Youth Worker BOOST: Fair Pay

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.

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When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ — Matthew 20:11-12

In April of 2012, the folks who created Instagram sold the (then) 15-month-old company to Facebook in for 1 billion dollars. I don't know about you, but where I'm from that's a pretty good deal. Want to know something cool? The 13 Instagram employees were each given a share of share 100 million dollars, or around $8 million each.

But the super-coolest part? Two of the 13 had only worked at Instagram for a month but still got an equal share of the money!

When I heard about this, I was instantly reminded of the parable Jesus told about the vineyard workers. You remember: some of the workers had worked all day, some for only a short time. Yet, the all-day workers received the same pay as those who only worked a few hours. They raised a stink, even though they were paid exactly what they had been promised by the vineyard owner. In essence, the all-day workers were put off by the graciousness of the vineyard owner.

Matthew Henry wrote that at its core, this is a story about envy: “Let us never envy or grudge, but rejoice and praise God for his mercy to others as well as to ourselves.” God’s love and mercy don’t have timetables, and neither should ours.

Let this parable remind us that God’s grace flows freely to all people and that no one is beyond the love of God, especially not those students who seem the least likely to come to Christ.

Our prayer for you: That you would be encouraged by this parable to thank God for the mercy He has shown you, and to hold out hope for the mercy He longs to show those who most need it.

Last Week's BOOST: Investment

Next Week's BOOST: Authentic

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