Taking the Stephen Strasburg approach
“Pitchers and catchers report” are magical words in the baseball world. To many people it really symbolizes the start of spring. The warmer weather, the birds chirping in the early morning and the chance for new beginnings. One of those new beginnings involves Stephen Strasburg. Strasburg is the 22 year old wonder-kid for the Washington Nationals who was lighting up the league until he threw out his arm and had major surgery. He is not expected to pitch again until late September, assuming that his rehab goes well.
The very positive sign for Strasburg is that right at this moment, they are saying he is progressing really well and at a great rate. You can read the Washington Post article about his return here. However, a key to his recovery right now is that he has to be patient. See, even though he may feel really good at times, he has to be patient and not put too much on his arm or he might blow out his arm again and need more surgery. If that happens, not only is this year ruined for him, but his future as a potential superstar pitcher that is destined for the hall of fame would be in serious jeopardy. So patience is the key here. He has to allow him arm to heal properly and rehab it as directed by the doctors.
In the same way, sometimes patience is the key in ministry. Changes may need to happen in your program – DEFINITELY. But having patience implementing those changes could make all the difference in the world. If you rush too early to make changes, you might ruffle feathers and get people really mad at you. For instance, you have to understand the program first and foremost – what makes it tick and what are “sacred cows” that will rub people the wrong way if you get rid of it so quickly. But on the other end, if you wait too long to make changes, you may frustrate people which in turn could cause you to “lose” them from your program because they don’t believe that anything will ever change in your program. I have had both happen to me in my 13 years of youth ministry and neither of them are great.
In an ideal world, it’d be great if you are able to sit back, observe and evaluate what is happening (or have others come in and help in that evaluation) and then slowly but consistently make changes. Although that would be great and recommended, there may be some areas where changes may need to happen immediately in order to give people confidence that your program is headed in the right direction.
So where are you at? Right now, TAKE A MINUTE and take a look at your program. Where is patience need and where does patience need to be thrown out the window? What changes need to happen immediately and what changes can have a gradual, consistent change? Whatever approach you choose to do, you need to seek Godly wisdom on it. James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” Seek the Lord and discern what direction you need to take.
If you have a thought, comment or question about this, post a comment so we can get a good dialogue going.
