The true responsibility of a youth pastor is not to the youth.

Now that I’ve made enemies of every youth worker on the planet, let me explain. When we say the word pastor, we mean someone who helps people grow and know God better in a formal way. So when we put the word “youth” in front of the word “pastor”, we think that means someone who helps youth grow and know God better in a formal way.

That definition is not innately wrong, but it does lead to some misconceptions. We see the youth pastor as someone who should be getting to know the teens in a church, working to run the youth meetings, and discipling individual teenagers in-depth. None of those things are bad, but they will not lead to an effective youth ministry. One man can only minister to a limited amount of people in a meaningful way (6 is usually a pretty good number), so for a youth pastor to have the best youth ministry he can, his job is not so much to build up teens themselves as much as it is about building up adults who will then build up the teens. We’re all aware of this principle (I’m sure you’ve read before about the dangers of the “one-man-show mentality” in youth ministry), but I don’t think we take it to its logical conclusion.

What is the real job of a youth pastor or head youth leader? To disciple and minister to leaders and volunteers.

As we build people (leaders in this case), God builds the ministry. If the leaders are growing, the teens and children they minister to will be growing.

I’m not saying that a youth pastor or head youth leader should never disciple teens individually or be involved with running events or meetings, but those things must not become their main time investment. Build the leaders and let them build the ministry.

BUSTED