What Would You Do If You Knew You Couldn't Fail?

Think about your youth ministry. Think about your philosophy, your programming, your team, your facilities, your methodology . . . Put all of these categories (and any more you can think of) on the table.

Think about where you are effective and where you are ineffective. Think about where your ministry is today and where you want to be in the future.

Then, ask yourself this question: "If I could be assured that failure wasn't a possibility, what new thing would I do? What change would I make? What would I do differently if I absolutely knew that it would succeed?"

That's a fun question, right?

Think about it . . . What would you do?

Would you add a new event? Or kill an old one?

Would you change the structure of your ministry?

Would you start a new initiative or movement?

Would you shake up your team?

Would you turn your ministry paradigm upside down?

What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?

The reason why this question is valuable is that it allows us permission to set aside the self-protection mechanisms we subconciously put in place when it comes to taking risks. This question is, at its core, about passion and vision. Many of us know what we need to do to improve or innovate. We're simply too risk averse to actually do it.

So, if you're serious about being the most effective youth worker you can be, if you truly want to make an impact and not just toe the party line, spend some time asking yourself the question . . . and then answer it!

Figure out what you would do if failure wasn't an option, then reverse engineer a plan to make it happen.

Start with the end in mind and work backwards. Put a plan in place, acting the entire time as if failure really wasn't an option. Dream big. Bring others in at the right time. Gather input. Do your best to make it happen.

We have so few opportunities to do the hard work of making real change. Don't waste the chances you've been given to make a radical impact on your world for the sake of Christ.