Why We Do Ministry

As a youth worker I realize the hard times are sometimes more frequent than the joyful ones. But we signed up knowing this right? We knew God worked on His time schedule and that we are instruments. But what happens when you stop believing in this. When you start wondering about the Call. When you give up. We need to remember what we are really doing.

When the house is burning down, or the waves are too high to swim, or there’s no breath left-when these crisis situations are happening, don’t we trust in the firefighter, the rescue swimmer, or the paramedic? We do because we have hope they can save us and will. We trust they want to get us help and give us a better chance. When you see these stories in movies like Backdraft, The Guardian, or any number of rescue plots you just want to stand up and clap for their bravery and passion to save people. You’re inspired to be a better person, a more selfless person, a person with a mission. Wow. Even as I say this I am inspired to greater things.

Here’s the deal though. That’s us. We’ve been called to be that person for our students. They are lost. They might be struggling for life. They are definitely in dark places sometimes. And isn’t it wonderful when we see them growing? But sometimes things get hard. Sometimes they don’t grow like we’d hoped. Sometimes they rebel. We are fighting a very real battle for the souls of our students. We are here to help them see the light, reach for the impossible, train to be a warrior. But just like we want to trust that the firefighter is carrying us to safety we need to know that we are leading these guys to a God they can trust and lean on. Do you believe in that? Do you trust that God’s arms are the best place for them to be? Do you trust that His arms are the best place for you? Tough questions but without knowing the answer we blindly lead students to a place where there is a shaky foundation and their hope may not stand up to the crash if something falls.

And something always falls. It might be people making fun of them. It could be a divorce or a death or anything. When those times happen, what do they trust in to rescue them? We want them to fall on Jesus because He is the best place for them to be. But we need to KNOW that we are falling on Jesus when our world crashes. We are the team helping God seek out those lost in the sea. Some may be easier to reach than others, but He doesn’t want us to leave anyone. If we quit, who really loses? Because this isn’t really about us is it? No. It’s about Him. And He wants all of them. Sometimes we can’t get all of them, but our goal is getting those we can. He does the work, we just reach them. In the movie “The Guardian” there is a theme for the US Coast Guard that goes like this: “So others might live.” We do what we do so others might know this God and be saved. We do ministry because we believe that Jesus is the best possible solution. We trust God’s arms are the place we want to find ourselves when we are in crisis. He is what we are leading students towards for a better chance. He is our Rescue.