Youth ministry is different than lots of jobs. Yet it’s much like lots of jobs too. I spend a good portion of my week focusing on preparing: I type away emails, send text messages, work on Bible studies, polish up speaking notes. I try to do my job well because I believe it’s important work I’m doing. It’s fairly easy for me to spend an entire week in the office on different “tasks” if I’m not careful. Wednesday or Sunday arrive and I’m feeling drained. Uninspired. Isolated. Maybe even a little bitter that I have to be “in charge” instead of enjoying church…
He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:2-3 NIV
Every week I go to a small group at the home of a young family. We begin each meeting with a song or two. The father brings out his guitar. The youngest child’s eyes light up and a smile stretches across his face. He jogs out of the room and happily returns with an older guitar. His guitar is equipped with only 2 of the usual 6 nylon strings. Anyone with any ear for music would tell you the two strings are painfully out of tune. But the young boy doesn’t care that it’s out of tune, or that he is missing more strings on the fretboard than he has. He doesn’t even care that the guitar is bigger than him as he struggles to maneuver it to sit down next to his father. When his father begins strumming, so does the boy. And we sing. This happens every week.
But at a recent meeting something was different. The boy strummed furiously…loud enough to be heard. Then he started to sing along with us. He didn’t know all the words, but he knew the melody and sang at what my elementary school music teacher told me is called “fortissimo” – loudest possible at the end of each phrase. I didn’t really know the song, so I took in the whole scene…grinning. Some of the small group members laughed while singing. The joy was contagious. The worship was genuine. He was showing us all how to worship.
In Matthew 18 verse 4 Jesus tells us we must humble ourselves to enter the kingdom of heaven. When I think of humility, I often think of quietly serving- trying not to be noticed or need recognition for my contributions. But I think that young boy gleefully singing and strumming in the presence of his father revealed to me what humility can also be- a carefree enjoyment of being in the presence of God and praising God with what I’ve got.
I take my work too seriously sometimes. I forget that I was made to enjoy being in the presence of God continually, but especially when I’m gathered with the children of God. What a joy it is!
Russ Bowlin is the Director of Ministries for Youth and Young Adults at First United Methodist Church in Victoria, Texas. Follow him on twitter at twitter.com/russbo
Featured image from flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/richardthomas78/
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