Youth Worker BOOST: Consumers or Producers?

ym360 knows youth workers. We know what an incredibly rewarding, yet incredibly challenging job youth ministry can be. There are days when your spirits are sky-high, and there are days when you could use a bit of a "pick me up" from God's Word . . . That's why we're happy to offer Youth Worker Boost, one of the many valuable resources on the ym360 Blog.

Boost is a short, weekly piece of encouragement designed to, well, "boost" your spirits and encourage you as you minister to students. We consider it yet another great opportunity to serve you and your ministry.

CLICK HERE to have the Youth Worker Boost delivered right to your inbox whenever we publish a new one! We call these the E-BOOST!

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."--Matthew 28:18-20

Discipleship guru Mike Breen wrote a brilliant article entitled, "Obituary for the American Church," in which he described three things that are killing the American church. One of those is the culture of consumerism. The cultural viewpoint "it's all about me," bleeds over into the American church. What we want, what we need, what it takes to make me happy . . . these are the things that drive the choosing and programming of many churches today.

Jesus commanded us to be producers not consumers when it comes to faith.

Simply put, we are to be about the business of making disciples. Producers grow your church and your youth group while consumers drain energy and resources. As youth workers, we need to take a good long look at what we're teaching and what we're promoting to make sure disciple making is the engine that drives our youth ministry programs.

Ask yourself: Am I teaching my students to be producers? Or is my programing and strategy inadvertently feeding the consumer mentality?

Our prayer for you: Our prayer is that you would be engaged in making disciples who are in turn leading others to discipleship.

Last Week's BOOST: Instant Gratification

Next Week's BOOST: I Am The Greatest

Get more BOOST articles HERE!