Mother Teresa Theology
"Hey, Mother Teresa," the voice called out to me. "Thanks for helping me out." He slammed his car door, gunned the engine, and waved as he drove off the church parking lot. I smiled for a minute to myself, thinking of an old CNN interview I saw years ago with Mother Teresa. "Not a bad person to be compared to," I mentally assured myself.
My mind raced back to a CNN interview I saw with Mother Teresa years before. A correspondent was blown away by Mother Teresa's care for people. At the date of the interview, she had personally picked up over 30,000 sick and dying people from the streets of Calcutta. The awestruck reporter looked sincerely into her eyes and said, "How do you keep from getting overwhelmed when you deal with this much sickness and death every day? How do you keep doing this?"
Mother Teresa was silent for a moment. Then, with thoughtful, compassionate deliberation, she gave the young reporter her answer. "It's really very easy, son. I am with one soul at a time. I choose to be fully present with the person I am with. And as I look into each person's face, I see the face of Christ. I never think about yesterday, tomorrow, or an hour from now when I look into a person's eyes. At that moment, it is never 30,000 people. I give myself to one person at a time."
Those words are hauntingly profound in the rat race of pressurized youth ministry demands. "It is never 30,000... I give myself to one person at a time." Great advice, especially when I feel overwhelmed by so many youth pastors, teenagers and tasks silently screaming for my attention. I sometimes feel like it's all pretty impossible. For every one person I seem to help, there are 10 others I don't have time to reach out to. It's tough to stay motivated when the only thing growing in your ministry is your "to do" list.
But Mother Teresa had it right. Instead of letting myself become overwhelmed by the needs, I just focus on the one singular person in front of me. Instead of letting guilt push me to an even more frenzied pace, I slow down and give myself away authentically to one person at a time.
So how are you doing on Mother Teresa's theology? Let a couple of teenagers know that you care genuinely about them and your day has been a Christ-honoring success—no matter how many others you still haven't connected with. And while you're doing it, remember, "It is never 30,000... I give myself to one person at a time."
"Hey, Mother Teresa," the voice called out to me. "Thanks for helping me out." He slammed his car door, gunned the engine, and waved as he drove off the church parking lot. I smiled for a minute to myself, thinking of an old CNN interview I saw years ago with Mother Teresa. "Not a bad person to be compared to," I mentally assured myself.
My mind raced back to a CNN interview I saw with Mother Teresa years before. A correspondent was blown away by Mother Teresa's care for people. At the date of the interview, she had personally picked up over 30,000 sick and dying people from the streets of Calcutta. The awestruck reporter looked sincerely into her eyes and said, "How do you keep from getting overwhelmed when you deal with this much sickness and death every day? How do you keep doing this?"
Mother Teresa was silent for a moment. Then, with thoughtful, compassionate deliberation, she gave the young reporter her answer. "It's really very easy, son. I am with one soul at a time. I choose to be fully present with the person I am with. And as I look into each person's face, I see the face of Christ. I never think about yesterday, tomorrow, or an hour from now when I look into a person's eyes. At that moment, it is never 30,000 people. I give myself to one person at a time."
Those words are hauntingly profound in the rat race of pressurized youth ministry demands. "It is never 30,000... I give myself to one person at a time." Great advice, especially when I feel overwhelmed by so many youth pastors, teenagers and tasks silently screaming for my attention. I sometimes feel like it's all pretty impossible. For every one person I seem to help, there are 10 others I don't have time to reach out to. It's tough to stay motivated when the only thing growing in your ministry is your "to do" list.
But Mother Teresa had it right. Instead of letting myself become overwhelmed by the needs, I just focus on the one singular person in front of me. Instead of letting guilt push me to an even more frenzied pace, I slow down and give myself away authentically to one person at a time.
So how are you doing on Mother Teresa's theology? Let a couple of teenagers know that you care genuinely about them and your day has been a Christ-honoring success—no matter how many others you still haven't connected with. And while you're doing it, remember, "It is never 30,000... I give myself to one person at a time."
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According to surveys done by the Fuller Institute of Church Growth, 70% of pastors have no one they consider to be a close friend and 50% have considered leaving the ministry in the last 3 months. Those are staggering statistics and I suspect that the numbers aren't too different for youth pastors and leaders.
This Youth Leader's Coach, "Coping With Stress and Burnout In Youth Ministry," is probably destined to be one of your favorites. I share candidly with you on stress and burnout. After 35 years in fulltime youth ministry, I've obviously experienced my share of both of these. So I wanted to share with you some of the pragmatic and medical things I have learned through the journey that can help you in these crucial areas.
Most of all, I wanted you to realize that when you feel pretty seriously stressed and even burned out, you are understood and not crazy! It's my honor to send this Youth Leader's Coach your way. Keep it filed somewhere so you can pull it out occasionally. It probably will be worth listening to more than once.
Lovingly Your Sis,
This year I was invited to a reunion of SPIRENO, a youth group that I led 25 years ago. It was a great time getting together with some of my old students, some of whom are now the grandparents of the current students in the youth group! We had a wonderful time reminiscing and some of the things they remembered really surprised me.
Though most of you haven't been in youth ministry long enough to have a 25-year reunion, you might be interested in knowing just what they will remember...25 years from now. In this Youth Leader's Coach, I share the 5 things that my students tell me over and over again were defining memories in their life. Some of the things that I thought they would remember most, seemed to fade into the background. They made it clear that 25 years later, the things they remember weren't my "amazing messages" or "great events." But what they remember most was how Christ's life flowed out of me in the tiny ways to let them know that the love of Jesus Christ is more than a nice platitude, but a living, breathing reality.
Leaving A Legacy,
The average senior pastor in the ‘70s had a tenure in full-time ministry of 30 years. Now the lifespan of the average senior pastor in full-time ministry is CUT IN HALF...to only 15 years! The million dollar question though is, why? I think that much of the answer rests in the "emotional roller coaster" of ministry's constantly changing high's and low's.
In this month's Youth Leader's Coach, "Riding the Emotional Roller Coaster Called Ministry," I'm talking leader to leader about the emotional journey that ministry sometimes takes us on. So grab a cup of coffee and a journal as we navigate our efforts as leaders to stay in the game wholeheartedly through the ups and downs.
Hanging On For The Ride,
Most of us were grabbed by the title of this month's Youth Leader's Coach, "Overwhelmed," because that's what we feel like most of the time. It seems like there are demands coming at us from all sides. The truth is though, we have the potential to be extraordinary at almost anything if we can first become FIERCELY INTENTIONAL about managing our time and our energy.
This is a phenomenal resource for any of us as leaders. Pulling from an incredible book by Tony Schwartz, Be Good At Anything, I'll share insight of how to manage your four quadrants of energy and some secrets on how to maximize your success in all areas. It's my heart's prayer that this resource would help you navigate the world that continually screams for our attention. Just know, I'm cheering you on in all you do!
Living in Pulses,
We live in a pretty non-committal society. Over and over again I hear staggering statistics that remind me that human nature is often not in the commitment business. That's why I decided to share this month's Youth Leader's Coach, "Why Do People Quit So Easily?" on this topic of commitment.
If you have been in full-time (or bi-vocational) ministry I'm almost certain that two things have happened: PEOPLE HAVE QUIT ON YOU and YOU HAVE WANTED TO QUIT. It happens to all of us. In this Youth Leader's Coach, I share some of the reasons why people quit so easily and 9 ways that we can all become better people of commitment and follow-through.
Lovingly,
