.  And that is what is important. Not how many students come to events, but how many are you moving into loving, committed relationships with Christ.

Life change happens when…loving adult role models have a passion to reach students for Christ and invest time and energy into building those relationships and helping them discover God, develop that relationship with Him and go and serve others.

Passion exceeds and is better than resources. Life change can happen in any context or environment as long as you have the passion for students to come to know Christ. You may not have the resources, but that should never stop your passion to help students come to know Christ.

What do you think? How else have you seen passion exceed resources?  What have been your experiences?  Share it below or on social media using #ymsidekick to share.

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